KPMG Technology Assurance spotlights audit, systems, and emerging risk work

Technology assurance is where the audit job is changing fastest

At KPMG, Technology Assurance is no longer just the corner of audit where people test controls and tick boxes. It is becoming one of the firm’s clearest signals that the work inside audit is shifting toward systems, data, and emerging risk, not just financial statements in the old sense.

KPMG says the U.S. practice has more than 1,000 professionals nationwide, and the scope is wide: Financial Statement IT Audit, System and Organization Controls, Enterprise Resource Planning, Real-Time System Assessment, and ESG Reporting. That mix matters because it shows the job is now about understanding how information is created, moved, protected, and reported across the business, not just checking whether a process was followed after the fact.

The day-to-day work is more technical, and more embedded in change

For many KPMG professionals, the biggest shift is that Technology Assurance sits closer to the systems that drive the client’s business. The firm says the practice helps clients assess, manage, and remediate IT-related risks, which means the work often starts with how the environment is built, configured, and controlled before it ever reaches a report or a control memo.

That is especially true in Enterprise Resource Planning and Real-Time System Assessment work. KPMG says real-time system assessments are used to identify risks during technology transformation before go-live, and a KPMG PDF defines RTSA as an audit of a new or updated information system before it goes live. In practical terms, that changes the rhythm of the job: instead of only reviewing what happened last quarter, teams are working alongside implementation timelines, system migrations, and cutover decisions where mistakes can become expensive fast.

AI is moving from a side topic to part of the assurance model

KPMG’s newer materials make the direction even clearer. The firm has introduced AI Assurance services aimed at building trust in AI as organizations accelerate adoption, and it says those capabilities are meant to support trust, transparency, and accountability in how companies build, deploy, and govern AI systems.

That is not just a branding change. It means auditors and assurance professionals are being pulled into questions that used to sit farther from the core of audit: how AI outputs are governed, how models are monitored, how controls work when decisions are automated, and what evidence supports trust in those systems. KPMG’s U.S. audit careers materials also say the firm is using AI across audit work, which helps explain why Technology Assurance now looks less like a niche specialty and more like a gateway into how audit itself is being rebuilt.

Why this practice is becoming a career bridge inside KPMG

The value of Technology Assurance is that it connects classic audit thinking with the systems knowledge clients now need. A professional who can test controls, understand ERP logic, trace data flows, and evaluate AI-related risk is more useful than someone who can only apply a checklist to a static process.

That is why this lane can be a strong path for people who want a long-term professional-services career without drifting away from technical depth. It also creates a bridge into ESG assurance, where technology, reporting, and regulation overlap in ways that can quickly expose gaps in data quality or control design. In a firm like KPMG, where staff are thinking about manager-level visibility, promotion cycles, and eventually partner track, those cross-disciplinary skills make a difference because they travel across industries and engagements.

The talent strategy has been building for years

The practice did not appear overnight. In September 2021, KPMG U.S. appointed Heather C. Paquette as National Tech Assurance Leader for Audit, and the messaging around that move described a multiyear transformation that placed technology at the future of audit. Around the same time, reporting said more than 1,500 audit professionals were benefiting from cross-training on IT audit skills through the Next Gen Auditor program.

That scale matters because it shows KPMG has been trying to move more of its audit bench into tech fluency, not just build a specialist silo at the edges. The firm is effectively training more auditors to think like systems testers, control reviewers, and risk spotters at the same time. For staff, that means the career floor is rising: basic audit competence is still necessary, but it is no longer enough if the client’s books, controls, and reporting all run through integrated platforms.

What skills matter now if you want to stay relevant

The clearest lesson for KPMG professionals is that Technology Assurance rewards people who can work across systems and controls without losing the discipline of audit. The strongest skill set now includes understanding ITGCs and application controls, knowing how ERP environments work, being able to follow data from source to report, and speaking comfortably with client technology teams during implementations and remediation.

It also helps to be comfortable with evidence in digital environments. A person who can test access, configuration, change management, and automated controls in a live system has an edge over someone who only knows traditional walkthroughs. Add AI governance, ESG reporting, and real-time assessment work, and the profile becomes broader still: technical enough to matter, commercial enough to serve the client, and flexible enough to move with the firm’s audit transformation.

The real takeaway for KPMG workers

Technology Assurance is not a side practice anymore. It is one of the places where KPMG’s audit and advisory capabilities meet the reality of modern business, where systems change constantly, AI is entering decision-making, and clients want confidence before problems surface.

For people inside the firm, the implication is straightforward: the auditors who keep up will be the ones who can test systems, understand controls, and think about emerging risk in the same conversation. That is where the work is headed, and it is where the most durable audit careers will be built.