EY and Microsoft announce global initiative to help clients scale AI enterprise-wide value creation and move beyond experimentation

• Building on the success of the EY-Microsoft Alliance, the organizations are jointly investing US$1b+ in a new initiative to accelerate enterprise AI transformation
• Integrated team of EY practitioners and Microsoft "forward deployed engineers" will help clients deploy AI solutions in core business functions at scale
• As "Client Zero", EY was one of the first organizations to adopt Microsoft 365 E7: The Frontier Suite, and is now scaling Copilot across its more than 400,000 people

LONDON, May 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The EY organization and Microsoft today announce a significant evolution of their Alliance, investing US$1b+ over five years and launching a new initiative to help organizations as they scale AI and deliver measurable, enterprise-wide outcomes at scale. The initiative brings together Microsoft's "Forward Deployed Engineers" (FDE) and EY industry professionals to accelerate AI adoption across change management delivery models, powered by Microsoft's FDE AI-native Hypervelocity Engineering approach.

The initiative represents an important milestone in the long-standing EY-Microsoft Alliance, demonstrating a shared commitment to client-centric AI-powered transformation across Tax, Assurance, Consulting and EY-Parthenon.

Clients will be empowered to become "Frontier Firms" that scale and generate value, through workforce upskilling, embedded change management, and continuous optimization of agentic AI transformation. EY and Microsoft will deploy integrated teams of engineers and business consultants aligned by industry. Together, they will co-develop and provide secure, industry-specific AI solutions focused on clients' highest value business opportunities. Through this approach, organizations can accelerate AI adoption and continuously optimize operations to drive sustained business value.

Janet Truncale, EY Global Chair and CEO, says:

"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."

EY as 'Client Zero' 

The initiative is underpinned by EY as 'Client Zero', using the organization's own teams to validate ways of working with Microsoft technologies. EY initially deployed Copilot to 150,000 Copilot users, recording a 15% boost in productivity that was reinvested into client delivery and learning. EY is also scaling Copilot through Microsoft 365 E7: The Frontier Suite to its more than 400,000 people around the world, embedding agentic AI capabilities across the enterprise to drive business impact.

Beyond Copilot, EY has implemented AI across its organization, including:

• Modernizing finance operations with Microsoft Power Platform, integrating intelligent agents via Copilot Studio, which resulted in 95% faster lead times and a 37%+ reduction in operational costs.
• Embedding a new multi-agent framework—integrated with Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Foundry and Microsoft Fabric—into EY Canvas, which encompassed the workflows of 130,000 Assurance professionals across 160,000 audit engagements.
• Early adoption of Microsoft Azure AI Document Intelligence on its Global Tax Platform, applying advanced machine learning to automatically and accurately extract essential data from documents, which reduced manual workload by up to 90%.

Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft's Commercial Business, says: 

"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 organization—to help customers move beyond pilots to enterprise execution, enhancing decision-making and delivering measurable impact."

The offering will be fully integrated, with shared governance, aligned commercial models, and accountability across both organizations. Initially, services and solutions will be focused across Finance, Tax, Risk, HR and Supply Chain within Financial Services, Industrials and Energy, Consumer and Retail, Government, and Health Care.

Learn more about the EY-Microsoft initiative here, and for more information on the EY-Microsoft Alliance, visit EY.com.

About EY

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.

All in to shape the future with confidence.

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This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) creates platforms and tools powered by AI to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. The technology company is committed to making AI available broadly and doing so responsibly, with a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.