KPMG collaborates with IBM Watson to usher in era of cognitive computing
The new frontier of cognitive computing is increasingly a reality with the announcement today that the global audit, advisory and tax company KPMG plans to apply the cognitive computing technology of IBM's Watson to strengthen its professional services offerings.
“The cognitive era has arrived,” said Lynne Doughtie, KPMG chairman and chief executive officer. “KPMG's use of IBM Watson technology will help advance our team’s ability to analyze and act on the core financial and operational data so central to the health of organizations and the capital markets. In addition to the unprecedented possibilities for enhancing quality, the potential for cognitive and related technologies to help us pursue new business offerings is extraordinary.”
IBM Watson integrates machine learning and other artificial intelligence technologies and enables a cognitive technology between humans and systems that is unprecedented. The announcement comes at a revolutionary time in business when the convergence of robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning, cognitive computing, and advanced analytics are driving unparalleled business model transformation.
“Auditing and similar knowledge services are increasingly challenged with tackling immense volumes of unstructured data. Cognitive technologies such as Watson can transform how this data is understood and how critical decisions are made,” said John Kelly, senior vice president, cognitive solutions and IBM Research. “By applying Watson, KPMG is taking a forward-looking approach to extending its expertise, helping professionals and clients gain new insights from critical enterprise information.”
Because many of KPMGs audit, tax, advisory and other professional services rely heavily on judgment-driven process, the cognitive abilities of Watson will enable a larger percentage of data to be analyzed to offer enhanced insights, while cognitive-enabled processes will allow auditors to focus on offering additional insights around risks and other related findings.
One current initiative is focused on employing supervised cognitive capabilities to analyze much larger volumes of structured and unstructured data related to a company’s financial information, as auditors “teach” the technology how to fine-tune assessments over time. This enables audit teams to have faster access to increasingly precise measurements that help them analyze anomalies and assess whether additional steps are necessary.
“Including cognitive technology with KPMG’s innovative capabilities, robust methodologies and processes, and 100-plus year history of excellence, is a real game changer that underscores our commitment to reinforcing confidence in the capital markets,” added Doughtie.