In a landmark agreement announced on July 11, 2023, KPMG and Microsoft committed to reshaping the professional services landscape by placing Artificial intelligence (IA) at the forefront of your operations. This significant expansion of their global relationship is aimed at modernizing the workforce, ensuring secure development, and expanding the use of AI solutions across industries and society.

The collaboration marks a multi-billion dollar commitment from KPMG to Microsoft cloud and AI services over the next five years. This strategic investment is expected to unlock an incremental growth opportunity for KPMG beyond US$12 billion, marking a major milestone in the AI ​​and professional services industry.

Microsoft cloud capabilities and Azure OpenAI Service will be leveraged to power KPMG’s global workforce of 265,000. The goal is to improve the speed of analysis and allow more time for strategic advice, helping more than 2,500 joint clients of KPMG and Microsoft navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

As part of the alliance, KPMG professionals will test Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service technologies with select business groups. This initiative is expected to accelerate the development of digital solutions and improve customer engagements.

The collaboration will also infuse data analytics, AI and Azure Cognitive Services into KPMG’s audit process, enabling its 85,000 audit professionals to focus more on the highest risk areas of the audit, industry-specific risks and challenges. In the tax sector, the integration of Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Fabric into KPMG Digital Gateway will provide clients with more integrated and transparent access to their data.

This landmark agreement between KPMG and Microsoft marks a major step forward in integrating AI into professional services, promising to deliver innovative solutions and drive sustainable growth in the industry.

Microsoft’s AI Strategy

Microsoft’s AI strategy has been evolving since 2017, when the company shifted its vision from mobile first to AI first, while maintaining its cloud-first focus. Since then, Microsoft has accelerated the integration of AI into its products and invested heavily in AI companies.

AI is now one of the hottest industries, with Bill Gates’ dream of “a computer on every desk” changing to “everyone has an AI assistant.” According to a study by Grandview Research, the global AI market could grow by an average of 37% per year through 2030, becoming a $1.8 trillion market by the end of the decade.

The AI ​​buzz seems to have been triggered by ChatGPT. Microsoft first invested $1 billion in ChatGPT owner OpenAI on July 22, 2019. This year on January 24, Microsoft invested $10 billion in ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Additionally, on May 11, 2023, Microsoft made a strategic investment in Builder.ai, and on June 29, Inflection, the Microsoft-backed AI startup, raised $1.3 billion from Nvidia and others.

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