Inside KPMG's $100 million AI investment: How Google Cloud's partnership is fueling the firm's new AI services
KPMG is a professional services company and one of the Big Four accounting firms in the US. It offers audit, tax, and advisory services to organizations in multiple sectors, including healthcare, finance, banking, and more. KPMG has more than 90 offices and 36,000 employees in the US. It also operates in more than 140 countries.
Situation analysis
Steve Chase, vice chair of artificial intelligence and digital innovation at KPMG, said part of the company's business involves helping organizations across industries modernize their operations with technology, including their accounting systems and customer service.
Recently, Chase said more clients have sought assistance in incorporating artificial intelligence and cloud services into their digital transformation strategies.
To help, KPMG announced an expansion of its partnership with Google Cloud in November to advance GenAI, data analytics, and cybersecurity for its clients. The expansion includes a $100 million investment in KPMG's Google Cloud practice.
Chase said the goal is to tailor AI services to specific customers, business models, and industries so that these organizations can use AI to improve their businesses, such as by speeding up data analysis.
The expanded Google Cloud partnership will initially focus on clients in the retail, healthcare, and financial services industries.
Key staff and partners
Chase said KPMG has been using AI for several years and has had a long-standing relationship with Google. In 2024, KPMG created the Google Cloud Center of Excellence to combine Google's AI technologies with its own expertise to help clients use AI to boost their businesses. Its latest partnership expansion involves creating new AI tools.
KPMG also works with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and other tech companies on other AI-related projects.
AI in Action
KPMG has been using Google Cloud's Vertex AI Search, an AI development platform for building and using GenAI, internally to connect and analyze its vast amount of data. Chase said the company is using this information to develop GenAI agents for clients, such as chatbots to answer questions or tools to gather and analyze data, to address various business challenges and expand capabilities.
For example, Chase said KPMG is using Vertex AI and Gemini, a Google Cloud AI-powered assistant, to help financial services companies automate tasks that have been cumbersome for humans, including fraud detection and loan applications.
Chase added that KPMG also built an AI "store performance analyzer" for a large retailer. The tool allows the company to use automation to speed up and combine information from store locations, such as inventory levels, sales data, and details about the location, to determine how it performs compared to other stores.
"It's able to actually do a detailed analysis in a fast way," which used to be completed by a team of people and take longer, Chase said. "Now, the people involved are actually reviewing the results, as opposed to doing all the manual work of pulling all the data together."
For healthcare clients, KPMG is using Google Cloud's Healthcare API to develop AI tools that help doctors improve disease detection, treatment, and overall patient care.
Did it work, and how did leaders know?
Chase said that KPMG's partnership with Google Cloud could drive $1 billion incremental growth for the firm. "We've been super pleased with how it's going," he said.
While he said the company couldn't disclose specifics on how it'll reach this figure, he said it will be a multi-year initiative that involves adding new clients and expanding the AI services it offers to existing companies.
KPMG continues to roll out new AI initiatives. In April, the company announced another expansion of its collaboration with Google Cloud on AI tools for the legal and banking industries. KPMG also announced that it's joining the Google Cloud Security Partner Program to enhance cybersecurity for its clients.
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SHENZHEN, China, June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huize Holding Limited, ('Huize', the 'Company' or 'we') (NASDAQ: HUIZ), a leading insurance technology platform connecting consumers, insurance carriers and distribution partners digitally through data-driven and AI-powered solutions in Asia, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. First Quarter 2025 Financial and Operational Highlights Mr. Cunjun Ma, Founder and CEO of Huize, said, 'We are pleased to deliver another quarter of resilient business results, with operating revenue exceeded RMB280 million, while gross written premiums and first-year premiums facilitated on our platform increasing 38% and 31% sequentially, reaching RMB1.4 billion and RMB730 million, respectively.' 'Throughout the quarter, we remained focused on acquiring and serving high-quality, mass-affluent customers. 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Operating expenses Selling expenses were RMB47.3 million (US$6.5 million) in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of 7.0% from RMB44.2 million in the same period of 2024, primarily due to an increase in advertising and marketing expenses. General and administrative expenses were RMB21.9 million (US$3.0 million) in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of 3.2% from RMB22.6 million in the same period of 2024. This decrease was primarily due to a decrease in rental and utilities expenses. Research and development expenses were RMB13.5 million (US$1.9 million) in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of 6.3% from RMB14.4 million in the same period of 2024, primarily due to a decrease in rental and utilities expenses. Net loss and non-GAAP net loss for the period Net loss attributable to common shareholders was RMB8.6 million (US$1.2 million) in the first quarter of 2025, compared to net profit attributable to common shareholders of RMB6.9 million in the same period of 2024. 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Upon registration, each participant will receive a confirmation email containing dial-in numbers and a unique access PIN, which will be used to join the conference call. Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available on the Company's investor relations website at About Huize Holding Limited Huize Holding Limited is a leading insurance technology platform connecting consumers, insurance carriers and distribution partners digitally through data-driven and AI-powered solutions in Asia. Targeting mass affluent consumers, Huize is dedicated to serving consumers for their life-long insurance needs. Its online-to-offline integrated insurance ecosystem covers the entire insurance life cycle and offers consumers a wide spectrum of insurance products, one-stop services, and a streamlined transaction experience across all scenarios. By leveraging AI, data analytics, and digital capabilities, Huize empowers the insurance service chain with proprietary technology-enabled solutions for insurance consultation, user engagement, marketing, risk management, and claims service. For more information, please visit or follow us on social media via LinkedIn ( ), X( ) and Webull( ). Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measure Statement In evaluating our business, we consider and use non-GAAP net profit/(loss) attributable to common shareholders as a supplemental measure to review and assess our operating performance. The presentation of the non-GAAP financial measure is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We define non-GAAP net profit/(loss) attributable to common shareholders as net profit/(loss) attributable to common shareholders excluding share-based compensation expenses. Such adjustments have no impact on income tax because either the non-GAAP adjustments were recorded at entities located in tax free jurisdictions, such as the Cayman Islands or because the non-GAAP adjustments were recorded at operating entities located in the PRC for which the non-GAAP adjustments were not deductible for tax purposes. We present the non-GAAP financial measure because it is used by our management to evaluate our operating performance and formulate business plans. Non-GAAP net profit/(loss) attributable to common shareholders enables our management to assess our operating results without considering the impact of share-based compensation expenses. We also believe that the use of this non-GAAP financial measure facilitates investors' assessment of our operating performance. This non-GAAP financial measure is not defined under U.S. GAAP and is not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measure has limitations as an analytical tool. One of the key limitations of using adjusted net profit/(loss) attributable to common shareholders is that it does not reflect all items of income and expense that affect our operations. Further, the non-GAAP financial measure may differ from the non-GAAP financial information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore their comparability may be limited. The non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered in isolation or construed as an alternative to net profit/(loss) attributable to common shareholders or any other measure of performance or as an indicator of our operating performance. Investors are encouraged to review the historical non-GAAP financial measure in light of the most directly comparable GAAP measure, as shown below. The non-GAAP financial measure presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measure presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting the usefulness of such measures when analyzing our data comparatively. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. Exchange Rate Information This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB are made at a rate of RMB7.2567 to US$1.00, the exchange rate on March 31, 2025, set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the RMB or U.S. dollars amounts referred could be converted into U.S. dollars or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all. Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the 'safe harbor' provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Huize's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as 'will,' 'expects,' 'anticipates,' 'future,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'confident' and similar statements. Among other things, business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, contain forward-looking statements. Huize may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC'), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Huize's goal and strategies; Huize's expansion plans; Huize's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; Huize's expectation regarding the demand for, and market acceptance of, its online insurance products; Huize's expectations regarding its relationship with insurer partners and insurance clients and other parties it collaborates with; general economic and business conditions; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Huize's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Huize does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: Investor Relations Kenny Lo Investor Relations Manager [email protected] Media Relations [email protected] Christensen Advisory In China Ms. Dee Wang Phone: +86-10-5900-1548 Email: [email protected] In U.S. Ms. Linda Bergkamp Phone: +1-480-614-3004 Email: [email protected] ______________________ 1 Non-GAAP net loss attributable to common shareholders is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information, please see the section of 'Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measure Statement' and the table captioned 'Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results' set forth at the end of this press release.
