Chapter 1: Transforming clients – and EY – through data and technology
Helping clients address digital disruption.
Today new and technology-based EY services help clients address the digital disruption they’re facing. For example, by using artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing, the EY Document Intelligence solution is helping teams analyze business documents and contracts more efficiently and effectively. This year the solution was moved to the cloud and, after successful pilots with Assurance teams globally on lease accounting change and audit engagements, processing time was reduced by up to 90% and accuracy increased by up to 25%.
There are also several EY clients in the wine industry, using EY blockchain solutions to help assure the quality, provenance and authenticity of new and vintage wines and to help reduce the significant issue of wine fraud. So far more than 11 million bottles of wine are being tracked using the EY OpsChain platform.
The EY and Microsoft blockchain solution for content rights and royalties management, launched in FY19, now processes 25,000 transactions every day, supporting a wide range of complex agreements, streaming rights and royalties management.
And a multi-million-dollar investment in EY Blockchain Analyzer is delivering new upgrades for blockchain and cryptocurrency audit and tax services. It’s being rolled out to more than 100 EY Assurance clients that hold or trade cryptocurrencies, or operate in the blockchain ecosystem. Overall this year we achieved a three-fold increase in the number of blockchain projects.
Moreover, today nearly 80% of revenue-generating technology in EY is on the cloud, meaning we can connect and work more efficiently than ever before, and more easily provide the best of what EY has to offer to every single client.
We will continue to extract maximum value from our US$1 billion technology investment plan – on top of the annual technology investment – to ultimately deliver on our purpose of building a better working world in this digital economy.
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Bottles of wine
11 millionbeing tracked by the EY OpsChain platform
Chapter 2: Innovating today, for tomorrow
Innovation as an imperative.
In EY innovation goes beyond technology solutions to redefine who we are, how we charge, how we deliver and what services are offered. As part of our focus on innovation we are on an ongoing journey to disrupt ourselves and adapt for the future. We also think about what innovation means for clients and use it as an opportunity to focus not just on today’s challenges but tomorrow’s too.
Our annual Innovation Realized™ events, for example, have been held for the past four years. Uniquely immersive and interactive, Innovation Realized™ is designed not to predict the future but to instead encourage conversation and collaboration, so that attendees can thrive today, tomorrow and beyond.
At this year’s event academics, futurologists, musicians, authors, social scientists, entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and clients from 35 different countries came together to focus on a range of different topics, from bias and AI to China’s millennials.
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Chapter 3: Collaborating to innovate: acquisitions and alliances
Bringing clients the full range of services and capabilities.
No one organization today has all the answers. That is why in EY we are expanding our knowledge and EY services through acquisitions and an ecosystem of alliances. In FY19 there were 20 acquisitions and eight new alliances which expanded EY’s skills and capabilities in areas like digital, strategy, operations and technology. Over the past five years 140 acquisitions in EY have resulted in US$1.8b of revenue and 8,000 new colleagues.
There are now more than 20 strategic alliances, which allow EY to combine emerging and widely used technologies with our own capabilities to develop new offerings. We are also nurturing strong relationships with organizations outside of technology so that we can fill skills gaps and bring diverse teams of different subject-matter professionals to help create client value.
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Over 140 acquisitions in EY have resulted in US$1.8b of combined revenue and 8,000 new colleagues in the past five years.
Chapter 4: A global network of wavespace™ centers
Co-innovating alongside clients.
The speed of technological disruption means that we need to co-innovate alongside clients to develop new solutions that directly respond to their needs. One of the ways we do that is through the expanding network of EY wavespace™ centers based in 35 locations worldwide, where we help clients drive action in the ‘now’, prioritize ‘what’s next’ and imagine the future.
Each wavespace™ is designed to facilitate collaboration and accelerate creativity. They include spaces for design, tech demos, data labs, incubation and workshops, and bring together EY teams and emerging technologies, to help clients explore possibilities and find answers faster.
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Chapter 5: Trust matters
Building trust and confidence – the cornerstone of EY.
Across business and broader society today, trust has never been more valuable and in some quarters has never been in shorter supply. We believe that trust is a lead indicator of future corporate performance – the way in which stakeholders, including investors and customers, trust a company or brand now will affect how they behave towards it in the future – and in turn impact the company performance.
Building trust and confidence has always been the cornerstone of EY. EY’s Assurance services help to foster confidence in the capital markets by delivering high-quality audits, and all EY services help to build trust, whether directly through the work we do or indirectly through what our work allows others to achieve. Our work around blockchain, for example, supports authenticity and accountability, and ultimately greater trust, in the products and services that people are buying.
EY services around risk management are also focused on strengthening trust. This year we launched Trust by Design (TxD), the latest methodology to help clients embrace disruption and innovate for long-term growth, while building and maintaining trust with their stakeholders. We continue to focus on building trust through new approaches to corporate reporting and creating long-term value for all stakeholders via our work with the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism and the Embankment Project for Inclusive Capitalism (EPIC).Closely connected is the work that we do supporting clients on their journey to becoming more purpose-led organizations – one where they can connect with their full range of stakeholders in new ways and define and establish a sense of purpose beyond the balance sheet.
Chapter 6: MS@EY
Developing end-to-end services for EY clients.
Companies face an ongoing balancing act – the need to invest in new technologies for their core functions, while still managing costs. The growing EY Managed Services offering – MS@EY – helps clients reimagine how to operate their core functions, like finance, tax, risk, accounting and compliance. There are already many EY services offered on a managed basis and we are scaling this part of EY service offerings in order to meet demand, building a differentiated managed services offering to help clients even more comprehensively.
Different from traditional outsourcing, Managed Services is part of the EY commitment to the provision of end-to-end services and solutions for clients. The approach is built on a deep sector and domain experience and uses our knowledge, processes and technology ecosystem to add value – and not merely reduce cost.
Chapter 7: Charting new territories
Helping clients better anticipate market trends with a sector focus.
Today agriculture generates 14.5% of greenhouse gases, consumes 70% of fresh water and occupies nearly 40% of the global landmass. And more people now suffer from obesity than from malnutrition. The EY report why your next big bet should be in food innovation outlines why there is a huge opportunity in resolving paradoxes like these.
It’s just one of the many pieces of sector-led thought leadership designed to help clients better anticipate market trends. Across EY we use industry knowledge, integrated with our cross-service line delivery model, to address clients’ most pressing issues. From helping smart cities become even smarter, advising governments on how to better connect with citizens, or how to prepare for tomorrow’s climate, today we identify the sector-specific implications, today and tomorrow, for clients’ businesses.
Chapter 8: Supporting ground-breaking entrepreneurs
Recognizing the importance of entrepreneurs as engines of growth.
We believe entrepreneurs make a difference. They not only have great ideas, but also the drive to make them a reality. They use their fresh thinking and hard work to create positive social change – bringing new concepts and products to market and creating jobs and wealth.
We have long recognized the potential of entrepreneurs. For over 30 years we have been working with entrepreneurs and EY Entrepreneur Of The YearTM winners, drawing on EY experience, industry capabilities and the EY 7 Drivers of Growth framework to support entrepreneurial, high-growth companies.
Chapter 9: Asking better questions to get to better answers
Thriving in a fast-changing world.
The pace of change has never been faster. New paths are opening, new ways to unlock value are emerging, and new opportunities for human engagement are being created. Clients expect technology-enabled solutions to be designed and built quickly. To do that, we bring together teams from across geographies, service lines and sectors to help clients build trust and thrive in a fast-changing world.
- How could blockchain help to track every drop of blood and to measure every outcome? Find out how EY is putting ‘blood on a blockchain’ to seek a better blood donor experience for Canadian Blood Services.
- How can technology transform the business of adventure? Find out how Royal Caribbean looked to EY to help it cruise into the digital age.
- How can you turn spectators into fans? Find out how EY and Velon used IoT solutions to build an app that brought cycling straight to the fans.
- How do you teach an algorithm to think like an auditor? Find out how Naoto Ichihara, an Assurance partner in EY Japan, and his team developed an AI program that would help revolutionize the auditing landscape.
- How does a small nation realize big plans in AI? Find out how we helped Estonia realize its AI ambitions.
Chapter 10: EY service lines
Our service line capabilities.
We bring industry experience and service line capabilities – Assurance, Advisory, Strategy and Transactions (Strategy and Transactions) and Tax – to corporations, middle-market companies, family-owned firms, entrepreneurs, governments and public sector agencies, to help them solve their most complex problems.
Summary
At EY we ask better questions to help clients, grow and protect value – so that they can address today’s challenges and move to the next wave of innovation.
