KPMG to double its technical staff as it invests heavily in enterprise digital transformation

Big Four auditing giant KPMG has launched a new suite of digital products to help CEOs on their digital transformation journeys.

The company is launching the new products under a new KPMG Products branding, which comprises new digital tools and applications to help address digital transformation challenges.

According to its 2021 CEO outlook report, more than a third of UK CEOs (34%) said they viewed digital transformation as their most important operational priority for the next three years.

Three of the products have been announced today, with more coming later in the three-year project:

• Dash: a pre-configured analytics platform that provides sector-specific insights on performance, portfolio management, pricing, and range
• ESG IQ: a big data analytics product that helps finance organisations to gain a deeper understanding of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of existing and prospective assets based on their own ESG risk appetite
• Strategic Workforce Planning Solution: a product that helps NHS Trusts specifically to model their workforce capacity

“Businesses are making wholesale changes to both their operations and their strategy as they seek to shore up their resilience against a challenging economic and geopolitical backdrop,” said Jon Holt, CEO at KPMG UK. "Our technologists will help them to interrogate and understand the data flowing out of their businesses and make informed decisions to drive future growth."

KPMG Products is part of the company’s long-term £300 million investment plan for innovations and the development of new technologies - a separate investment from its $5 billion (£3.96 billion) five-year fund to improve its current products.

The company is also more than doubling the number of its technical employees, from 3,000 to 6,500, over the next three years to further build out KPMG products. These roles will include product designers, engineers, and data scientists.

Its expanded team will be tasked with building new applications for KPMG Products, designed to meet the challenges of digital transformation and help make better use of the data collected by the business.

“The consulting industry is evolving, and this considerable investment signals a significant change in how we operate and serve the organisations we work with,” said Lisa Heneghan, global chief digital officer at KPMG UK.

“To realise this change, we have already started to significantly grow our pool of digital talent to develop these revolutionary technologies. Founded on our consulting heritage, these products are being designed using the firm’s unique expertise to support our clients in the most innovative ways where they need it most.”