Earlier this week, Big Four accounting firm KPMG LLP announced that it will be teaming up with IBM's Watson AI (artificial intelligence) unit to automate some auditing functions. While KPMG certainly isn't the only accounting firm making a big investment in new technology, it is the first to test AI or machine learning as the brains behind auditing tools.
Google and Amazon, among others, have made massive AI investments in recent years, which has fueled excitement about its commercial applications. And AI as a concept has been around for at least a century in the form of science fiction (and non-fiction).
But it's not yet clear which industry will be the next to embrace this old/new technology. In my opinion, machine learning will fuel innovation in every industry, and will likely be adopted first by companies that are responsible for dealing with large data sets. In order to properly adopt AI, however, and full reap the benefits, companies have to turn to good old-fashioned coding.
That's right: software development will be crucial for achieving success with AI. Programmers, rejoice -- and start sharpening your skills.
Three major areas of software development will be key in ensuring the success of AI integration at any company.
Data integration: Integrating key data from multiple sources will play an important role in preparing for the integration of AI into applications and systems within the enterprise.Having the necessary resources in one central location will significantly eliminate the risk of errors, and establish a clear path for machine learning. For example, who will provide the electronic transactions KPMG auditors are going to need to feed into IBM's Watson models? Software developers. This means software developers will be probably as important as bookkeepers to Finance Departments.;
Â
