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EY and Microsoft have announced a joint investment of more than $1bn (£740m) over five years to launch an AI initiative, which aims to help clients scale their technology across business operations.
The project will see the integration of Microsoft engineers with EY industry professionals to co-develop secure, industry-specific technology solutions to accelerate AI adoption.
Services will initially focus on finance, tax, risk, human resources and supply chain management. The rollout will target the financial services, industrials, energy, consumer, retail, government and healthcare sectors.
News of the investment comes as the Big Four firm acted as the test organisation for this technology. EY first deployed Microsoft Copilot to 150,000 users and recorded a 15% productivity boost.
The firm is now scaling the software to its 400,000 employees globally. It also implemented automated systems to reduce manual tax data workloads by up to 90%.
Judson Althoff, chief executive of Microsoft’s commercial business, said: “AI is quickly moving from experimentation to a core driver of business performance, and the companies pulling ahead are those scaling AI Transformation.
“Our initiative combines Microsoft’s trusted AI platform and engineering teams with EY’s industry capabilities and experience as ‘Client Zero’ – applying these technologies across their own organisation – to help customers move beyond pilots to enterprise execution, enhancing decision-making and delivering measurable impact.”
Janet Truncale, global chair and chief executive of EY, added: “Together with Microsoft, EY is supporting clients to unlock value through rapid deployment of AI at scale. With access to a single, integrated team, clients will have at their disposal both Microsoft’s market-leading engineering depth, alongside EY teams’ deep industry knowledge and change management capabilities.
“By combining people and innovation in this next phase of the Alliance, clients will be empowered to realize the transformative power of agentic AI within the enterprise.”
