Industry news

Aviva is a leading player in the insurance sector, recognised globally for its robust insurance solutions and services. With a broad portfolio that caters to various segments, the company has entrenched its position as a trusted name in the industry.

Jason Storah, a seasoned professional with two decades in the industry, has been appointed as the CEO of UK & Ireland General Insurance. Tracy Garrad, boasting an illustrious career in financial services, insurance, and healthcare, will be stepping into the role of CEO of Aviva Canada.

Read the full article on FinTech Global here.

KPMG executive chair Matt Prichard has announced the appointment of incoming chief executive Jason Doherty.

Doherty will step into the role on December 1, succeeding Godfrey Boyce who is retiring after 39 years with the firm, seven of those as CEO.

Doherty has held a range of leadership roles across KPMG New Zealand and has worked at both the local firm and KPMG in the United Kingdom.

Sustainability is an issue that is becoming ever more important in the list of priorities for the average business.

Customers are rightly beginning to question the sustainability credentials of their suppliers and are demanding greener technology solutions.

As the UK government pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100% by 2050, the level of emissions spewed out by every industry needs to be tackled.

Read the full article on Computing here.

Exl Service Holdings, Inc. ("EXL") a leading data analytics and digital operations and solutions company, today announced that Rohit Kapoor, vice chairman and chief executive officer, will participate in the 2023 Citi Global Technology Conference in New York. A company presentation and simultaneous webcast will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

Read the full article on Benzinga here.

Companies that are diverse, equitable, and inclusive are better able to respond to challenges, win top talent, and meet the needs of different customer bases. With DEI in mind, companies are considering how to better support employees. Over the past few years, many organizations have taken strides to build diversity, equity, and inclusion into their policies and hiring practices.

Read the full article on McKinsey & Company here.

Digital services and platforms provider, Kainos, has announced that it is set to invest £10m in the development of generative AI as it looks to embed the use of the technology in its business processes. The Belfast-based firm says that the new investment will see it train more than 1k of its employees in the use of AI tools.

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.

“Meta's mission is to give people the power to build community and to bring the world closer together,” says Krystle Sands, Head of Supplier Diversity for the EMEA region at Meta. “When it comes to supplier diversity, Meta’s mission is to create opportunities for diverse-owned companies to do business with Meta, and the people and communities that Meta connects.”

The supplier diversity programme at Meta is one of ambitious proportions, but it has already exceeded expectations.

IBM and Microsoft are expanding their AI collaboration programme , including their procurement and source to pay solution

The partnership will help their joint clients accelerate the deployment of generative AI, and also provide a new offering of expertise and technology to innovate their business processes and also scale generative AI effectively.

It is part of a series of offerings that IBM and Microsoft have been collaborating around AI, leveraging IBM Consulting skills and Azure OpenAI Service with the target of developing potential solutions and tackle specific use cases.

Read the full article on SupplyChain here.

The big SITS related announcement was PwC’s willingness to invest more than £100m in a range of emerging tech partnerships that included collaborations with Harvey (see PwC announces partnership with generative AI Harvey), Microsoft and Icertis, and ContractPodAI, alongside generative AI skills training for all staff. Cloud technologies were also cited as helping improve Audit delivery.

Professional services firms, particularly partnerships, have been criticised for being slow to invest in emerging tech, AI and automation, with a reluctance to see profits drop in the short term a significant barrier to adoption. 

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.

The more perspectives and lived experiences that are reflected within the AI and data science workforce, the better-equipped organisations will be to actively spot even the most implicit biases that could result in unfair, reputationally damaging outcomes.

Yet the World Economic Forum has found that 78% of the global AI workforce are male – and gender diversity is only one part of a multifaceted picture.

Human oversight and inclusion in the development and deployment of AI technologies is not a nice to have – it is essential.

Read the full article on BusinessCloud here.