Deloitte launches Gen AI tool for its 13,000 staff in Australia
Professional services firm Deloitte has launched a new internal Generative AI platform dubbed MyAssist for its 13,000-strong workforce in Australia, following more than a year of development.
The tool will provide access to a number of different models and applications and support staff with everyday tasks such as information research and analysis, drafting content, data handling, and developing and testing code.
Declaring GenAI as the most important productivity tool to emerge in years, Deloitte chief Adam Powick said the firm was committed to equipping its people to use the technology “to improve the speed and quality of work outcomes.”
Speaking on its release, Deloitte GenAI lead Stu Scotis added: “We know that human intelligence won’t be fully replaced by GenAI, but the ability for the completion of tasks to be accelerated by people who understand how to use it effectively is significant. Our focus in the release of MyAssist has been on augmenting the work of our people so they can spend more time operating at the top of their skill-set.”
The earliest of the Big Four to tilt towards digital at the global level, Deloitte has been relatively cautious in the roll-out of its local GenAI platform compared to its rivals. Both KPMG and PwC jumped out of the blocks more than a year ago, while Ernst & Young went big in September with a unified global AI platform incorporating its in-house tool EYQ.
Deloitte has however been using generative AI tools both generally and in specific areas, with the development of MyAssist granting the firm a greater insight into how they were being adopted and used by different parts of its business. One trial found that a core set of common tasks accounted for up to half of some workers’ time, which the tool was then optimised to support.
“Tech does not need to be big and complex, finding solutions for small and simple tasks repeated regularly can have an enormous impact,” Scotis said. “We have a diverse business but we also know there are common activities embedded across really diverse functions, so we wanted to develop a platform that helped all of our teams.”
Designed to be scalable to address specific business problems through the creation of customised apps, MyAssist draws on the development of similar tools across Deloitte’s global network, while ESG diagnostic and reporting platform SustainNext is among the GenAI-enabled tools already in use and built by the firm locally. Deloitte has also been operating an AI research institute in Melbourne since mid-2021.
“Our strategy is to be an AI-fuelled organisation,” said Kellie Nuttall, who leads the institute and noted that over a third of Deloitte’s staff have undertaken GenAI training in the past year alone. “GenAI is restructuring the way we work by reducing administrative burdens and allowing resources to be reinvested into higher value activities. Businesses must continue to empower employees to fully adopt GenAI.”
