KPMG Builds Team to Explore the Metaverse’s Potential for Business Model Transformation

Global professional services provider KPMG is doubling down on its bet that the metaverse will be the next frontier for human interaction and business activity.

The Next Wave of Business and Consumer Interaction

In a recent interview, James Mabbott, Partner in Charge at KPMG Futures, explained that the Big Four accounting firm believes in the potential for the metaverse to herald a new age of business and customer interaction.

However, while consumer-driven interaction is sure to be a major application for the metaverse, Mabbott also maintains that business-to-business interaction is where the money is.

From revolutionizing client engagement to transforming the delivery of services across the board, KPMG believes that metaverse platforms can significantly help businesses streamline their operations. And with the metaverse hitting an all-time high of 400 monthly active users, adoption continues to grow, presenting more opportunities for companies.

Mabbott further disclosed that the company is now exploring possibilities to create new business models and assets that can help transform its service delivery within the metaverse context.

As part of its efforts to harness the power of the metaverse, KPMG has now built a custom metaverse team within its Australian subsidiary. The team, which Web3 executive Alyse Sue will head, will have the objective of building multimillion-dollar opportunities for KPMG within the metaverse by 2025.

Mabbott added that the company has been working towards building a metaverse to handle internal activities and business-to-business services.

In 2012, Sue worked for KPMG’s Innovate team until 2015, then ventured into crypto. Within that span, Sue has co-founded several startups, including Transhuma Coin, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol focused on investing in emerging economies worldwide.

Before joining KPMG in 2012, Sue had served multiple analyst stints at finance giants such as Deloitte, Bain & Company, and Ernst & Young. She will now lead the metaverse team at the accounting giant, getting support from about 90 employees who work at the KPMG Futures unit.

Betting Big on the Next Frontier

It is no secret that KPMG has made bold bets on the metaverse in the past. In June 2022, the company announced the launch of its first metaverse collaboration hub, which is geared toward helping employees and clients to pursue multiple growth opportunities in today’s digital age.

The collaboration unit will connect clients, employees, and other stakeholders with Web3. To make this happen, KPMG said it would commit about $30 million in collective investments this year alone to the initiative.

A further report showed that the hub would focus on networking, education, training, and events.

Cliff Justice, the head of enterprise innovation at KPMG US, added that it had already been used for hiring and expansion. All in all, the metaverse collaboration hub is also expected to expand into multiple fields of interest, ranging from retail and healthcare to consumer and financial services.

KPMG’s move underscores a rapid push from big corporations into the metaverse over the past year. While companies like Meta and Microsoft are spending billions on building their own, several other companies appear content to simply build their presence in the metaverse and start exploring its potential.

Despite the downturn in crypto and global markets, spending in the metaverse has continued to surge. And as more companies and individuals explore its potential, this space will surely attract even more investment down the line.

This influx of players is why McKinsey, another top financial services provider, believes that global spending in the metaverse could reach $5 trillion by 2030.