KPMG to Rate Employees on AI Usage in Performance Reviews
KPMG will now assess how staff use artificial intelligence tools as part of their annual performance reviews, marking a significant shift in how consulting firms evaluate employee performance in the AI era.
Key Takeaways
- AI usage will be formally evaluated in KPMG’s 2026 performance reviews
- The firm is already tracking AI usage through tools like Microsoft Copilot
- All employees, from leadership to junior staff, are expected to integrate AI into their work
Tracking and Assessment
KPMG is currently monitoring how staff utilize AI through data from Microsoft’s Copilot and other tools. According to Niale Cleobury, KPMG’s global AI workforce lead, employees will be formally assessed on how well they meet the firm’s AI objectives in their 2026 performance reviews.
“We all have a responsibility to be bringing AI to all of our work, and that’s not just the leadership, that is all the way down to our juniors,” Cleobury stated. “Now we are taking that a step further by saying: ‘Actually everyone’s objectives at year-end – what are you going to do to bring in AI to your work?'”
Industry-Wide AI Push
Major professional services firms including Accenture and McKinsey & Company have invested millions in AI technology. The industry is pushing widespread adoption of these tools to cut costs and improve profit margins amid recent demand slowdowns.
Monitoring, Not Policing
While KPMG is investing in better tracking tools, the firm emphasizes it’s not trying to police AI usage. Samantha Gloede, KPMG’s global head of risk services, explained: “Monitoring is not for policing’s sake, we need to make sure that all staff are using these tools because that is the best way to do the jobs.”
She added that KPMG’s goal is to “make sure we can measure the value that we are getting from the investment” in AI technology.
Industry Parallel: Accenture’s Approach
Meanwhile, professional services giant Accenture announced in September that it would begin cutting staff who couldn’t be retrained for AI-related work.
“We are exiting, on a compressed timeline, people where reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable path for the skills we need,” Accenture CEO Julie Sweet told analysts last month.
