A Century of Plenty: The $700 Billion AI Supercycle

McKinsey Global Institute director Chris Bradley discusses the potential for a world of universal abundance by 2100.

Apr. 1, 2026 at 11:36pm by Ben Kaplan

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In this episode of Motley Fool Money, Motley Fool analyst Rachel Warren talks with Chris Bradley, senior partner and director of the McKinsey Global Institute, about the next 75 years, the $700 billion AI supercycle, and why the world needs an energy renaissance to achieve a future of global prosperity.

Why it matters

The book "A Century of Plenty" presents an ambitious goal of having every person on Earth live at or above the current standards of prosperity in Switzerland by the year 2100. This would require the global economy to grow 8.5 times its current size, raising questions about the feasibility and constraints around resources, energy, and technology to achieve such a dramatic increase in human welfare worldwide.

The details

Bradley and his team at the McKinsey Global Institute systematically analyzed the world's physical and economic resources, finding that with continued productivity growth and technological innovation, it is indeed possible to provide a Swiss standard of living for all 8 billion people on the planet by the end of the century. Key to this will be a massive investment supercycle, particularly in areas like AI, electrification, and next-generation energy sources like nuclear power.

  • The McKinsey Global Institute was founded around 1925.
  • The global economy is now 24 times larger than it was in 1925.

The players

Chris Bradley

A senior partner at McKinsey and Company and director of the McKinsey Global Institute, where he leads research on productivity, growth, and the future of industries.

McKinsey Global Institute

A research arm of the McKinsey & Company consulting firm that investigates economic and business issues critical to the world's companies and policy leaders.

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What they’re saying

“The world is a magic petri dish in two ways. First of all, it's really big. Our petri dish is just much bigger than we think. More than half of the world's economic activity happens on way less than 1% of its surface. The second one is our petri dish is magic because it grows over time.”

— Chris Bradley, Senior Partner and Director, McKinsey Global Institute

The takeaway

Achieving universal prosperity by 2100 will require a massive, sustained investment supercycle in areas like AI, electrification, and next-generation energy, but the McKinsey analysis shows it is physically possible given the world's abundant resources and the power of continued productivity growth.