AI raises the value of people skills for KPMG professionals

The trust gap is the real career risk

AI can chew through datasets, draft a memo, and summarize a stack of documents in seconds. It still cannot tell when a client is uneasy, when a controller is dodging a question, or when a clean-looking answer is the wrong answer. That gap is exactly why people skills are gaining value inside KPMG, not losing it.

The urgency shows up in KPMG and the University of Melbourne’s 2025 global AI study, which surveyed more than 48,000 people across 47 countries. Sixty-six percent said they use AI regularly, but only 46% said they are willing to trust AI systems. Seventy percent believe AI regulation is needed, 66% said they rely on AI output without evaluating accuracy, and 56% reported making mistakes in their work because of AI. Those numbers point to the same conclusion: the more AI gets used, the more valuable judgment, communication, and trust become.

Where humans still beat the machine

The Journal of Accountancy makes the case in practical terms: AI is strong at processing large amounts of information, but its social abilities are limited. That gives CPAs an opening to stand out through self-awareness, curiosity, and communication. The real edge is not sounding polished. It is knowing what a model cannot see, what a spreadsheet cannot tell you, and what a client needs to hear before a small issue becomes a reputation problem.

That is especially true in KPMG work. AI can produce first drafts and surface patterns, but it cannot read body language when a finance chief stops answering directly. It cannot pick up the tension in a room when an audit adjustment is about to become a fight. It cannot repair a relationship after a bad meeting or sense when a technically correct recommendation will fail because the client team is not ready to act on it.

For auditors and advisers, that means the highest-value moments are often the messiest ones:

• When a client’s explanation for a variance does not match the evidence.

• When a partner, manager, and client each want a different outcome.

• When an implementation is technically sound but politically dead on arrival.

• When a junior team is stretched in busy season and needs calm, clear direction.

In those moments, the person who can ask the next right question matters more than the person who can generate the fastest answer.

Why this matters so much at KPMG

KPMG’s own story reinforces the point. The firm says its founders built it on trusted relationships and the highest quality, and its 2024/2025 integrated report says trust and quality are even more relevant amid technological and geopolitical disruption. That is not just branding language. It is a reminder that in professional services, the product is not only technical output. It is confidence.

At KPMG’s 2025 Global Analyst Summit, Bill Thomas said the firm’s mission is to be “the most trusted and trustworthy professional services firm.” That tracks with the way the firm has positioned AI as an accelerator, not a replacement. KPMG says it has incorporated AI into the way it works and ensured people are equipped with the right skills and knowledge. It also says it wants to be a “great place to work” where people feel safe, supported, and comfortable.

The practical takeaway for KPMG professionals is that trust compounds. The person who can explain what matters, what is missing, and what the client should do next is the one who gets pulled into more conversations, earns more responsibility, and is more likely to move from technical contributor to client leader. On the partner track, that is not a side benefit. It is the job.

The skills that actually protect your role

This is where the conversation should move beyond generic talk about “soft skills.” The skills that matter most now are behavioral, trainable, and visible in day-to-day work. The Journal of Accountancy frames them as habits that can be practiced over time, which is useful because it makes them concrete rather than mystical.

The most durable capabilities are the ones AI cannot easily mimic:

• Judgment, especially when the right answer is incomplete or politically awkward.

• Curiosity, meaning you keep probing instead of accepting the first clean explanation.

• Communication, not just polished slides, but the ability to explain risk, tradeoffs, and next steps plainly.

• Conflict handling, because client work often turns on how well you manage disagreement without losing the relationship.

• Team leadership, especially under busy-season pressure, when quality slips if people are left guessing.

• Emotional intelligence, which shows up when you read the room, notice hesitation, and adjust before a problem hardens.

Those are not abstract virtues. They are the skills that help you convert technical work into trusted advice. They are also what make a professional harder to reduce to a process manager.

AI is raising the bar, not flattening it

The broader labor-market picture makes the same point. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 says technological change will keep reshaping labor markets through 2030, and that AI and information processing are expected to be highly transformative. Employers also expect stronger demand for AI and big data skills, along with creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, and agility.

KPMG’s workforce materials add a blunt figure: if the global workforce were 100 people, 59 would need new skills by 2030. The firm also says skills gaps are the biggest barrier to business transformation in the next five years. That is the real message for accountants, auditors, and consultants who are wondering what stays valuable when AI gets better. Technical fluency still matters, but it is no longer enough on its own.

The professionals who will hold their value at KPMG are the ones who can do three things at once: use AI tools, verify what they produce, and persuade real people to act on the result. In a firm built on trust, that combination is becoming the clearest path to staying indispensable.