KPMG Japan Enhances Sustainability Disclosure and Assurance through AI Agent Utilization, Anticipating Institutionalization
KPMG Japan has begun using AI agents for sustainability disclosure and assurance services. This initiative aims to advance and streamline operations by integrating expert knowledge into AI, anticipating mandatory disclosures from March 2027 and third-party assurance institutionalization a year later.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 8, 2026 at 23:59
- 🔍 Collected: May 8, 2026 at 15:01
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 8, 2026 at 21:08 (6h 6m after Collected)
KPMG Japan, comprising Azusa Audit Corporation (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Chairman: Hiroyuki Yamada) and KPMG Azusa Sustainability Co., Ltd. (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Representative Directors: Kazuhiko Saito, Sakura Ohtsuki), both member firms of KPMG, is initiating an effort to leverage AI agents in sustainability disclosure and assurance services. This move anticipates the upcoming institutionalization of sustainability disclosure and third-party assurance.
Furthermore, the mechanism utilizing decision-making processes related to this initiative is currently patent-pending.
The backdrop for this initiative is a significant shift in the regulatory landscape surrounding sustainability disclosure and assurance. Starting from the fiscal year ending March 2027, some companies will face phased mandatory sustainability disclosures based on SSBJ standards. One year later, the institutionalization of third-party assurance is slated. This necessitates that companies achieve both accuracy and timeliness in sustainability-related financial information within their securities reports to an unprecedented degree.
Meanwhile, assurers are also required to verify vast amounts of data swiftly and accurately while maintaining high assurance quality. Balancing the enhancement and efficiency of operations presents a major challenge.
### Points for Enhancing Sustainability Disclosure and Assurance Services
In assurance services for sustainability-related financial information, the utilization of digital technologies such as OCR for character recognition and item extraction, and anomaly detection, has progressed. However, in areas such as drafting questions for factual investigations (the process of investigating the background and reasons for fluctuations in numerical data and reported content) and scrutinizing company responses and underlying related documents, professional judgment and interpretation are frequently required. This results in continued reliance on human judgment and a significant operational burden. Furthermore, to sustainably address institutional assurance, it is essential to move away from operations dependent on the knowledge of individual experts and to establish a system for accumulating and sharing decision-making processes and know-how organizationally.
### Overview of AI Agent Utilization
To address these challenges, KPMG Japan has developed an AI agent that incorporates practical know-how cultivated through sustainability information assurance services. This AI agent has been applied to sustainability disclosure and assurance operations.
Based on risk detection results indicating potential numerical errors, this AI agent supports the creation of questions to ascertain the background and reasons for fluctuations in sustainability-related numerical information, as well as the verification of submitted responses and related documents. In doing so, it systematically leverages accumulated knowledge from past assurance practices, such as error cases and risk scenarios, and combines this with internal company information and external information available on the internet.
### Key Functions of the AI Agent
1. **Question Generation**
Based on risk detection results, the AI agent automatically generates a draft questionnaire necessary for factual investigations. By reflecting checkpoints organized and systematized in assurance practice manuals, according to the presence and combination of external information about the industry published on the internet and internal information provided by companies during assurance procedures, it supports the comprehensiveness and standardization of viewpoints in factual investigations.
2. **Response Validity Evaluation**
The AI agent analyzes responses received from companies and automatically suggests candidate related documents required based on the nature and content of the response. Furthermore, it performs a primary evaluation of the consistency between the obtained related documents and the response content, using judgment criteria based on assurance practice experience, thereby supporting the assurer's final judgment.
### Effects of AI Agent Utilization
#### Benefits for Companies
- Early identification of disclosure issues and risks, ensuring sufficient time for deliberation.
- Accelerated disclosure of sustainability-related financial information by suppressing the occurrence of additional corrections.
- Enhanced management decisions and promotion of constructive dialogue with stakeholders through improved reliability of disclosed information.
#### Benefits for Assurers
- Contributes to ensuring stable assurance quality based on judgment criteria reflecting past error cases and expert knowledge.
- Reduced workload in factual investigations, enabling focus on more critical judgment tasks.
- Early risk identification and realization of multi-faceted judgments based on internal and external information.
This initiative aims to secure the reliability of sustainability-related information while simultaneously achieving both the sophistication and efficiency of assurance services. KPMG Japan will continue to contribute to the sustainable growth of companies and the enhancement of their medium-to-long-term corporate value through digital utilization centered on expert judgment.
### About KPMG Japan
KPMG Japan is the collective term for KPMG International's member firms in Japan, comprising 10 professional firms across three fields: audit, tax, and advisory. Experts in each field provide insights to address the management challenges faced by clients.
Furthermore, the mechanism utilizing decision-making processes related to this initiative is currently patent-pending.
The backdrop for this initiative is a significant shift in the regulatory landscape surrounding sustainability disclosure and assurance. Starting from the fiscal year ending March 2027, some companies will face phased mandatory sustainability disclosures based on SSBJ standards. One year later, the institutionalization of third-party assurance is slated. This necessitates that companies achieve both accuracy and timeliness in sustainability-related financial information within their securities reports to an unprecedented degree.
Meanwhile, assurers are also required to verify vast amounts of data swiftly and accurately while maintaining high assurance quality. Balancing the enhancement and efficiency of operations presents a major challenge.
### Points for Enhancing Sustainability Disclosure and Assurance Services
In assurance services for sustainability-related financial information, the utilization of digital technologies such as OCR for character recognition and item extraction, and anomaly detection, has progressed. However, in areas such as drafting questions for factual investigations (the process of investigating the background and reasons for fluctuations in numerical data and reported content) and scrutinizing company responses and underlying related documents, professional judgment and interpretation are frequently required. This results in continued reliance on human judgment and a significant operational burden. Furthermore, to sustainably address institutional assurance, it is essential to move away from operations dependent on the knowledge of individual experts and to establish a system for accumulating and sharing decision-making processes and know-how organizationally.
### Overview of AI Agent Utilization
To address these challenges, KPMG Japan has developed an AI agent that incorporates practical know-how cultivated through sustainability information assurance services. This AI agent has been applied to sustainability disclosure and assurance operations.
Based on risk detection results indicating potential numerical errors, this AI agent supports the creation of questions to ascertain the background and reasons for fluctuations in sustainability-related numerical information, as well as the verification of submitted responses and related documents. In doing so, it systematically leverages accumulated knowledge from past assurance practices, such as error cases and risk scenarios, and combines this with internal company information and external information available on the internet.
### Key Functions of the AI Agent
1. **Question Generation**
Based on risk detection results, the AI agent automatically generates a draft questionnaire necessary for factual investigations. By reflecting checkpoints organized and systematized in assurance practice manuals, according to the presence and combination of external information about the industry published on the internet and internal information provided by companies during assurance procedures, it supports the comprehensiveness and standardization of viewpoints in factual investigations.
2. **Response Validity Evaluation**
The AI agent analyzes responses received from companies and automatically suggests candidate related documents required based on the nature and content of the response. Furthermore, it performs a primary evaluation of the consistency between the obtained related documents and the response content, using judgment criteria based on assurance practice experience, thereby supporting the assurer's final judgment.
### Effects of AI Agent Utilization
#### Benefits for Companies
- Early identification of disclosure issues and risks, ensuring sufficient time for deliberation.
- Accelerated disclosure of sustainability-related financial information by suppressing the occurrence of additional corrections.
- Enhanced management decisions and promotion of constructive dialogue with stakeholders through improved reliability of disclosed information.
#### Benefits for Assurers
- Contributes to ensuring stable assurance quality based on judgment criteria reflecting past error cases and expert knowledge.
- Reduced workload in factual investigations, enabling focus on more critical judgment tasks.
- Early risk identification and realization of multi-faceted judgments based on internal and external information.
This initiative aims to secure the reliability of sustainability-related information while simultaneously achieving both the sophistication and efficiency of assurance services. KPMG Japan will continue to contribute to the sustainable growth of companies and the enhancement of their medium-to-long-term corporate value through digital utilization centered on expert judgment.
### About KPMG Japan
KPMG Japan is the collective term for KPMG International's member firms in Japan, comprising 10 professional firms across three fields: audit, tax, and advisory. Experts in each field provide insights to address the management challenges faced by clients.