KPMG and Alleima

Alleima has more than one hundred years of its own research collated in more than 60,000 reports. This is invaluable knowledge, but it is difficult to get an overview of it. The idea behind developing a generative AI is to make the material more valuable to future research. As Alleima’s strategic partner for digital transformation, KPMG was engaged to help develop the solution. Today the tried-and-tested concept is ready – find out more about Alleima Guru. 

Just like many other companies, Alleima has spent a long time considering how they can use generative AI to make their business operations smarter, better, and more efficient. It is not that simple to implement new solutions as Alleima’s products are used in critical environments with extremely high demands for quality – and new products and applications can take decades to develop. 

Research and Development was one interesting area that Alleima identified as a potential for generative AI. Over the years, the company has gathered thousands of research papers within its archives. Through this project, KPMG and Alleima are well on their way to ensuring that the knowledge currently collated in almost 60,000 reports will come to life in a smart, digital system that will make the work of the Research & Development department significantly more efficient. Researchers often encounter challenges that others have previously researched and documented. Using Alleima Guru, it will be simpler for them to access prior research faster. And the time that researchers gain can be spent uncovering new insights rather than searching archives. The objective of Alleima is to be able to identify discrepancies in conclusions over the years to get even stronger input into today’s development projects. 

This does not mean that Alleima Guru will conduct research. It will simply help employees to benefit faster and more securely from all the knowledge that Alleima has created over the years. 

“I am responsible for Alleima's IT strategy. This includes both responsibility for our major systems and our regular digital workday, and that I lead our entire digitalization agenda to ensure that we remain at the forefront and gain benefits and value from all our investments. Simply put, I ensure that we explore all technology that might make us a smarter, better, and more efficient company. And as part of that, applying generative AI in our work is super exciting. Alleima Guru is our first project using generative AI, but together with KPMG we have already identified several other areas where we can apply it to develop new solutions. 

Alleima Guru will help us to save time. But my hope is that we will be able to generate even more business value and enhanced information once it is scaled up,” says Mathias Johansson, CIO of Alleima. 

“This project began exactly as I like projects to begin,” explains Matilda Johansson, Technology Transformation Lead at KPMG. 

“Alleima approached us with an open question about whether generative AI could be used within their research environment. Everything started with a day-long workshop where we tested different use-cases."

"Our work with Alleima Guru has truly entailed close collaboration where we have had a strong sense of “we” throughout the entire process. It is interesting to see how much value our KPMG team can create when we get close to our client’s business operations. In this project, we add our technology capabilities directly into Alleima’s product development, which enables the creation of valuable solutions that are closely customized to the client’s business".

"Our work with Alleima Guru has truly entailed close collaboration where we have had a strong sense of “we” throughout the entire process. It is interesting to see how much value our KPMG team can create when we get close to our client’s business operations. In this project, we add our technology capabilities directly into Alleima’s product development, which enables the creation of valuable solutions that are closely customized to the client’s business".

But now that we have come part of the way with KPMG, Alleima Guru is no longer only about making historical data available. Above all, it's about giving our researchers new tools to become even better at what they do. The time they save can instead be spent on understanding our customers and their challenges even better. And on understanding how Alleima can help to make our customers’ products and processes even smarter, better, and more efficient. 

Mathias tells us more about his view of Alleima Guru and explains how the solution will create value and benefits far beyond the realm of research. 

“In a few years, once we have evolved Alleima Guru even further, I believe that it will help us to shorten the turnaround time for researching new types of steel, substantially. We will also be able to improve other processes in the company, such as Purchasing, HR, Finance and IT, and increase productivity. 

We’re about to enter a new era, and I am really looking forward to what we can do in the future. With Alleima Guru on the team we will always be a step ahead.” 

Over the years, Mathias has seen many projects go a little awry when there has been too much focus on the technology itself, especially when new technology is to be explored and implemented. But in this collaboration, they have managed to avoid such pitfalls. 

“As we have worked so closely with KPMG, we have ensured that the project has not been technology-driven. Our starting point has always been the researchers’ regular workday, and we have constantly focused on the benefits and value that Alleima Guru can generate.”  

KPMG has been a strategic partner since even before Alleima Guru started, and Matilda Johansson has been part of the entire journey. There have been many projects and work is still underway. The Alleima Guru project has special significance for Matilda Johansson though. 

“This is one of the most exciting projects I've been part of as the progress happens so quickly and the possibilities are unlimited. Two things were important right from the beginning – making sure that the project did not become too technology-driven and ensuring that Alleima really feel that they own the project. By working so closely with each other we have created deep understanding of the challenges within R&D and how they can be alleviated by Alleima Guru. We have avoided a technology-driven process by focusing on the needs of the organization – value-add and new possibilities are constantly what guide us.