OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has announced a significant partnership with PwC, marking its first major enterprise customer in a bid to monetize its generative AI technology.
PwC, a leading management consulting firm, will integrate OpenAI’s enterprise solutions for 100,000 users, making it OpenAI’s largest customer. Moreover, PwC will resell OpenAI’s AI offerings to other businesses, expanding its market reach.
Richard Hasslacher, OpenAI’s global head of alliances and partnerships, highlighted the strategic importance of this partnership in a statement.
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“PwC is the first partner that we are leaning into in this way… It is penetration into industry verticals, but also providing an expansive set of services that customers desperately need to take advantage of in a brand-new solution category,” he said.
This move is part of OpenAI’s broader strategy to become profitable following substantial investments from Microsoft and other backers. To date, OpenAI has raised billions of dollars, aiming to maximize returns by transitioning from small-scale use of AI tools to significant enterprise applications.
PwC’s involvement underscores a shift in how consulting firms like PwC are evolving, with AI playing a crucial role in digital transformation despite concerns that it will result in job losses. Bret Greenstein, partner and generative AI leader at PwC, emphasized that AI would not replace jobs but enhance the company’s capabilities without expanding its workforce.
“This is very important for us,” Greenstein stated, adding that generative AI tools have shown high engagement and promise for future business growth. He noted that PwC has been building its work structure around ChatGPT tools.
“But as the technology stack gets better, we can buy versus build more things. We can then focus more on outcomes, transformation, workflow, use cases, and business process, and less on assembling APIs to build an experience for our employees,” he said.
Greenstein pointed out that the company’s educational tools to train employees on generative AI have seen 90% engagement, indicating strong internal adoption. This level of engagement suggests that employees are not only receptive to the technology but are also finding value in its application to their daily tasks.
For PwC, the integration of ChatGPT underlines the company’s commitment to innovation. By leveraging advanced AI tools, PwC aims to streamline its operations, improve service delivery, and enhance client experiences. The use of generative AI can automate routine tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more strategic and creative work. This shift is expected to boost productivity and drive growth without requiring a proportional increase in headcount.
The partnership between OpenAI and PwC marks significantly, the growing adoption of generative AI in the enterprise sector. While OpenAI continues to engage with enterprises directly, the partnership with PwC is a strategic move to expand its reach through a robust channel strategy.
“Today, we have our own customer success team that will support our customers in the deployment of their GenAI solutions,” said Hasslacher. “But we have limited capacity, and that’s really where the partner ecosystem comes into play.”
As OpenAI looks to maximize profit for its investors, building a comprehensive partner ecosystem will be crucial. The PwC partnership is the first step, and Hasslacher hinted at more developments in this area.
“Today, we have our own customer success team that will support our customers in the deployment of their GenAI solutions,” said Hasslacher. “But we have limited capacity, and that’s really where the partner ecosystem comes into play.” For now, PwC is its reselling partner, but “I think you will be seeing a lot more related to that ecosystem.”
Collaborating with partners who have extensive industry knowledge and customer networks, is seen as a way OpenAI can accelerate the adoption of its generative AI products across various sectors.
However, one of the significant challenges for generative AI companies is convincing enterprises to transition from pilot projects to full-scale deployments. Enterprises often approach new technologies cautiously, conducting extensive trials before committing to widespread implementation.
OpenAI’s collaboration with PwC aims to mitigate this challenge by leveraging PwC’s credibility and expertise in consulting. PwC can provide the necessary support and assurance to other enterprises, facilitating smoother transitions and broader adoption.
The partnership comes on the heels of OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT’s enterprise tier in August 2023, designed to offer enhanced capabilities such as faster, unlimited interactions, custom model building, and advanced analytics. With PwC’s extensive workforce in the U.S., U.K., and the Middle East, OpenAI’s enterprise user base is expected to see a significant boost, potentially influencing how AI is adopted across industries.
OpenAI’s self-service ChatGPT costs $30 per user, while the consumer version is $20 per user. Enterprise pricing remains undisclosed, though estimates suggest it could be around $60 per seat per month for substantial volumes.