KPMG releases internal AI tool KymChat for Australian clients

Professional services firm KPMG and tech giant Microsoft have extended their long-running relationship, which has seen the release of its internal AI tool KymChat to Australian clients.

The Australian branch of professional services firm KPMG has set loose its internal generative AI product on the local business public. Dubbed KymChat and founded on Open AI’s ChatGPT technology, the tool was first introduced to the consultancy’s professionals earlier this year, after some initial hesitation, but will now be available to clients following a global expansion deal with predominant owner Microsoft.

“Many Australian organisations are grappling with the rapid roll-out of AI,” said John Munnelly, installed last year as KPMG chief digital officer.

“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. This has been made possible with the recent release of its Azure OpenAI services and will leverage Microsoft’s best AI practices and patterns.”

Munnelly also noted that the new offering is built off the back of the firm’s own trials and “lessons learned”, with early use-cases including internal AI match-making between KPMG’s 10,000-strong nation-wide consulting expertise and the requirements of client requests. The firm describes the tool’s processing power as equal to the fifth largest super-computer in the world, but accessible to employees through desktop or phone.

“The launch provides KPMG clients with a great opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how AI can enhance productivity and revolutionise their operations,” commented Microsoft Australia and NZ CTO Lee Hickin, who added, “We’re still witnessing the start of this era of AI. As businesses apply the tools in different ways, we discover more about the incredible potential of responsibly managed artificial intelligence.”

The local public KymChat ‘Accelerator” launch follows what the global firm said was a “significant expansion” of its global relationship with Microsoft and mutual multi-billion cloud and AI investment, which would “reshape professional services” across a number of business-critical areas such as workforce modernisation, “safe and secure development”, and the use of AI solutions for “clients, industries and society.”

“Our renewed and strengthened relationship with Microsoft is an exciting moment for our people and our clients,” said global chairman and CEO Bill Thomas. “It will help harness the power of our multidisciplinary model by ensuring that our people always have the right expertise, skills, and tools to overcome challenges and provide the very best advice to clients. It will also help make KPMG a more agile and resilient business.”

In the joint firms’ own words, the expected partnership benefits will be found in multiple areas of KPMG’s own core business, including within audit (by infusing data analytics, AI and Azure Cognitive Services into the process); Tax, (integrating Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Fabric into KPMG’s single platform solution Digital Gateway); and Advisory, which will “expedite the creation of specialised solutions for clients.”