Last updated August 18, 2023
In AI News & Update

McKinsey Launches Lilli, a Gen AI Tool for Employees

Lilli serves as an integrated platform, streamlining data retrieval and synthesis from McKinsey's vast knowledge pool.

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Published on August 18, 2023

by Shritama Saha

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Management consulting giant McKinsey has unveiled “Lilli,” a generative AI tool designed for internal use by its employees.

Lilli functions as a consolidated platform, efficiently searching and combining the company’s extensive knowledge to provide valuable insights, allowing McKinsey’s teams to dedicate more time to working directly with clients, leveraging insights and aiding in problem-solving and skill-building.

How Does Lilli Work

Designed by the company’s “ClienTech” team under chief technology officer Jacky Wright, Lilli operates by allowing users to input questions and uses a vast database to identify the five to seven most relevant pieces of information, providing concise summaries with links and the ability to identify experts in related fields. There are two modes within the platform: one for searching McKinsey’s internal knowledge and another for external sources.

The platform is named after Lillian Dombrowski, the first woman employed by McKinsey in 1945. Lillian’s remarkable contributions, including shaping sectors like transportation and insurance, establishing financial plans, and initiating the firm’s archives, inspired the platform’s name. “Lilli” represents the platform’s agility, adaptability, and thoroughness, much like Lillian herself.

According to a VentureBeat report, around 7,000 employees have been using Lilli as a “minimum viable product” (MVP), which has significantly reduced research and planning time from weeks to hours, and in some instances, from hours to minutes.

Consulting Sector Embraces Gen AI

In the past year, the consulting and finance sector has transitioned from scepticism to excitement about generative AI. KPMG has developed an in-house system using a ChatGPT-like framework to assist its staff with proprietary data. KPMG’s commitment to an AI alliance with Microsoft has increased to $2 billion, up from the previously announced $5 billion over five years for advanced technologies like AI.

PwC plans to invest $1 billion over three years to advance generative AI in its US operations. Working with Microsoft and OpenAI, PwC aims to automate aspects of tax, audit, and consulting tasks. Multiple teams are currently developing various AI and generative AI applications to boost efficiency, cut costs, save time, and gain new insights.

EY is using generative AI, incorporating tax laws into an AI system to provide instant answers through a ChatGPT-like interface for tasks like payroll queries. This experiment has resulted in notable improvements in efficiency and accuracy. Deloitte has also introduced a generative AI practice to serve its clients.

Shritama Saha

Shritama (she/her) is a technology journalist at AIM who is passionate to explore the influence of AI on different domains including fashion, healthcare and banks.