In a landmark move, Ernst & Young (EY) has unveiled the results of a monumental four-year, billion-dollar investment in its next-generation Assurance technology platform. This transformative endeavor is set to reshape the landscape of audit quality, business confidence, and capital market assurance.
Underpinned by an extended partnership with tech giant Microsoft, EY's ambitious program has delivered over 20 game-changing Assurance technology capabilities within the first year alone. This cutting-edge platform seamlessly integrates advanced technologies, including next-gen data access, AI, and advanced analytics, to catalyze a new era of audit services. The beating heart of this transformation is Microsoft Azure, which empowers over 500,000 EY personnel and external stakeholders.
Marie-Laure Delarue, EY Global Vice Chair, Assurance, emphasized that this program marks just the initial stride in EY's journey to revolutionize Assurance technologies. She states that the EY-Microsoft Alliance is instrumental in fortifying audit quality, driving sustainable value, and instilling unwavering confidence among stakeholders.
Notably, a standout achievement of the first year has been the introduction of next-generation audit data analytics, utilizing Microsoft Power BI. This innovation, harmonizing Microsoft Fabric with EY capabilities, augments the user experience while seamlessly integrating data analytics into the audit process. EY's Assurance teams now process an astounding 775 billion lines of journal entry data annually, fueling the digitally transformed audit.
Furthermore, EY Canvas, the dynamic audit technology application, is now seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Azure, providing unparalleled performance and scalability for over 150,000 audits worldwide. With a remarkable 99.99% availability rate in the past year, EY Canvas stands as a testament to the potency of this alliance.
The latest advancement sees EY Assurance technology embrace globally scalable AI. These AI-enabled tools, drawing from both public and proprietary data, synergize with EY Canvas to enhance risk assessment capabilities. This includes pioneering AI-driven predictive analytics, content search, document intelligence, and financial statement tie-out. These leaps forward empower EY teams to integrate AI seamlessly into audits, leveraging Azure Cognitive Services.
This alliance also grants EY Assurance teams exclusive access to emerging Microsoft technologies, opening the door for the potential integration of additional Microsoft products into the platform. This includes the bespoke EY version of Azure OpenAI Service, affording early access to Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot and generative AI capabilities.
According to Marc Jeschonneck, EY's investment in Microsoft Cloud and Power BI is catalyzing the development of data-driven audits and assurance services. Andreas Toggwyler, EY Global Assurance Technology Officer, further underscores how Microsoft Azure has elevated the performance and reliability of EY's Assurance platform.
