AI Business Highlight 2025.03.30
In the past few days, several notable developments have emerged in the AI business landscape, highlighting diverse applications and strategic shifts across industries:
Agentic AI in Professional Services
The Big Four accounting firms—Deloitte, EY, PwC, and KPMG—are advancing into "agentic AI," developing autonomous systems capable of making decisions and performing tasks without human intervention. Deloitte's Zora AI and EY's EY.ai Agentic Platform, both developed in collaboration with Nvidia, aim to enhance productivity and reduce costs in areas like financial management and tax compliance. KPMG and PwC are also exploring similar technologies to transform their service delivery models. Business Insider+1Wikipedia+1
AI in Retail and Customer Service
Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne has introduced an AI-driven Food Concierge service within its Market Pavilion. This generative AI tool provides customers with personalized recipes based on their preferences, dietary needs, and available ingredients, aiming to save time and reduce food waste. Developed with AI Consulting using OpenAI models, the system operates anonymously to address privacy concerns. The Australian+1The Australian+1
AI in Cybersecurity
Security teams are increasingly adopting agentic AI to manage growing threats and workloads. Unlike traditional chatbots, these AI systems can autonomously take pre-approved actions based on their analyses. Companies like Microsoft and CrowdStrike have integrated agentic AI into their security platforms, enabling automatic triage of notifications and real-time threat mitigation. Business Insider+2Axios+2Wikipedia+2
Strategic Shifts in Chinese AI Start-ups
Chinese AI start-ups are revising their business models following the rapid success of DeepSeek's technology. Companies like Zhipu are transitioning towards enterprise sales, while others, such as 01.ai, are focusing on developing business solutions based on DeepSeek’s models. This shift indicates a consolidation around a few leaders and a move towards application development rather than foundational models. Financial Times
AI in Financial Services
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has opened a technology hub in Seattle to enhance its AI capabilities by leveraging expertise from tech giants Microsoft and Amazon. The initiative aims to upskill staff and bring advanced technical skills back to Australia, focusing on developing AI agents and enhancing generative AI capabilities to increase productivity and protect customers from scams. Business Insider+2The Australian+2The Australian+2