PwC has teamed up with generative artificial intelligence leader OpenAI to offer more tailored versions of the latter's top-tier ChatGPT service, as it expects the technology to play a key role in consultancy.
While San Francisco-based OpenAI offers ChatGPT Enterprise on its website, its partnership with PwC is “distinct” as it would be able to further tailor the service to what its clients require, Ali Hosseini, chief technology officer of PwC Middle East, told The National in Dubai.
This is in addition to providing a “strategic road map” to help PwC customers scale their AI infrastructure, applications and services, Mr Hosseini said.
The move also makes PwC the largest customer globally and first reseller of ChatGPT Enterprise in the Middle East, which “enriches our audit, tax and consulting services with a broad spectrum of business and industry solutions”, he added.
This collaboration is part of PwC's commitment announced last year to invest $1 billion over the next three years to expand its AI services to its clients, and is a follow up to a similar move in May in which PwC became the first reseller of ChatGPT Enterprise in the UK and the US.
The global consultancy did not reveal its pricing for the service, nor plans on whether to adopt this in the other regions that it serves.
ChatGPT Enterprise is the “most powerful version” of the generative AI service, featuring additional top-tier features, including enterprise-grade security and privacy, longer context windows for processing longer inputs, unlimited advanced data analysis capabilities, customisation options and unlimited higher-speed GPT-4 access, removing all usage caps and performing up to two times faster, OpenAI said.
It is one of the three paid tiers offered by OpenAI; the others are ChatGPT Plus at $20 per month and ChatGPT Team at $25 or $30 monthly for up to 149 users, according to its website. ChatGPT Free provides users with the basic tools.
Enterprise's rates, however, are not published and will vary depending on requirements of individual companies, with interested users needing to reach out to the company's sales team for quotes; reportedly, it costs $60 a month, with a minimum of 150 users and a 12-month contract.
“Ultimately, we are not just reselling a product; we are facilitating an AI transformation tailored to each client's unique requirements,” Mr Hosseini said.
PwC sees the use of generative AI growing further among enterprises: about 58 per cent of chief executives say the technology will improve the quality of its products and services, while 48 per cent agree it will help build trust with stakeholders in the next 12 months, according to PwC's latest Annual Global CEO Survey.
The same study showed that 70 per cent of chief executives believe generative AI would be able to “significantly change” the way companies create, deliver and capture value over the next three years.
“It's hard to imagine not having tools like ChatGPT today … you need to have access to knowledge and the analysis of data,” Mr Hosseini said.
“For sure we will see its impact on the way we work today and in the future it will become a lot more productive for all of us.”
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RACECARD
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (PA) $50,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
6.35pm: Festival City Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic – Listed (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.45pm: Jumeirah Classic Trial – Conditions (TB) $150,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (D) 1,600m
8.55pm: Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Dubai Dash – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,000m
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
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Miguel Cotto world titles:
WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
the pledge
I pledge to uphold the duty of tolerance
I pledge to take a first stand against hate and injustice
I pledge to respect and accept people whose abilities, beliefs and culture are different from my own
I pledge to wish for others what I wish for myself
I pledge to live in harmony with my community
I pledge to always be open to dialogue and forgiveness
I pledge to do my part to create peace for all
I pledge to exercise benevolence and choose kindness in all my dealings with my community
I pledge to always stand up for these values: Zayed's values for tolerance and human fraternity
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
