Tech Directions

The world is on a quest to become more sustainable – but what does that mean in practice? How could advances in artificial intelligence help achieve environmental goals? 

Susannah Streeter welcomes Ben Taylor, EY Market Leader for Climate Change and Sustainability Services, and Mark Kroese, General Manager of the Sustainability Solutions team at Microsoft to discuss very latest generative AI approaches, methodologies, pitfalls and use cases.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, stagnant and outdated business processes are more than just financial pitfalls—they are barriers to scaling and innovation. The incentives to shift to automation and leverage AI are massive.

Susannah Streeter welcomes William Smith, Senior Manager for EY Consulting, Jack Virdee, VP of Finance and Automation Leader at Omnicom, and Stephen Siciliano, VP Power Automate at Microsoft, to deep dive into the world of automation and AI.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Generative AI offers innovative avenues for content but comes with challenges and societal implications, from misinformation threats to ethical dilemmas. Businesses must adopt a balanced approach.

Susannah Streeter welcomes Nate Harris, General Manager and Global Leader for Data & AI at Microsoft, and Beatriz Sanz Saiz, EY's Global Consulting Data and AI Leader, to discuss the latest generative AI approaches, methodologies, pitfalls and use cases.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Technology has long been instrumental in enabling HR leaders to create efficient and less stressful work environments, and its importance has only grown. 

Susannah Streeter welcomes Maya Smallwood, EY Global People Advisory Services People Experience Leader, and Reamonn Stynes, Director of Strategic Partner Development for Microsoft Modern Work, to discuss the profound transformation that the world of work has undergone in recent years.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms ofErnst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young GlobalLimited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Underperforming and needlessly complex security systems aren't just a drain on day-to-day budgets, they can also open the back door to cyber criminals. 

Susannah Streeter welcomes Dave Burg, EY Americas Cybersecurity Leader and Kelly Bissell, CVP, Microsoft Security Solution Services, to discuss the benefits of simplifying security and where to spend money doing so.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

M&A activity presents opportunities but can equally bring on plenty of business migraines – particularly operational struggles through the transition. How can companies make progress more quickly, efficiently, and most importantly effectively? 

Susannah Streeter welcomes Alex Corps, partner focused on Microsoft Business Applications innovation at Ernst & Young, LLC, United Kingdom, Bimal Pall, Strategy and Transactions partner at EY-Parthenon, and Amer Dalain, Global Solutions Strategy Leader for Dynamics 365 Finance at Microsoft, to discuss why businesses simply can’t afford for transformations to fail. 

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Tax and finance functions face challenges such as talent shortages, legislative change, and technological transformation. How can they better position themselves to meet these challenges while adding greater value to the organization?

Susannah Streeter welcomes Myles Corson, EY Global Finance Leader, Dave Helmer, EY Global Tax and Finance Operate Leader, and Lyn Bird, VP, Cross Industry at Microsoft to discuss how technology is enabling modern finance and tax transformations.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

The evolution of data and analytics has accelerated dramatically in recent years, leading organizations to arrive at a critical point of inflection. Companies must now reimagine their IT functions, democratize both data and code, and ingest large volumes of third-party data if they are to keep pace with the competition and deliver the truly customer-focused transformation demanded by consumers and employees alike. Leaders from EY and Microsoft discuss how this can be achieved and what success looks like in the new era of data and analytics.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

While more companies than ever value corporate integrity, the EY 2022 Global Integrity Report reveals that the pandemic has made it even harder for businesses to uphold the highest standards.

In this latest episode of the EY Microsoft Tech Directions podcast Meribeth Banaschik, EY’s Europe West Innovation Leader and Todd Marlin, EY’s Global Forensic and Integrity Services Technology Innovation Leader join forces with Alan Gibson, Director, Legal and Compliance Innovation at Microsoft to discuss how data-driven technologies can help organizations monitor and manage legal and compliance risk in real time.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

In today’s digital world, businesses are thinking differently about innovation, leveraging connectivity to create products that are traceable, sustainable and updateable throughout their life cycles. This latest Tech Directions podcast takes a closer look at how businesses are harnessing connected and sustainable products to revolutionise their supply chains, unlock data to create new growth opportunities, and meet increased customer demands and expectations.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Organizations experienced a dramatic spike in cybersecurity risk triggered by the pandemic, largely due to a wholesale switch to remote working. Joram Borenstein, General Manager of Security Sales Strategy & GTM at Microsoft and Kris Lovejoy, EY Global Consulting Cybersecurity Leader, discuss why this increased scrutiny could herald a strategic turning point for the industry.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

The pandemic triggered a global remote-working experiment that changed employees’ work expectations forever. Seth Patton, General Manager, Microsoft 365 & Microsoft Viva, Product Marketing and Cheryl Dewar, leader of EY’s ‘Modern Workforce’ Tech Consulting Team discuss how organizations are adopting hybrid platforms which ensure employees learn, collaborate and remain productive wherever they are.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Organizations will soon be spending $1trn annually on cloud services, according to the IDC. In this podcast Rick Claus, Microsoft Cloud Advocate Team Lead and Tim Rehac, who leads EY’s Cloud Strategy team in the Americas discuss the importance of committing to a definitive company-wide cloud strategy to fast-track success.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Microsoft’s cloud-based PowerApps service promises to revolutionise the building of apps as it moves us away from complex coding to a low-to-no-code environment. Ryan Cunningham, Product Lead for PowerApps at Microsoft and Kristie Reid, Microsoft Business Applications Lead, EY Americas discuss the rise of the corporate citizen developer in this episode of the EY and Microsoft Tech Directions podcast.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.

Artificial Intelligence is now employed in every sector and every business function, but a return on investment is far from guaranteed. In the latest episode of the EY Microsoft Tech Directions Podcast, Stela Solar, Microsoft’s Global Head of AI Solutions and Hugh Burgin, EY’s Data and AI Leader for the Americas, discuss why scale, speed and C-suite sponsorship are critical to success.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. The views of third parties set out in this publication are not necessarily the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. Moreover, they should be seen in the context of the time they were made.