PwC has agreed to become OpenAI’s first reseller for ChatGPT Enterprise. The Big Four accounting firm added that its UK and US branches will become the largest users of the chatbot, using it to augment its workforce’s tax, consulting and auditing services. PwC is also developing custom GPTs – smaller AI models powered by OpenAI’s latest LLM, GPT-4o – to hone its ability to analyse tax returns, generate proposal responses and develop software lifecycle assistants, among other applications.
“These practical applications demonstrate how PwC will leverage GenAI solutions to help solve complex business problems,” said the firm. “We are actively engaged in GenAI with 950 of our top 1,000 US consulting client accounts alongside discussing the use and implications of AI with many of our audit clients, emphasising the near-universal demand across industries for the transformative power of this technology.”
PwC is now largest user of ChatGPT Enterprise
According to the Wall Street Journal, PwC will make ChatGPT Enterprise available to 100,000 employees, 26,000 of which reside in the UK – though it remains unclear how many will use it on a daily basis. Nevertheless, the firm explained that its embrace of all things OpenAI was rooted in its research into attitudes toward AI among C-suite executives. According to PwC’s latest CEO Survey, 58% of respondents expected generative AI to “improve the quality of their products and services.”
PwC also claims to have demonstrated the utility of generative AI models in its own business. “We have entered the ‘prove it’ phase” with the technology, said the firm, having identified over 3,000 internal use cases relevant to sectors including manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare and financial services.
Big Four betting big on AI
The new partnership with OpenAI follows a commitment from PwC in April 2023 to invest $1bn in AI applications across its business over three years. “This significant investment,” said the firm, “has paved the way for unprecedented advancements in upskilling our people and delivering better services for clients through an expanded technology ecosystem.” This includes PWC’s launch of an AI chatbot for tax services and granting access to an internal generative AI platform named ‘ChatPwC’ to its US workforce.
It is not the only Big Four accountancy firm flirting with generative AI. In January, Deloitte announced that it would be equipping 75,000 of its staff with a new assistive chatbot named PairD. EY, meanwhile, revealed in December that it had successfully deployed an AI tool capable of assisting its auditors in spotting cases of fraud.
