Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft vs KPMG

Prof. Christoph Igel verstärkt Institutsleitung am Fraunhofer FKIE

Prof. Christoph Igel ist mit Wirkung zum 15. August 2026 zum Institutsleiter des Fraunhofer-Instituts für Kommunikation, Informationsverarbeitung und Ergonomie FKIE berufen worden. Gemeinsam mit Prof. Peter Martini, geschäftsführender Institutsleiter des Fraunhofer FKIE, bildet Prof. Igel künftig die Doppelspitze des Instituts. Mit dieser gemeinsamen Führung stärkt das Fraunhofer FKIE seine Position als eines der größten wehrtechnischen Forschungsinstitute innerhalb der Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Former KPMG CLO Mike Mather Joins Yoodli as Chief Learning Advisor

Yoodli, the AI platform for human skills, announced that Mike Mather, former Chief Learning Officer at KPMG US, has joined as Chief Learning Advisor. Mather will work with Yoodli customers and product teams to help organizations prepare their workforce for the AI era. He brings extensive experience from KPMG, EY, IBM, and PwC, where he advised Fortune 100 companies on HR and learning transformation. Yoodli is used by major firms like Google, Databricks, FranklinCovey, Korn Ferry, and Snowflake for AI training and coaching. Mather aims to help learning leaders demonstrate measurable behavior change and real business impact.

• Mike Mather, former Chief Learning Officer at KPMG US, joined Yoodli as Chief Learning Advisor.
• Mather served as KPMG's CLO from 2023 to September 2026.
• Yoodli is used by Google, Databricks, FranklinCovey, Korn Ferry, and Snowflake.

AI Pressure on Hourly Expertise Firms

Egan-Jones released a commentary analyzing how advances in artificial intelligence could compress margins at professional services firms that sell expertise by the hour, including audit, consulting, law, and engineering. The report highlights that small teams using AI can match the output of large practices, leading to significant price declines. It cites KPMG's 14% fee cut after client pressure as an example. The commentary also discusses the Model Context Protocol as an open standard that reduces the importance of software interfaces, eroding pricing power for legacy software and data providers. In private markets, AI enables startups to scale faster with less capital, compressing venture returns, which many limited partners have not priced in. Job losses among screen-based workers are expected to exert short-term downward pressure on housing prices, despite long-term urban land value. The commentary provides a framework for investors and risk managers.

• Egan-Jones released a commentary on AI's impact on hourly expertise firms.
• KPMG was pressured to cut fees by 14% due to AI savings.
• Model Context Protocol is cited as eroding software interface importance.

Global Fintech Investments Surpass $100 Billion in H1 2026

According to KPMG's 'Pulse of Fintech H1'26' study, global fintech investments reached $103.1 billion in the first half of 2026, a 43% increase from the previous six months. This growth was driven by a few large deals, with the top ten transactions accounting for $64 billion (62% of total). The United States dominated with $80.8 billion (78% of global capital). In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), investments fell 37% to $11.3 billion, with Germany ranking second in the region at $1.6 billion, behind the UK's $2.5 billion. The payments segment attracted the most capital at $44.2 billion, largely due to Global Payments' $24.3 billion acquisition of Worldpay. AI-related fintech investments surged to $21.4 billion across 800 deals, nearly matching the full-year 2025 total of $23.6 billion. KPMG expects continued consolidation and a focus on scalable technologies and AI.

• Global fintech investments reached $103.1 billion in H1 2026, up 43% from H2 2025.
• The top 10 transactions totaled $64 billion, representing 62% of global investment volume.
• The US attracted $80.8 billion, accounting for 78% of global fintech investments.