Industry news

KPMG has launched the KPMG ESG Academy in collaboration with Microsoft and some of the world’s leading universities and institutions. The scalable, turnkey academy leverages the KPMG Learning Enablement and Analytics Platform.

The Academy course material is structured around the latest business thought leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics, with content developed by globally recognized ESG specialists from leading universities and institutions, in collaboration with KPMG subject matter professionals in sustainability.

Read the full article on KPMG here.

Organisations are turning to AI to automate a host of business processes, Computing research finds

Among 120 senior IT leaders polled in Computing's recent research into IT strategy, 47% said they were actively using more AI/ML products and in their businesses more than last year. A further 30% said they were consuming more AI passively, since it is increasingly present in the products and services they use.

Read the full article on Computing here.

Simon Virley CB, Vice Chair and Head of Energy and Natural Resources for KPMG in the UK, said:

“Large-scale business investments in the industries of the future, like electric vehicles and low-carbon heating technologies, and their accompanying supply chains, are only possible if there are stable, long-term policies in place.

The constant uncertainty that comes with changes in target dates and commitments, simply makes it harder to attract the investment we need to boost the UK economy and reach our legally binding Net Zero goals. The risk now is that the UK will continue to fall behind in the global race for green investment, and our homegrown businesses will lose out.”

Read the full article on KPMG here.

Leading UK bank, NatWest Group, is expanding its use of AWS in order to accelerate its utilisation of AI as part of its ongoing transformation. The bank is building on its existing strategic relationship with AWS as it looks to develop a range of new, AI-powered financial products and services.

As a result of NatWest’s latest move, specialists from AWS’ newly launched $100m Generative AI Innovation Center will work with NatWest employees in an effort to develop AI products on top of the foundation models that are made available via APIs through Amazon Bedrock.

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.

KPMG UK has appointed Hilary Eastman as a partner in its accountancy advisory services wing. She joins the firm to lead the support it provides clients as they look to comply with new ESG reporting requirements.

As environmental, social and governance (ESG) becomes more important to consumers, who are increasingly inclined to shun companies with poor ESG track-records, companies are struggling to adapt while still performing well as a business. This is seeing a growing demand in the $9 billion market of sustainability consultants, who can help proactively improve upon ESG issues without diminishing business outcomes.

Read the full article on Consultancy.uk here.

EY has joined the growing stampede of IT and business services companies making big bets on Artificial Intelligence. The Big Four firm has announced the launch of EY.ai, which it describes as a unifying platform designed to accelerate enterprise adoption of AI. The product of a $1.4bn investment, the platform brings together the firm’s internal capabilities with an extensive AI ecosystem.

The latter includes include Microsoft (which provided EY with early access to Azure OpenAI capabilities), Dell Technologies, IBM, SAP, ServiceNow, Thomson Reuters and UiPath.

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.

KPMG announced Netzero as the winner of the third annual KPMG Private Enterprise Tech Innovator competition on 6 September 2023, recognizing the most impactful and promising start-up in Saudi Arabia.

Netzero, provides solutions for companies in Saudi Arabia to offset their carbon emissions by streamlining nature-based solution deployment and afforestation in a cost effective and transparent manner.

According to Mohammad Alkhalid, Founder of Netzero, this solution would ensure developing sustainable communities, promote good health and well-beings by improving air quality and finally would support climate action by promoting a greener ecosystem in harsh environments.

The research shows that companies across sectors and around the globe are committed to net-zero and are already pushing ahead with the delivery of transition plans in the short-term. However, they are facing challenges on that journey. The most important barrier to developing a net-zero plan – named by 50% of companies overall – is costs and scale of capital expenditure. This is closely followed by three related roadblocks: lack of feasible technological solutions; regulatory challenges; and difficulties in measuring and monitoring impact.

Read the full article on Zurich here.

Insurance-focused global law firm DLA Piper has released a report outlining the challenges to artificial intelligence (AI) deployment.

The report analysed the connections between AI, governance, and risk and explored how organisations deploy AI programs and the challenges they face.

“While the transformative potential of AI seems boundless, it also presents risks. This report emphasises the pivotal role of good governance in unlocking AI's transformative potential in a fragmented regulatory landscape,” said Nicholas Boyle, partner – intellectual property and technology, at DLA Piper.

Read the full article on Insurance Business here.

CBRE has expanded its inclusive supply chain by becoming a Founding Corporate Partner to OutBritain, the UK’s first LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce. Connecting with certified diverse suppliers is integral to CBRE’s Supplier Diversity Program and to achieving its goal of spending at least $3 billion with diverse suppliers by 2025.

The first LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, and independent certification body, OutBritain is the only existing UK organisation that verifies eligible businesses are majority owned (51 per cent or more) by LGBTQ individuals and can grant certified LGBT Business Enterprise status. As such, this partnership will play a critical role in connecting CBRE with the UK’s vast community of LGBTQ-owned businesses.