KPMG offers staff ‘outsize’ cash prizes for AI innovation

AI promises massive productivity gains—that is if employees are willing to use it and can figure out how to integrate it into their workflows. In the rush to reap the benefits of AI, KPMG one of the “big four” accounting firms, headquartered in London, just launched a new incentive program for its US advisory division. 

Per a new Business Insider report, the program, called “AI Spark Innovation”, is offering cash prizes for consultants who excel in AI innovation. The payouts will be hefty. US Vice Chair Rob Fisher told BI that the “outsize” cash awards will be “materially larger than an end-of-year compensation award.” 

Fisher continued, “It’s really intended to be a pretty exciting amount of money, especially for our more junior staff, because they’re fixed dollar amounts. The upside relative to salary is more for our less tenured folks.”

The goal of KPMG’s cash awards isn’t just to increase productivity, however. The program incentivizes employees to change the way they think about their success and focus on innovation rather than billable hours. Fisher said the cash awards will be offered for those who can “show off the incredible thing they’ve done with AI”, and those ideas should aim to inspire adoptable change throughout the company.

Fisher added, “We’re trying to figure out how we get all that grassroots innovation unlocked by trying to bring some more carrots forward to our folks.”

While KPMG’s cash awards announcement feels like a new wave of incentivizing AI integration, companies have already been ramping up their efforts to get employees excited about using the technology more broadly. According to a 2025 Lightcast study, job postings that mentioned at least one AI skill offered salaries of 28% higher than those that did not mention any. For jobs that mentioned two AI skills, pay was 43% higher. 

Despite the salary gains that AI offers, integrating it into a daily work routine is still a hard sell for some employees. According to one 2025 report from enterprise technology services firm Kyndryl, 45% of CEOs say their employees are actively resistant to the technology. From that lens, KPMG’s incentive plan makes sense. 

In fact, Akhil Verghese, founder and CEO of AI engineering firm Krazimo, tells Fast Company it’s “a brilliant move” explaining that it’s essential for leaders who want to get their employees to embrace AI to get their input on ideas. “It makes your employees part of your company’s AI adoption journey,” the CEO explains. 

Likewise, Verghese says the push for new ideas can help employees begin to utilize the technology while also helping to dispel some fear around AI. “Many early stage AI deployments fail because the technology is still nascent” and that the “most valuable part” about moving towards integration is “less about the results and more about building an AI-literate employee pool.” 

From that lens, KPMG is being innovative, and Verghese believes that other companies will follow suit “if they’re smart.” He adds that doing so only “encourages experimentation” and “builds the kind of workforce that will be incredibly valuable for the future.”

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