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Tesla owners in Europe celebrate getting FSD — but some say they’re still waiting

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After years of delays and missed deadlines, Tesla’s full self-driving tech has finally launched in Europe — and owners are celebrating.

Last week, the RDW, the Netherlands auto regulator, approved the driver-assist system that Tesla says allows its EVs to drive themselves almost anywhere under human supervision.

It marked the culmination of a long campaign that saw Tesla navigate what Elon Musk described as a “layer cake of bureaucracy.” Until now, European owners have been stuck with a more limited version of Tesla’s driver-assist software that can’t handle intersections or change lanes on its own.

For Tesla’s European fans, some of whom have been waiting nearly a decade to get access to FSD, the excitement of taking the tech for a spin for the first time was high.

“It’s like stepping into the future. It’s amazing,” said Tim de Kraker, a venture developer from Zutphen in the Netherlands, who used his FSD first test-drive to take his son to school.

Navigating the tight streets of Amsterdam and other Dutch cities — where bike lanes, tram routes, and pedestrian crossings interweave into a tangled web that can flummox experienced human drivers — poses perhaps the toughest challenge yet for FSD.

While all four drivers Business Insider spoke to said they encountered no safety issues or major interventions, some said FSD was still getting used to the local quirks of Dutch roads, such as complex roundabouts, which are rare in the US but ubiquitous in Europe.

Patrick Sannes, a Model Y owner who lives near the city of Gouda in the Netherlands, said that when he encountered a roundabout while FSD was driving him home from work on Monday, the software became confused by roadworks on the side of the road — and failed to exit the roundabout.

“I did three turns on the roundabout, and then I decided to drive off myself,” he said.

Sannes said his FSD-equipped Tesla has otherwise handled roundabouts, country lanes, and highway driving almost flawlessly, with only a few minor interventions due to overly hesitant driving.

Having waited seven years for FSD to launch in Europe, he said he was thrilled to finally surrender the wheel to the AI driver.

“It’s worth the wait, but I would’ve loved it to be faster,” Sannes said.

Alex Nichiporchik, CEO at video game developer tinyBuild and a Tesla owner for 10 years, told Business Insider that he had been impressed with FSD so far — even if the technology occasionally struggled with roundabouts, and had a tendency to frustrate other drivers by always giving way to bicycles, regardless of whether they have right of way or not.

“I’d say that in the US right now, FSD drives much better than I do. But here you can tell that it’s still learning,” Nichiporchik, who lives in the Netherlands and the US, said.

Unlike their US counterparts, European FSD owners downloading the software for the first time are asked to watch a video and complete a two-question quiz before they can begin using it.

This quiz — which asks drivers to identify when FSD is active and confirm they are responsible for supervising it — is likely a response to European regulations that require manufacturers to educate consumers about the limits of driver-assist tech.

Nichiporchik also said that instead of speed profiles such as sloth, chill, hurry, and “Mad Max,” the European version of FSD instead allows drivers to set a maximum speed that specifies how far over the limit they want it to drive.

“The rules here are much stricter than in the US, especially where I live in Florida,” Nichiporchik said, adding he thought having FSD in Europe would be “life-changing.”

Speaking over the phone while being driven by FSD, entrepreneur and founder Thijs van Schadewijk told Business Insider he had immediately put the software to the test by driving through the busiest parts of Amsterdam.

“There were tourists walking around your car, bicycles and cars everywhere,” he said.


Thijs van Schadewijk Tesla

Thijs van Schadewijk has owned four Teslas since buying his first in 2015. 

Thijs van Schadewijk



Van Schadewijk’s Model Y handled the congested canal-side streets with ease, he said, bar one moment where he had to take over after it tried to reverse out of a busy intersection.

“I’m very excited that we now have it. And this is the worst version of FSD we will ever have,” he said.

Some Tesla owners miss out

Even as many Tesla owners celebrate FSD’s long-overdue arrival, some are missing out.

The rollout appears to be limited to Tesla owners with more recent versions of the company’s hardware — known as Hardware 4 — with vehicles built before 2023 not receiving the update.

In the US, Tesla vehicles with pre-2023 hardware — known as Hardware 3 — can only access a more limited version of FSD.

Musk previously acknowledged it’s possible that these older vehicles may not have the hardware to handle fully “unsupervised FSD,” and said Tesla would provide physical upgrades to all Hardware 3 owners if that is the case.

Mischa Sigtermans, an executive at Amsterdam-based Ryde Ventures who bought his Model 3 in 2019, feels like he’s waited long enough.

After FSD began rolling out in the Netherlands without Hardware 3 support, he started a website to gather European Tesla owners to explore potential legal action over what he says are the company’s broken promises.

“At some point, I lost trust in Tesla,” Sigtermans told Business Insider.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.


Mischa Sigtermans Tesla

Mischa Sigtermans with his Tesla Model 3. 

Mischa Sigtermans



The Model 3 owner, who bought FSD in 2019, said that Tesla’s marketing material at the time explicitly stated that his vehicle’s hardware would be capable of supporting Full Self-Driving in the future.

Speaking on Wednesday, Sigtermans said he now had around 500 verified Tesla owners sign up to potentially participate in the collective claim via the website. That number has now grown to around 1,900, per a tracker on Sigtermans’ site.

“You can’t keep this up for seven years. I would rather hear them say something like, ‘yeah, we can’t make this promise’ and communicate about it,” he said.

Tesla owners in Europe can transfer FSD from one vehicle to another, according to the company’s website. Tesla removed this option in the US in March.

Sigtermans said he shouldn’t have to buy a new car to access software he paid 6,800 euros ($8,050) for years ago, and pointed to Musk’s history of making overly optimistic promises on Tesla’s FSD rollout.

“It’s just the promise of this specific car that they made that they can’t deliver. And it’s honestly not my problem to get a new car to get FSD working. That’s their promise and their problem,” he said.




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Chong Ming Lee, Junior News Reporter at Business Insider's Singapore bureau.

China’s smartest students used to chase tech and finance jobs. Now, they’re choosing manufacturing.

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For years, China’s top graduates chased jobs in finance and tech. Now, many are heading into manufacturing and energy instead.

Employment data from Tsinghua University — one of China’s top tertiary institutions — published on its website on Tuesday shows the number of graduates entering the manufacturing and energy sectors rose 19.1% year over year for the class of 2025.

Top employers for this year’s Tsinghua graduates include Huawei, BYD, State Grid Corporation of China, and China National Nuclear Corporation, the university said.

Huawei is a global telecom equipment giant, while BYD is one of the world’s biggest electric-vehicle makers. State Grid runs China’s power grid, and China National Nuclear Corporation leads its nuclear industry.

The share of Tsinghua graduates entering the manufacturing and energy sectors has grown for six consecutive years, according to the university. Tsinghua said last year that the number of Class of 2024 graduates joining those sectors rose 11% year on year.

Often compared with MIT or Stanford, Tsinghua is widely viewed as China’s top engineering university and a key pipeline for talent entering the country’s tech and industrial giants.

The trend is not limited to China’s most elite university. At Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 2025 graduate employment statistics published in January showed about 2,000 graduates entering the information-technology sector and about 1,500 moving into manufacturing, compared with just around 300 entering finance and 240 joining construction.

The share of Chinese graduates entering manufacturing rose from 17.9% in 2020 to 22.5% in 2024, according to South China Morning Post, citing a report by MyCOS Institute, a consultancy focused on China’s education.

China’s advanced manufacturing sector gains prestige

Experts told Business Insider that several factors are driving more graduates toward manufacturing and energy jobs.

China’s industrial sectors, especially semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, and renewable energy, have become “highly technology-intensive and now demand top engineering talent,” said Fu Fangjian, associate professor of finance at Singapore Management University.

Many young graduates now see them as “opportunities to work on cutting-edge technologies rather than traditional factory work,” he said, adding that these jobs can offer “very competitive” salaries.

Experts say the nature of manufacturing jobs has evolved as China upgrades its industrial base.

Sectors such as electric vehicles, power equipment, and nuclear energy now require expertise in engineering, data science, and systems integration, said Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow with the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore.

“‘Hardware’ and advanced manufacturing are no longer seen as low-skill industries but as high-tech innovation sectors involving robotics, semiconductors, advanced materials, and industrial AI,” Fu said.

As a result, advanced manufacturing is increasingly viewed as a frontier technology sector rather than a blue-collar industry, said Zhao, who researches China’s social policy.

Highly technical engineering or research roles in this sector “carry considerable prestige among engineering students,” he added.

Tech and finance jobs lose their shine

For years, many of China’s top graduates gravitated toward internet platforms and finance, drawn by rapid growth and high pay.

But hiring in the platform economy has slowed, while tighter regulation has added more uncertainty, said Fu.

“At the same time, investment attention has shifted toward HALO sectors —hardware, industrial technology, and energy— redirecting both capital and talent,” he added.

China’s job market has long been challenging for young graduates entering the workforce.

In December, the unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24 — excluding students — stood at 16.5%, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in January. By comparison, unemployment was 6.9% for those aged 25 to 29 and 3.9% for workers aged 30 to 59.

The Chinese tech sector has been trimming headcount in recent years as companies focus on cutting costs and improving efficiency.

Alibaba’s workforce has shrunk by more than half, from about 250,000 full-time employees in March 2022 to about 124,000 in March 2025, according to a report by Chinese financial news outlet Caixin.

Baidu’s workforce stood at 35,900 at the end of 2024, down 21.1% from its peak in 2021, the report in August added.

Meanwhile, demand in manufacturing remains strong. A government manufacturing talent development plan projected that nearly 30 million skilled manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2025.

“China is the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles, batteries, and solar equipment, and these sectors require a large technical workforce,” said Zhao.

Government policy has also helped reshape the job landscape, experts said.

Over the past decade, China has prioritised strategic sectors such as electric vehicles, renewable energy, power equipment, and advanced materials through industrial policies, research programmes, and large-scale investment, said Zhao.

“These sectors have therefore become major employers of engineering graduates,” he added.

Universities, research institutes, and state-supported firms are aligned with these national priorities, which encourages more talented graduates to enter these fields, Fu said.




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These companies want their tariff money back from the Trump administration, and they’re suing

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BYD’s lawsuit marks the first from a Chinese carmaker against Trump’s tariffs.

The EV giant filed the suit on February 9 and detailed nine executive orders related to trade that affected the company, including tariffs on cars, auto parts, aluminum, steel, and exports from China.

In the complaint, BYD wrote that it is seeking a refund of “all IEEPA tariffs paid to date” and “all IEEPA tariffs that may be paid in the future.”

The company also said that aside from China, its imports into the US from Canada, Germany, Mexico, and Poland were also affected.

The Chinese carmaker does not sell passenger cars in the US, but its business here includes buses, commercial vehicles, batteries, energy storage systems, and solar panels. According to its website, the company’s truck plant in Lancaster, California, employs 750 workers.




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The mega-rich are moving. Here’s where they’re going.

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Andrew Rosener had already built a successful domain name brokerage when he and his wife found themselves asking a familiar question: Where do we want to live, not just work?

The answer turned out to be Portugal.

The American founder of MediaOptions, a domain broker, says the country checked every box: safe, sunny, affordable, and steeped in a culture that feels both European and Latin American. “There’s no other place like it,” he says. “Portugal created the single greatest immigration culture on Earth,” he says, citing the Golden Visa, the Startup Visa, the Digital Nomad Visa, and the Tech Visa, among other programs offered by the country.

The Rosener family flew over in May 2018. “Ten days later, we bought our dream house,” Rosener says. “Since then, the value’s gone up 250%.”

The entrepreneur was an early adopter. In 2018, only 108,000 extremely wealthy individuals emigrated to a new country. Since then, the global migration of the ultrawealthy has grown dramatically. According to the private wealth research firm Henley & Partners, 134,000 UHNWIs migrated in 2024, a year when more than 70 countries went to the polls and upended civil norms. By the end of 2025, more than 142,000 HNWIs were expected to have relocated.

“We’re seeing a dramatic shift in global wealth flows,” said Jeremy Savory, founder of Millionaire Migrant, a global consulting firm that helps wealthy families find places to relocate. “More people are rethinking traditional wealth hubs like the UK and China, while places like Portugal, the UAE, and Singapore are surging in popularity.”

The reasons behind these relocations are as diverse as the individuals making the move, but a few key factors stand out. Tax efficiency is at the top of the list. Wealthy non-Americans are increasingly seeking countries where they can retain a greater share of their earnings, particularly through capital gains, income, and estate taxes. Countries with lower tax burdens offer a substantial financial advantage, making them highly attractive to the global elite.

Switzerland, for example, has a lump-sum tax scheme that uses a taxpayer’s lifestyle expenses as a surrogate tax base, rather than taxing global income and assets. Panama taxes citizens only on income earned in the country, making it a true tax haven. The UAE doesn’t levy income tax; instead, it relies on a 5% value-added tax. Since US citizens are taxed on worldwide income, they don’t really benefit from alternative tax strategies — unless, perhaps, they leave a state like California or New York, with their high state and city taxes. However, says Basil Mohr Elzeki, Managing Partner at Henley & Partners, “Obtaining additional residencies and citizenships still remains a hedge for future potential tax reforms in the United States.”

Geopolitical safety is another driver. With political instability, civil unrest, and even the threat of war growing at an alarming rate in many parts of the world — think Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan — wealthy individuals are opting to leave regions where they feel vulnerable in favor of more stable and secure environments. Quality of life is also a significant consideration. The Roseners are having a blast in Portugal, where they have access to decent healthcare, world-class education, clean and well-maintained public spaces, and a low crime rate. And while the country provides almost no social benefits and has some of the lowest wages in all of Europe, it deters migrants with less wealth seeking employment. “So if you’re looking for work, there is no reason to come here,” Rosener says.

Nevertheless, business opportunities play a crucial role in deciding where to plant a flag. Many of the global wealthy are relocating to cities that offer entrepreneurial freedom, often lacking in more bureaucratic regions. The ability to set up and run businesses with fewer regulatory hurdles is a compelling draw for people looking to capitalize on global opportunities or launch a startup.

And let’s not understate the benefits of having a “good” passport. With growing restrictions on travel to many countries, wealthy individuals are applying for second residencies or even multiple citizenships as a safeguard. This “Plan B” provides them not only with a strategic escape route in the face of unforeseen political or social upheaval but also with a sense of greater freedom and flexibility in their personal and professional lives. Also, with these passports, fewer visas are required.

Here are five (OK, really six) of the top destinations winning this geopolitical arms race to lure the world’s wealthiest people.

Dubai


Andrew Aitchison / In pictures via Getty Images

It is no surprise that Dubai has cemented itself as the premier destination for the global elite in recent years, attracting wealthy individuals from across Europe, Russia, and beyond. Known for its lump-sum tax policy and luxury lifestyle, Dubai offers an attractive package for the ultrawealthy. According to Elzeki, the UAE continues to see significant immigration inflows, particularly after recent tax reforms. This year, nearly 10,000 wealthy foreigners are expected to relocate to the UAE, making it the top destination for ultrawealthy migrants.

Savory believes that technology is the biggest reason the global rich can migrate. “Technology is enabling us to live anywhere,” says the Brit who lives in Dubai. “Just like with business, the world is an open playing field. Governments have to compete with one another to win investments and wealthy immigrants.”

“Dubai’s appeal is its pro-business environment, minimal red tape, and tax-free status,” Elzeki says. “It’s the ultimate destination for people looking to invest and live in a luxurious environment with limited government interference.”

The city’s appeal isn’t just for business moguls. Many entertainers, athletes, and tech entrepreneurs are calling Dubai home, though not so many from the United States. With a steady flow of talent and investment, particularly in real estate, Dubai is rapidly emerging as a global powerhouse. Monaco, watch out.

Portugal


Cityscape and skyline of the Alfama district


Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images

Portugal remains one of the most popular destinations, particularly for American centimillionaires seeking a European foothold/hedge. The so-called Golden Visa Program for “non-habitual residents” has been a major factor, though it expired in March 2025. No longer do new emigrées get a 10-year tax break for 10 years; now they’re taxed at 20% on most Portugal-derived income and none on foreign income.

However, Portugal’s relatively low taxes, warm climate, and laid-back lifestyle continue to attract people from all over the world, particularly from the US and Brazil. “Portugal’s tax incentives, like the scientific research and innovation tax incentives, are incredibly attractive,” says Elzeki. “With a fast-track route to citizenship, many are opting to apply for residency as a hedge” against whatever chaos is happening in their country of origin.

Another reason to like the idea of living in Portugal: The country responds to its citizens’ demands. With the massive influx of migrants since the COVID-19 pandemic, real estate prices have soared, says Andrew Amoils, head of research for New World Wealth, a wealth intelligence company based in South Africa. As a result, the country changed the Golden Visa rules. “There was a backlash from locals who felt they were being priced out,” he says. One solution: Make wealthy migrants contribute to social funds rather than build fancy mansions.

Singapore


People gather along the boardwalk in front of the skyline at Marina Bay in Singapore


ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Singapore stands out as Asia’s business hub, with its strategic location and tax advantages attracting a mix of wealthy entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals. It has no capital gains tax and a very pro-business environment, which makes it a top choice for global billionaires, particularly those from China and India. It’s also clean, safe, and close enough for weekend trips to Bali or Phuket.

“Singapore is a magnet for Southeast Asians and increasingly for Western entrepreneurs as well,” says Amoils. “It’s a place that offers both lifestyle and business opportunities without the tax burden found in other global cities.”

Italy


Villa Poggio Torselli in Val di Pesa, Tuscany, Italy


1666-ca 1745

Italy has become an unexpected favorite among many of the world’s wealthiest individuals, particularly Americans seeking a lifestyle change and favorable tax treatments. Italy’s flat tax, capped at €200,000 annually (double last year’s level), applies regardless of income, making it particularly enticing for the ultrawealthy. Combined with the country’s rich cultural history, stunning landscapes, welcoming climate, and a decent number of international flights, Italy is now home to a growing number of billionaires.

“A lot of wealthy Americans have found that Italy offers a unique combination of luxury living and tax incentives,” says Elzeki. “It’s more affordable than places like Monaco or London, yet it offers that European charm with significant tax benefits.”

Australia and New Zealand


The skyline of Auckland. from a hilltop


Jan Kruger – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Australia and New Zealand continue to attract high-net-worth individuals, though the distance may be a limiting factor for many. Despite this, both countries are known for their stable economies, excellent healthcare systems, and high quality of life. (And to Americans, strict gun laws.)

“Australia is still a top choice for South Africans and Brits, especially retirees,” says Amoils. “But the rules have changed over the last decade, and they now prefer younger applicants with specific skills, like plumbers and teachers.”

New Zealand, on the other hand, offers a more straightforward pathway to residency through an investment-based program. For those looking for a retreat from geopolitical risks and a peaceful lifestyle, New Zealand, with its relatively low cost of living and unspoiled scenery, remains a strong contender.




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Sales reps at $11 billion AI startup ElevenLabs have to bring in 20 times their base salary, or they’re out — VP says

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At $11 billion AI startup ElevenLabs, the message to sales reps is simple: Hit 20x your base salary, or you’re out.

Speaking on the 20VC podcast on Friday, Carles Reina, VP of sales at the voice-cloning startup, talked through its “ruthless” quotas.

“So if I pay you $100,000 a year, your quota is $2 million. That’s it. If you don’t achieve your quota, then you’re going to be out, right?” Reina said. “And we’re ruthless on that end.”

ElevenLabs — which was recently valued at $11 billion after closing a $500 million funding round — operates in micro-teams of five to ten people each, according to CEO and cofounder Mati Staniszewski, who spoke on a separate 20VC podcast episode in September.

Reina said he prefers to operate in smaller teams that hit their quotas, and pay them more.

Small teams have become a growing trend in tech, with AI startups touting their ability to scale with far fewer employees by working alongside AI agents.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman wrote in January that a team of 15 people using AI can rival a team of 150 who aren’t.

Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg said on a Meta earnings call in July that he has “gotten a little bit more convinced around the ability for small, talent-dense teams to be the optimal configuration for driving frontier research.”

Reina said the “ruthless” quota has been successful at ElevenLabs, saying on the 20VC podcast that more than 80% of reps hit their sales quota.

ElevenLabs did not respond to a request for a comment.

He added that the firm compensates both the account executive and customer success manager if they upsell a company within the first 12 months.

“I’m paying double, but I don’t care,” Reina said. “It makes perfect sense because then I have these two people busting their ass to make sure that they actually can make more money, which is fantastic for me as a company.”

The push for higher performance isn’t limited to AI startups.

In April, Google said it was restructuring its compensation structure to increase rewards for top performers. “High performance is more important than ever,” Google’s head of compensation told staff at the time.




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AI agents failed at real-world consulting tasks — but Mercor’s CEO says they’re still on track to replace consultants

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New research suggests an AI agent can’t fully replace a human consultant — at least for now.

Mercor, the AI training giant, tested how well leading AI models, acting as agents, performed real-world consulting, banking, and legal tasks.

The models failed most of the time, but Mercor’s CEO, Brendan Foody, told Business Insider that the results tell only part of the story.

The consulting tasks in Mercor’s APEX-Agents benchmark were designed to simulate real management consulting work, based on expert surveys and input from consultants at McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, Accenture, and EY.

Across all task categories, the AI agents successfully completed the tasks less than 25% of the time on the first try. Given eight attempts, the agents could only complete 40% of the tasks. For the management consulting tasks, OpenAI’s GPT 5.2 initially performed the best, completing nearly 23% of the tasks on its first attempt. Anthropic’s Opus 4.6, released this week, performed even better at nearly 33%.

While many of the tasks were not completed, Foody said the success rate for GPT 3 was only 3%, compared to 23% for GPT 5.2. Anthropic’s model went from 13% to 33% on consulting tasks in a matter of months. Foody said he expects the success rate of the models to be closer to 50% by the end of the year.

“These are some of the hardest tasks in the economy that people pay millions of dollars to consulting firms to do, and the models are finally being able to do them with an incredible rate of progress,” Foody said.

AI has already disrupted the consulting industry, changing the way firms hire and make money, but the likelihood of agents displacing consultants grows as the models continue to improve.

McKinsey chief Bob Sternfels recently said the prestigious management consulting firm had 60,000 employees, 25,000 of which were AI agents.

Sternfels recently said it’s the first time in McKinsey’s history that the company is able to grow without growing its head count.

Where AI agents fail in consulting tasks

The frontier models Mercor tested included those from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, among others.

One example consulting task instructed the AI agent to “analyze category consumption patterns and market penetration using the Category Penetration Score methodology for PureLife’s portfolio strategy,” asking for several specific outputs in response. The AI agents failed to produce an accurate response.

“No model is ready to replace a professional end-to-end,” the findings concluded.

Mercor found the AI agents were great at research and pretty good at data analysis, Foody said.

Where they consistently got tripped up was on longer-horizon tasks — the longer it would take a human to complete a task, or the more steps it took, was the biggest indicator that the model might have a hard time.

Unlike a human, Foody said, the models struggle to understand where in a specific file system they should look for the right information, so they often end up looking at the wrong files. They struggle with the planning side of figuring out how to work with multiple tools and cross-referencing files at the same time.

For tasks that can be done in an hour or less or that only require the use of a single tool, the models perform relatively well.

Foody said the agents are almost like interns, where they might have a 50% pass rate, and the partner is still noticing a lot of issues in the work.

Frank Jones, a former KPMG consultant who now works as an expert contractor for Mercor, said in his experience training AI, he’s found the models can get close at certain tasks, but that some human refinement is often needed.

He also said the models need very specific prompts because they don’t always understand common expectations or phrases in consulting, like “client-ready.”

“Most consultants, they know what that means. But for AI, I think there’s a lot of nuance in that,” he said.

The AI models are quickly improving

According to Foody, continuing to improve the models doesn’t require a breakthrough — it requires more and better training, which the frontier labs are already investing heavily in.

“That’s why we have so much revenue,” he said, adding, “We’re in the business of replacing human judgment.”

Mercor, whose clients have included OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, secured a funding deal in the fall that valued the company at $10 billion. Mercor employs more than 30,000 contractors around the world who help train AI models through tasks like rewriting chatbot responses. Foody previously said the company grew its revenue in 2025 by 4,658%.

Foody said he believes consulting, and especially lower-level roles, are among the jobs he’s confident will be displaced by AI. He said the next version of the AI agents benchmark will expand to evaluate the whole value chain of a professional services firm: “Instead of evaling the analyst, we’re evaling McKinsey itself.”

Right now, he says Mercor’s AI agent benchmark tells an appealing story for McKinsey, because the company could say it shows they can use AI to add value but not replace humans.

“The next version of APEX tells a very scary story for McKinsey,” he said, adding, “In the coming two years, we’re going to have chatbots that are as good as the best consulting firm.”




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