Examining The Big OpenAI and PwC ChatGPT Enterprise Deal
PwC has signed an expansive deal with OpenAI that positions the Big Four accounting firm as both the largest user and first official reseller of ChatGPT Enterprise.
The agreement builds on PwC's existing relationship with the AI research company, having already been an enterprise customer since at least January 2024.
However, the new licensing and sales arrangement elevates that partnership to new heights in terms of usage.
The deal will see over 100,000 employees across PwC's US and UK firms gain access to ChatGPT Enterprise's advanced capabilities.
This includes unlimited usage of GPT-4, OpenAI's most powerful AI model to date, providing higher performance and advanced features like multimodal interaction across images, and documents and voice inputs.
PwC's GenAI use
95% of the accounting and consulting firm's US workforce has already spent over 360,000 hours on GenAI activities and learning.
PwC had developed a chatbot called ChatPwC, built on OpenAI's GPT-4 model, which more than 100,000 employees are using globally.
Now both ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatPwC will be available to employees, Joe Atkinson, PwC US Vice Chair and Chief Products and Technology Officer said, though many will start using ChatGPT Enterprise as it rolls out.
AI chatbots have often had to adopt an enterprise solution alongside their public offering as business concerns over things like security of data, or proprietary information being used to train the models meant customers have been wary to implement them into their operations.
GPT Enterprise has controls like SOC 2 compliance, encrypted chats, granular admin oversight and single sign-on integration to make robust AI deployments viable at scale.
PwC last year announced plans to invest US$1bn in GenAI in its US operations over three years. Atkinson explained how this was the continuation of that strategy: "As this continues to evolve, I expect that billion dollars to grow across our network," the Wall Street Journal reported.
Reselling angle
PwC's new status as OpenAI's first official reseller for ChatGPT Enterprise could also usher in a boom of adoption for GenAI in business.
It unlocks PwC's ability to test and apply the technology internally before tailoring and integrating the solutions to its clients across its vast suite of audit, tax, consulting and industry-specific offerings.
In practice, this could mean custom AI models tailored for highly specialised tasks like expediting tax return reviews, automating parts of audit workflows, or rapidly analysing contracts and regulatory compliance across jurisdictions.
The applications are vast for a global professional services juggernaut operating across borders, which deals with multiple separate laws and regulations.
Alongside its OpenAI partnership, PwC works with other technology providers like Microsoft, Amazon and Google with their own GenAI platforms and tools. Atkinson stated the firm will provide "objective advice" to clients on which AI solutions to use according to their unique use cases.
'Prove it' phase
Speaking on the announcement, PwC said they have entered the 'prove it' phase, where they are actively demonstrating the capabilities and benefits of GenAI, identifying over 3,000 internal GenAI use cases, with financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality being key industries.
According to the firm's own research, 58% of global CEOs expect GenAI to improve products and services this year, with PwC stating its own adoption of GenAI tools has enabled an internal transformation that has redefined its internal processes and enabled it to provide even greater value to clients.
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