When exploring AI’s potential to unlock innovation and efficiency, every organization faces critical questions about the impact on people. While AI promises to transform how work gets done, there remains much that humans can do — and machines can’t.
Partner, Head of Workforce Innovation, KPMG LLP
What’s more, realizing the full value of AI and other innovations requires people who are willing and able to work with the tech, not against it.
How can leaders determine the best division of “labor” between people and technology? How can you prepare your workforce for this new breed of “colleague”? What are some no-regrets workforce investments you can start making today? For KPMG LLP, these aren’t theoretical challenges or rhetorical questions. They’re among the complex issues we’re addressing as part of our own AI and digital transformation.
Prioritizing the Human Side of AI Innovation
With every significant wave of disruption, technology has proven to create more jobs than it destroys. While we are still in the early stages of the adoption of AI, we anticipate it will follow a similar trajectory. That said, no other technology has so directly impacted knowledge workers. Consequently, we view AI workforce transformation as more than a technology upgrade. It’s a chance to reshape the workforce and rework work.
In planning and executing our transformation, we’ve committed to embracing the human side of innovation and seeing AI as a complement to the workforce of the future. It should not be viewed as a job taker, but a potential job maker — one that elevates people into more strategic and creative roles.
That won’t happen by accident. It requires intentional planning and investment — and we believe it is the role and responsibility of every employer to prepare and invest in their workforce.
We’re taking a people-first, human-centric approach to AI transformation. And we’re treating it not as another tech deployment, but as a transformative process that puts people at the forefront.
We’ve already spent more than a decade innovating with AI and helping our clients use it to drive service enhancements and increase productivity. In powering our own transformation, we consider ourselves to be “client zero” — and we’re taking our own advice when adopting AI. We’re taking a people-first, human-centric approach to AI transformation. And we’re treating it not as another tech deployment, but as a transformative process that puts people at the forefront.
In short, KPMG is committed to demonstrating what it means to be human-centric, and we’re striving to be transparent about the hard questions we are still trying to answer.
Building Our aIQ
Change of this scope and scale occurs in both formal, “official” ways and through day-to-day collaborations and interactions. To guide both, KPMG invested in naming and messaging for our AI initiative, and on February 28, 2024, we unveiled KPMG aIQ to our KPMG US workforce.
KPMG aIQ is our program for accelerating and expanding the firm’s efforts to prepare our workforce for an AI-forward approach to serving clients and running the business. Through KPMG aIQ, we’re aiming to enable 100% of our partners and employees to integrate GenAI into their everyday work by the end of 2024.
To that end, 30,000+ employees have already begun AI learning journeys. Taking this human-centric approach is paramount as it is the expertise and experience of our professionals that makes the difference and delivers transformative outcomes for clients. In this article, we share some highlights of KPMG aIQ to help inform and inspire others leading similar change initiatives.
Four Must-Dos for Human-centric AI Transformation
As any organization embarks on AI transformation, consider these short- and long-term investments that we’re making to accelerate and drive AI adoption:
1. Use talent planning and workforce shaping to help talent leaders deconstruct/reconstruct how work is done.
Leaders will increasingly ask how AI can streamline projects. To do so, companies should invest to better understand how AI impacts productivity before embarking on a major technology rollout. Workforce shaping is a critical part of transforming the workforce and addressing future talent gaps. To minimize workforce shock and manage organizational risk, we’re taking a cross-functional, holistic approach to AI workforce transformation. More specifically, we’re focusing on identifying capabilities, roles, and enablers; activating role augmentation; capturing value; and addressing risk and compliance.
2. Invest in upskilling and reskilling to help people adapt to new responsibilities and opportunities.
Companies must prepare for an AI-forward future now and invest in AI training and education initiatives, focused on increasing workforce productivity and equipping workers to use AI safely, securely, and responsibly.
3. Reimagine the employee experience.
Take a human-centric approach to tackling the required changes that AI will have to existing processes, systems, and work norms. With KPMG aIQ, our focus is on empowering employees to translate those productivity gains into improved job satisfaction, rewarding careers and better experiences for clients. Our talent strategy is focused on future-proofing our workforce by supporting our people and maximizing their potential, and a big part of that is developing them today to meet the business needs for tomorrow.
4. Above all, lead with culture and values to guard against the negative impacts of AI.
Start by articulating a clear vision. For KPMG, we’ve declared, “In the age of GenAI, organizations must be bold, fast, and responsible. While last year was marked by a surge in AI-related excitement, we believe the disruption AI will have on the way we live and work is underestimated. At KPMG, we envision a future powered by AI, where its capabilities will reshape industries and drive innovation in ways we have yet to fully comprehend.” These statements ground all our efforts — providing a North Star for every employee.
Tap into the Power of Human Ingenuity
Humans are curious. We’re creative. And when faced with even the most daunting challenges, we’re willing to rise and meet the moment. Human ingenuity is what got us to the moon in the 1960s. It’s what will help us realize the promise of quantum computing
in the no-longer-distant future. And it’s what can help your organization break new ground as you meet your mission, power growth, and make a bigger, better impact in business and society.
Edwige Sacco is responsible for advising clients globally on financial crimes compliance matters. Additionally, she serves as KPMG’s Boston Forensics Leader and Senior People Management Leader.
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