By Federico Maccioni
DUBAI (Reuters) – Advisory and forensic accounting firm Ankura Consulting said on Friday it had launched a custom, generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool developed in partnership with Microsoft-backed firm and ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
The tool, called NoraGPT, is being used in Ankura’s secured environment to ensure data protection for staff and clients, it said in a statement.
The platform has human-like features such as long-term and “forever” memory capabilities, which align with Ankura’s own AI solutions. It will also help with file management.
“Just speaking internally, it’s going to impact every aspect, every functional area that we have,” Ankura CEO Kevin Lavin told Reuters.
Lavin expects AI tools to be applied to various fields such as fraud detection, safety and security, as well as to boost client intake. “It’s going to be a lot more,” he added.
He also said that AI would have a significant impact on revenues and generate internal cost savings initially in the range of 25% across the board, including reducing subcontractors and slowing new hiring.
SAUDI FOCUS
Ankura has over 2,000 employees and serves more than 3,000 clients across 55 countries.
It set up a turnaround and restructuring practice for the Middle East out of its Dubai office last April, joining other advisory firms expanding their operations in the region.
Asked about operations in the Middle East, Lavin said that the region has been served primarily from London and Dubai, but the firm’s current office in Riyadh “will be the centre of what we do”.
“Saudi Arabia it’s just such a growing market and there’s a need for things that we do. And, you know, we’d like to participate in that.”
Several companies have been adopting generative AI to boost efficiency and cut costs, including Nokia and , even as experts flag potential legal and ethical concerns
(Reporting by Federico Maccioni; editing by Miral Fahmy)
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