PricewaterhouseCoopersannounced the acquisition of"almost all assets" of Kunai, a Bay Area-based fintech consulting firm. The Big Four accounting firm said the move will help banks quickly test their technology modernization solutions, enabling chief financial officers (CFOs) to demonstrate early evidence of return on investment to internal decision-makers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kunai focuses on artificial intelligence, automation, cloud engineering, and core banking systems, and its team includes mid-to-senior level engineers, company founder Sandeep Sood told CFO Dive. Through this acquisition, PwC aims to provide faster delivery of technology solutions, allowing decision-makers to obtain tangible evidence of results before committing full budgets to transformation.

Sean Viergutz, PwC's banking and capital markets consulting business leader, said that amid rising urgency to upgrade legacy infrastructure and talent shortages, CFOs are at the forefront of "approving large-scale changes for their financial institutions." "CFOs will pay attention to this because we can say based on results, 'We've done this before. We know we can deliver for you.'" Viergutz noted that many systems behind transformations, including general ledgers, core banking, and loan accounting platforms, may fall under the CFO's purview.

Financial institutions are also migrating critical functions to the cloud, modernizing payment platforms, and embedding AI into workflows. Viergutz added that the urgency to upgrade legacy infrastructure often depends on rapid board approval, and Kunai's rapid prototyping approach can provide CFOs with the early evidence they need to gain approval.

Sood said: "We will see CFOs more frequently asking to see prototypes... and doing so before they have pre-invested millions of dollars."

Faster technology rollout

While small and mid-sized financial institutions are rushing to update legacy infrastructure, PwC also sees value in Kunai's capabilities for large financial institutions. In particular, many institutions are stuck in lengthy request for proposal (RFP) processes for digital transformation, and Kunai's model may help modernize, challenge outdated assumptions, and help enterprises execute faster, Sood said.

"We can do this work in less time with fewer people," he said. "We are challenging RFP parameters built for offshoring in an older era."

Bringing empowerment back to internal teams

Sood said PwC aims to use Kunai's capabilities to guide clients' new digital transformation initiatives, but the ultimate goal is for clients to lead these initiatives internally. Kunai has a track record of building and hosting platforms, then handing them back to clients for control, he noted.

"We don't want to exist forever... We hand the platform back to clients so they have long-term control," Sood said.

Regarding AI, Kunai does not position it as a standalone product. Instead, PwC will handle each project holistically, incorporating AI where it adds value and treating it as a standard part of the engineering process, Sood said.

The deal builds on PwC's otherrecent technology acquisitions, including Sagence, Surfaceink, Netrovert, ACTS, and EagleDream—part of its strategy to expand engineering depth and digital enablement capabilities.