Building Intelligent Enterprises: KPMG’s SAP and AI Blueprint for Growth

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has been impossible to miss. It is transforming everything from global communications to daily workflows. However, for technology transformation professionals, a questions remains; what is the best way to use AI effectively?

According to a KPMG US survey in January 2025, 68% of executives plan to invest US$50 million to US$250 million into generative AI over the next 12 months*. However, many organizations’ AI ambitions have faltered as they struggle to realize enterprise-wide returns due to the gap between their investment and the impact of AI.

This is where a business-led, human-centric approach becomes critical. According to a KPMG white paper, KPMG SAP technology transformation advisors can help achieve this goal. KPMG firms’ methodology seeks to go beyond chasing trends to encompass architecting intelligent enterprises by embedding AI directly into an organization’s DNA.

A Blueprint for Value

KPMG frames this approach as Holistic. Human. Business-led. The white paper indicates that this philosophy is brought to life through a practical, five-stage journey that is designed to ensure AI initiatives are tied to tangible business outcomes from day one.

It all begins with Discovery, which is a crucial stage where KPMG business specialists and technologists unite to assess an organization’s existing systems, identify high-impact opportunities, and help build a solid business case for AI investments. From there, the Activation stage prioritizes leveraging embedded AI functionalities within SAP’s ecosystem, such as SAP Business AI on the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), before jumping to costly custom builds.

A robust Governance framework follows, with the aim of ensuring that any custom tech solutions are secure, compliant, and ethical, guided by the KPMG Trusted AI principles. The journey continues with the Implementation of tailored tech solutions that can be custom  or pre-built, depending on the organization’s needs. It concludes with Refinement, a continuous cycle of monitoring, enhancing, and empowering the organization to manage its own AI evolution.

From Engineering to Recruitment

This strategy has been successfully applied in real-world settings. Consider a global engineering company undergoing an SAP cloud transformation. Instead of just implementing AI tools, a KPMG firm facilitated an AI discovery workshop for the organization. This helped create a strategic roadmap, identify practical use cases, and align stakeholders on a value-driven plan. The result was a clear path forward, instead of a collection of technologies that may or may not align with the business’s goals.

In another case, a major Southeast Asian bank encountered an inefficient and bias-prone recruitment process while migrating to SAP SuccessFactors. KPMG professionals developed an AI-powered prototype on SAP BTP that used natural language understanding to evaluate candidates contextually, regardless of resume format or terminology. This approach reduced manual screening time and improved the quality of hires, addressing a critical human resources challenge with intelligent technology.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

For SAPinsiders, the relationship between KPMG and SAP goes beyond technology to include de-risking innovation and accelerating value. Here are some of the core advantages this collaboration offers:

• Strategic foresight, not just tech support. KPMG focuses on long-term, sustainable strategies rather than a short-term view. For SAPinsiders, this means gaining access to advisers invested in addressing complex business challenges, helping to ensure that an organization’s AI-powered transformation can deliver lasting value rather than a short-lived project.
• Responsible access to the leading tools. As a key participant in the SAP NEXTLEVEL BTP & AI program and an early adopter of tools like SAP Joule for Consultants, KPMG professionals can help you be ahead of the market curve in providing advice on utilizing AI for business growth. This provides SAPinsiders with innovative tech solutions, implemented by consultants who already possess deep, hands-on experience with next-generation tools to enhance project quality and speed.
• Technology solutions tailored to your world. KPMG’s approach isn’t a one-size-fits-all. By combining a global network of specialists with deep local and industry experience, the tech solutions are custom-built for the organization’s specific needs. This helps ensure that the AI use cases being developed are relevant and designed to solve the client’s unique operational challenges, leading to a stronger and more differentiated competitive advantage.

Learn more about how KPMG and SAP can help organizations utilize AI effectively for business growth:

Harness the power of AI with KPMG and SAP

*Source: KPMG AI Quarterly Pulse Survey