KPMG New Zealand Celebrates One Year of AI Chat Tool, KITT

Auckland, New Zealand - May 22, 2024

Today, KPMG New Zealand marks a significant milestone as it celebrates the first birthday of the firm's internal AI chat tool, KITT.

For the past year, thanks to KITT, KPMG New Zealand employees have had access to the processing power of the fifth-largest supercomputer in the world. This AI chat tool has allowed employees to safely use groundbreaking technology in the workplace, whilst ensuring client data security and KPMG's environment remains highly secure.

KPMG's Chief Digital Officer, Cowan Pettigrew, says that "KITT has become an integral part of our technological advancements, enabling us to streamline communication processes and make day-to-day tasks easier."

“We hoped that KITT would support the firm’s culture of innovation, boost efficiencies, and create a better people experience... it has done exactly that.”  

Key highlights of KITT's impact on the firm in the last year include:

• 1314 out of approximately 1600 employees utilising the tool
• Over 500,000 messages have been exchanged with KITT
• Invaluable discussions and events with clients, exchanging learnings and insights about generative AI
• Global collaboration and learning with international colleagues
• Increased understanding of KPMG policies through staff's ability to ask KITT questions they might not know where to find answers to or not want to ask

To mark the significant milestone, and continue efforts to enhance the KITT experience, the New Zealand firm held a competition throughout April and May. The competition provided valuable insights into the diverse ways KPMG teams are engaging with KITT.

Some use cases people shared include setting goals aligned with team objectives and personal aspirations and utilising KITT to create weekly schedules based on tasks and priorities.

KPMG is committed to exploring how its employees use AI to support their work with clients and each other. This commitment is exemplified by the upcoming plan to launch a Copilot pilot in June 2024, which builds on the firm's mission to assist clients in adopting AI as the firm gains more insights.

“We’re on the next phase of our AI journey. As we celebrate KITT's first birthday, we are excited about the potential for continued innovation and collaboration as we leverage cutting-edge AI technologies to support our clients, people and communities,” says Pettigrew.