KPMG Australia has enhanced its generative AI technology, KymChat, to enable comprehensive searches of its quality and risk manual and independence policies. The professional services firm collaborated with Microsoft to develop KymChat, a proprietary version of ChatGPT, which was introduced for employee use in March.
Initially, the digital assistant’s primary function was to facilitate easy searching of team directories, simplifying the process of locating colleagues. However, KymChat has now evolved to include policy searches, leading to improved organizational efficiencies, as explained by KPMG’s chief digital officer, John Munnelly, during his speech at a Legal Innovation and Tech Fest in Sydney.
Munnelly revealed that the firm’s policies were recently uploaded to KymChat, stating, “It is now searching our quality and risk manual and independence questions, and it is absolutely amazing.” He emphasized the benefits of using KymChat for inquiries that may vary in phrasing, explaining that the AI chatbot provides highly accurate responses, eliminating the need to consult the independence team for clarifications.
Munnelly also provided insights into the development of KymChat, noting that its original version, built around a Microsoft AI service, never went live. However, when Microsoft shared its planned Open AI capability support with KPMG, the service underwent significant enhancements and was relaunched as KymChat.
To address concerns regarding data security and sovereignty, KPMG initially imposed restrictions on the use of ChatGPT. However, following careful experimentation, the company introduced KymChat, ensuring that data uploaded to the chatbot remains within Australia. While some components of the queries are processed on overseas infrastructure, Munnelly expressed confidence in the architecture and security measures implemented, which leverage Microsoft’s infrastructure.
Munnelly emphasized that user interactions with KymChat are tracked primarily for the purpose of learning the types of questions asked. He further disclosed that running KymChat only incurred a cost of “$753 last week,” while successfully addressing 25,000 queries.
KPMG has ambitious plans to expand KymChat’s search capabilities in the future, building upon the positive outcomes observed thus far.
