Kingston Smith is to be the first European adopter of an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) solution to improve audit analytics, supplied by Canadian fintech start-up MindBridge Ai which has also completed trials of the technology with the Bank of England
Becky Shields, partner, Kingston Smith, said: ‘There has been much hype around AI to date, but a by-product of that has been a perception that it is costly and complicated to implement, which needn’t be the case.’
AI can identify complex, nonlinear patterns in large data sets in real time and at scale through the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, the MindBridge Ai Auditor has the ability to uncover material irregularities in data that are a result of human error – or intent – by monitoring for anomalous patterns of activity and continually learning the norm.
Shields said: ‘Rather than our trainees using random number sampling or trying to pick risky transactions out of a large data set the MindBridge Ai Auditor ranks all transactions on perceived risk. This stands up to scrutiny by the regulators and offers a robust, objective reasoning for each sample selected.
‘The solution will also become more accurate at assessing the riskiness of transactions over time, with the ability to build a more in-depth profile of a “normal transaction” from the data, and to learn from the weighting applied to each risk factor by us.’
The firm says that by adopting this technology, auditors also stand to benefit from increased speed and efficiency.
‘We can now look at our clients’ data as a whole, as opposed to as a sample, which has enabled us to take a more consultative approach with our clients and add greater value to the conversations we are having with them,’ Shields said.
Kingston Smith’s first UK deployment in a UK accountancy firm follows the announcement that MindBridge Ai was selected by the Bank of England as part of its FinTech Accelerator, in which it has since completed a proof of concept to prove the analytical value of artificial intelligence tools in anomaly detection in anonymised credit union datasets.
Eli Fathi, CEO, MindBridge Ai, said: ‘The financial crisis of 2008 led to an increased focus on managing risk and compliance and the industry has been looking for new ways to adapt ever since. AI now presents one of the biggest opportunities for the auditing world to meet this demand for regulatory change head on by improving the accuracy and granularity of statistical analysis, and we are delighted to be working with Kingston Smith to democratise its benefits in the UK market.’
Report by Pat Sweet
