The Insight: on AI, people and the planet

This month, after all the excitement around AI, we’ve been considering its impact on people and the IT function. We’ve also been looking at the big themes coming out of the World Economic Forum and talking to Marie Curie's Chair Vindi Banga.

Is your IT function set up for cloud and AI???

There’s barely a conversation we have about tech that doesn’t feature cloud or AI. But is your IT function set up to help you realise the full opportunities of emerging tech? We reckon there are six priorities for IT leaders as they future proof their teams. They need to become champions of everything-as-as-service (XaaS) – the shift of IT from on-premises to the cloud is speeding up. They need to be data centric. They need to be resilience-focused and on top of cyber threats. They need to set up talent incubators to gain and retain skills. They need to innovate at velocity. And they need to deliver responsible operations that have ESG considerations at their heart. There’s more on that in our Future of IT report.?

Future of IT: Strategies to advance the IT function in a cloud and AI-enabled era.??

Vindi Banga talks sustainable growth?

Have you been tuning in to our ‘Pull up a Chair’ podcast series? Each episode, our own Chair Bina Mehta catches up with another Chair to talk sustainable growth. In the latest episode, Bina talks to Vindi Banga , leader and advisor to some of the world's most known brands. Vindi has quite the resume- after a fascinating career at Unilever and within private equity, he's on the boards of Marie Curie, Haleon and now also Chair of UK Government Investments. Well worth a listen to learn from his experience on how organisations can grow in a way that drives success in our communities and protects the planet.

Pull up a Chair with Vindi Banga, Chair, Marie Curie

Are your ready for the impact of AI on your people??

Talk of AI invariably brings up the thorny issue of its impact on jobs. We’re in the camp that AI will augment employees rather than replace them. But it’s still going to change the way many of us work. And that means it’s going to impact how you engage and manage your people. Here are six questions you need to think about: Could AI increase the risk of discrimination and bias? What’s the impact on transparency in employee communications? How does AI interact with data protection and privacy? What about job displacement and skills development? Will AI impact how we define and engage employees? How can we demonstrate ethical use of AI? Read our article to get the views of our KPMG Law team on each of those questions.?

AI and employment law: 6 key considerations??

Our thinking on some of the big topics at WEF?

Earlier this month, the world’s leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum (WEF) – and possibly a spot of skiing. They were taking on some meaty topics – from ‘AI as a driving force for the economy and society’ to ‘a long-term strategy for climate, nature and energy.’ They’re topics that our experts are helping organisations with every day. So, we’ve pulled together our latest insights on ESG, tech and talent into a WEF resource centre.??

KPMG at Davos 2024 resource centre?

Women in leadership roles – let’s hit 40%?

Back in 2011, just 9.5% of FTSE 350 Board members were women. Today, it’s 40%. The FTSE Women Leaders Review has set a target to get women into 40% of all leadership positions by the end of 2025. You’ll be able to see how near that target we are on Tuesday 27 February when we’ll be hosting the launch of the Review’s latest report at our offices in Canary Wharf, London. We’ll also be highlighting the importance of getting more women into the four key roles of Chair, Senor Independent Director, Chief Executive and Finance Director. We think companies should have a least one woman in one of those four roles by the end of 2025.?

FTSE Women Leaders Review report launch

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We don’t just hand out practical insights. We take them on board to improve KPMG in the UK for our clients and our people. Find out what we’ve been focusing on in our annual review.