Driving Talent and Impact through Data at KPMG

With the launch of KPMG 2024 Impact Plan, I took a few minutes to reflect on the impact we have for our clients, our communities, and our professionals as we navigate the ever-evolving economic and social landscape.? I was most struck by what Laura Newinski , our Deputy Chair and COO stated:

“If our industry is facing a shortage of skilled talent, how can we improve our approach to motivate the next generation of the professional services workforce? This is why we are committed to measuring, understanding, and reporting our data as well as why we are investing in the governance foundations needed to lead on technology and trusted AI.”

The investment that Laura identifies is primarily in our people. By centering on our people's growth , and identifying areas where they can grow and can apply their expertise and skills, we're able to utilize the full spectrum of KPMG's competencies and help address ?pressing challenges in our society and economy. Which is why KPMG support of the Data Citizens with Purpose? (DCwP) program continues to be so valuable.

As the leading the way KPMG works Together, For Better with data, DCwP helps further the professional development in our employees across the firm by providing active learning experiences, which serve our communities and develop data driven solutions to difficult ESG concerns. It is a program KPMG created to build and deliver experiences directed towards helping our professionals grow their data and analytics skills while making an impact on the communities we serve.

This is true of pro bono engagements, ?hackathons and university innovation experiences. Earlier this year, our team delivered our Generative AI for Enterprise Insights hackathon with a goal of educating our KPMG professionals to know when it is most appropriate to use generative AI tools, how to consider ethical implications around their usage, and how to engage in proper human intervention to validate and leverage their output. A piece of feedback that we got from a participant:

“Overall, our team delivered a technical framework for working with a high volume of financial documents that could enhance a buy-side analyst's ability to perform their due diligence. We also learned a lot about the challenges and opportunities of working with LLMs. Likewise, learning how to validate and leverage their output certainly made this an innovative and exciting experience. We look forward to further experimentation and iteration in this area, and to leveraging LLMs and other related to technologies to further enhance document analysis in the finance industry in the years to come.” - Dylan Levine, Senior Associate

Dylan’s reflection echoes what Laura hopes to instill in the next generation of our professional services workforce. His statement demonstrates an understanding, the kind of understanding deeply rooted in experiential learning, we strive to foster in all KPMG professionals.