KPMG unveils major upgrades to AI capabilities

KPMG and Microsoft have announced a significant expansion of their global relationship which will enable KPMG professionals to leverage the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) across a number of business areas.

As part of a multi-billion-dollar collaboration, KPMG professionals will pilot Microsoft cloud and Azure OpenAI Service capabilities over a five-year period.

Microsoft cloud and Azure OpenAI Service capabilities will help KPMG professionals to provide faster analysis and allow them to dedicate more time on strategic advice, according to the big 4 firm.

As an early access partner for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service, KPMG professionals will utilise the technologies with select business groups across the global organisation.

Audit

As part of its plan to expand its use of AI technology, KPMG will integrate AI and Azure Cognitive Services into the audit process, through the KPMG smart audit platform KPMG Clara.

The technology will help KPMG’s 85,000 audit professionals to identify higher-risk areas, sector-specific risks and challenges when conducting audits to the benefit of both stakeholders and capital markets.

“This integration also opens up new market opportunities for KPMG professionals and their clients,” said KPMG.

“For example, with the integration of Microsoft Fabric, KPMG teams will have the ability to directly point to client data instead of having to ingest it, which is a key component to helping enable KPMG professionals to perform audits on a more real time basis.”

Tax

Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Fabric will be integrated into the KPMG Digital Gateway, a KPMG single platform solution, which will give clients access to the full suite of KPMG tax and legal technologies.

The integration will provide clients with greater and more transparent access to their data, allowing them to take a more holistic management approach to their tax functions, according to KPMG.

“This was demonstrated most recently through a co-developed AI solution using the Azure OpenAI Service that helps to analyse environmental, social and governance (ESG) data, establish data patterns and draft ESG tax transparency reports, all at increased speed and scale,” the firm said.

Additionally, KPMG firms will operate a generative-AI powered virtual assistant to create new client service models to help tax professionals become more efficient.

"It will also help with revenue-generating opportunities such as product experience enhancements and knowledge management for complex tax laws,” said KPMG.

Advisory

The AI applications will also speed up the creation of specialised solutions for clients.

“Developing an AI-enabled application development and knowledge platform on Microsoft Azure will expedite the creation of specialised solutions for clients, helping to enhance their competitive advantage and profitability while putting ethics and security at the very core of the offerings,” said KPMG.

KPMG and Microsoft are already working with Coca-Cola EuroPacific Partners (CCEP) on innovative use cases which pioneer improvements to back-office efficiency using generative AI on the Azure platform.

“By using this new technology, we will prepare our organisation for the future, improve our employee experience and support our growth ambitions globally,” said Peter Brickley, Chief Information Officer at CCEP.

ESG

KPMG professionals will also work together with Microsoft to help support businesses with their ESG agendas.

“Building on the success of the KPMG Circularity Tracker and an ESG and climate data management and analytics solution, both of which have Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and Microsoft Azure at their core, joint teams will continue to help clients to unify their data sources, leverage the required inputs to help make real-time value-add decisions, and help them to deliver on their sustainability commitments,” the firm said.

Launch of KymChat

KPMG has also officially announced the release of its generative AI agent, called KPMG KymChat.

The firm launched KPMG KymChat internally in March 2023, enabling KPMG employees to access the processing power of the fifth largest supercomputer in the world through a digital assistant on their desktop and phone.

KPMG KymChat allows the firm’s employees to safely use AI technology in the workplace without having client data leave the KPMG environment.

Australian organisations will now be able to implement their own version of KPMG KymChat through an ‘accelerator’ solution that combines KymChat’s use cases, features and lessons learnt, with bespoke consulting services.

KPMG Chief Digital Officer John Munnelly said many Australian organisations are grappling with the rapid roll-out of AI.

“We fielded so many enquiries about how we were using KymChat as an internal tool that we decided to launch a version for clients to use,” said Mr Munnelly.

“This has been made possible with the recent release of Microsoft Azure OpenAI services and will leverage Microsoft’s best AI practices and patterns as well as the lessons we’ve learned at KPMG.”