Tech news: BDO announces $1B AI strategy

Top 10 firm BDO launched the next phase of its artificial intelligence strategy, backed by a global investment in AI of more than $1 billion over a period of five years. As part of this strategy, the firm is focusing on several high-impact areas poised to shape the future of its offerings and operations. Beyond enhancing and accelerating current initiatives, BDO plans to lean hard into Generative AI Assistants that will aid professionals in drafting reports, analyzing data and modeling scenarios. The firm also plans to focus on AI enabled hyper-personalized customer experiences and advisory services (for example, developing AI tools for calendar management, such as a task and event organizer). Meanwhile, the firm will continue integrating AI-driven automation across business processes with operational processes such as billing, scheduling, and service desk modernization. Finally, AI systems will integrate text, voice, podcast and visual data. To help lead and execute BDO USA's AI strategy, the firm appointed Mike Gerhard to the newly established role of chief data and AI officer in 2024. Gerhard spearheads BDO's data and AI initiatives while also using data analytics and technology to drive business insights and innovation. He works collaboratively with leaders across the firm to develop proprietary AI tools that support how BDO professionals work and enhance their service delivery for clients. He also oversees the firm's Research and AI Development team, which focuses on research and prototyping based on business priorities for enterprise-wide AI testing and deployment.

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Business finance solutions provider Plaid launched its Transactions for Business solution for turning business bank account data into actionable insights. Until now, most Plaid transaction data has been optimized for personal use cases. That meant customers serving businesses often had to interpret raw transaction strings or build their own categorization logic. In its Transactions API, Plaid is introducing a categorization model specifically designed for businesses. Now in beta, this model includes 13 business categories to help businesses better understand their customers' overall finances, from inflows to outflows. The new categories include revenue, payroll and loan payments.