Latest news with #RajSharma
Business Insider
09-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A Big Four consulting giant tries to make accounting less boring with AI
Accounting has a reputation for being technical, tedious, and high-pressure. A Big Four firm is trying to change that with AI. EY, one of the world's largest accounting and consulting players, wants to use this technology not to replace accountants but to make their work more interesting and fulfilling. EY is investing $1 billion to increase early-career compensation and work with colleges to encourage students to pursue CPA careers. Some of this money will go toward smarter tools that the firm hopes will also attract more young workers into the profession while retaining existing talent. "Under no circumstances are we ever thinking that we will get rid of our human workforce and do this just through AI agents or other things like that," Raj Sharma, a global managing partner at EY, told me in a recent interview. This problem is more about a lack of human employees. In a world where modern businesses operate across dozens of jurisdictions with complex and ever-changing regulations, audits have become a logistical and mental minefield. That complexity has driven some away from the field, contributing to a nationwide accountant shortage. About 65,000 students in the US completed bachelor's or master's degrees in accounting in the 2021-22 school year, 18% fewer than a decade earlier. About 30,000 people took the CPA exam in 2022, down roughly 40% from 2010. Meanwhile, three-quarters of CPAs in the US were thought to be at or near retirement in 2019, according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. "Even though AI can do a lot of things, think of our business around assurance, audit, and the certifications that are required. We are significantly short of people coming up with accounting degrees," Sharma said. "We are still hiring big classes of accountants from colleges, and we are training them into AI." EY is embedding this AI assistance across tax, risk, and finance workflows via its Agentic Platform, developed and launched with Nvidia earlier this year. This has already created about 200 specialized AI agents that support 80,000 EY employees to help with tasks such as data collection, document analysis, and tax compliance — automating dull tasks and amplifying more engaging ones. More interesting, less daunting, audits Sharma cited AI-powered audits as an example of what's possible. Audits are a staple of accounting work that traditionally involved sampling a small subset of transactions to look for errors or fraud. This is painstaking work, and pretty daunting when you're checking the books of huge, complex multinational corporations. "It's just overwhelming for our accountants," he told me. "That's one big reason why people don't want to go into accounting because it's so technical, so deep. And the risks are so high of getting it wrong." He explained how AI can make these situations more manageable. For example, an audit that used to take five hours for a particular process might now take two and a half hours with EY employees supported by AI agents. "In the past, we would maybe sample 100 transactions. Now, with AI, you could sample 10,000 transactions," Sharma said. EY's accountants would get more involved in situations where this new technology flagged maybe 25 potentially questionable transactions out of that 10,000 total. They'd dig deeper into those specific situations, which could be more interesting and useful work. "The accuracy of the audit becomes a lot better. Our ability to catch fraud is a lot better in that particular area," Sharma said. "So AI is a welcome relief for these people that are out there, that they have another tool to be able to help and do more." "Our people are a lot happier in that particular area," he added. "We are making AI agents available for our people to work with, but not with the intent that we will replace the accountants that are out there." Make accounting human again EY is training its employees to work hand-in-hand with these AI tools. It sees a future where the job is less about memorizing arcane rules and more about having human accountants apply their insights in the right places, such as "high-end work around due diligence" in EY's tax practice, Sharma said. EY generated just over $50 billion in revenue last year and has roughly 400,000 employees. Sharma said the firm hopes to become a $100 billion company with 500,000 people and 200,000 AI agents. However, he added that EY is not impervious to what may happen in the world and the broader economy. Accounting may never be the most glamorous profession, though EY is trying to make it less grueling. With AI taking on some of the complexity and monotony, the firm is opening the door to a new kind of accounting career, where professionals do more thinking, less grinding, and might find greater purpose in their work. That, in the long run, might be exactly what saves the profession.
Business Insider
06-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Granola is yummy. This AI version is pretty good, too.
Each week in Business Insider's Tech Memo newsletter, I try an AI tool. What do you think of this one? What should I do, or use, next week? Let me know. This week, I tested Granola, an AI notetaking assistant. I fired it up for an interview with Raj Sharma, a bigwig at consulting giant EY. Coincidentally, he said his wife uses Granola to transcribe her interactions with patients. Installing it on my MacBook was easy. It synced with my Google work calendar, launched a Microsoft Teams video call, and prompted me to start recording — all smooth and fast. My prepared questions were saved in the app, but I couldn't easily access them during the call. I defaulted to a Google Doc, wishing the notes had appeared more intuitively as the interview began. Granola's post-interview features impressed me. It provided a thematic summary with expandable sections and action items, based partly on my prepared questions and any notes I jotted down while Raj was speaking. I asked it to find a quote from Raj about AI being a "welcome relief," and it delivered. I made sure to go back and check the exact phrasing. For that, I needed the full transcript. This was pretty good, although Raj's comments and my questions were sometimes misattributed to the wrong speaker. What shocked me: Granola doesn't record audio of meetings. This is a dealbreaker for journalists who need to verify quotes precisely. I used Apple's Voice Memos app alongside Granola for the essential raw audio backup. Granola is sleek, smart, and promising. But for now, it's missing one essential thing for me: the truth in someone's own voice. Postscript After sending out the Tech Memo newsletter this morning, I tracked down emails from Vicky Firth, who leads customer experience at Granola. She kindly answered my annoying questions! Here's what she said on the lack of I asked why Granola doesn't provide audio recordings. "We never store the audio recordings and that's a deliberate decision for a few reasons. Firstly, we're aware that whatever platform you're on for your call already does this, and we don't feel the need to duplicate this functionality — we've optimised Granola to be able to make great summaries of meetings, so that's what we're laser-focused on, and the transcripts are enough to allow it to do that well. We want to make sure Granola can stay simple and great at what it does best." "Another set of reasons is around data security: we want to make sure we're only capturing what's necessary to make those great notes, such that we're not holding on to more sensitive information than is necessary. We hear feedback on both sides — some users would love us to store the recordings, but others email us wanting to make sure we don't! The transcripts again feel like enough here." I suggested that this is kind of a dealkiller for those who need to verify exactly what people say. I also asked why Granola doesn't just offer this as a default feature but add a clear button to switch audio recording off when users want that? Firth's reply makes good sense, and it's a real window into how startups operate and the hard product decisions they must make while building efficiently. "It's probably not the best solution if you're someone who needs very specific quotes on a regular basis, and another product is probably more suited if that's what you're after as your primary output. We do get requests for it, but at the moment (especially while we're such a small team and have to be ruthless with prioritising!) we're trying to focus on functionality that helps make great summarised notes, helps you share those notes with your team, and help you all get insights to do your work better on a higher level. It means we sadly have a long, long list of things that we have to park for now!"
Techday NZ
12-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
EY & SAP launch integrated finance service to drive growth
EY has announced the launch of a new Integrated Finance Managed Service solution in collaboration with SAP, aimed at helping organisations accelerate their enterprise transformation. The service model operates using SAP's cloud solutions and covers multiple core business functions, including human resources, payroll, finance operations, controllership, financial planning and analysis, treasury, tax, and application management. EY's offering incorporates SAP S/4HANA Cloud together with EY's domain and industry experience. According to the company, the solution is designed to help high-growth businesses create value and bolster relationships with investors, regulators, and clients. EY has become a managed services provider with a "Run" focus as part of the SAP PartnerEdge programme. Through this ongoing collaboration with SAP, EY intends to help clients more rapidly achieve both strategic and operational goals. The Integrated Finance Managed Services model is built on a robust data infrastructure and utilises an ecosystem of alliances. It is intended to provide rapid scalability and agility, as well as flexibility and resilience to support organisations as they transform and grow. The model also aims to promote improved governance and enhanced efficiency through automation, while relieving businesses of the burden of building, maintaining, and financing advanced technology, with the aim of freeing up capital for future innovation initiatives. One of the early adopters is IntraBio, which used Integrated Finance Managed Services as part of its efforts to realign financial, human resources, and accounting processes around its core goal of developing and commercialising new products. By outsourcing finance processes, IntraBio was able to maintain its focus on bringing drugs to patients in need. This approach supported IntraBio's successful launch of AQNEURSA, a treatment for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C, following its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2024. Marie-Laure Delarue, EY Global Vice Chair - Assurance, commented: "Businesses and their finance functions face intense challenges at the best of times, as they strive for growth in hugely competitive markets. In today's volatile economic and geopolitical climate, these challenges have only intensified." "Through Integrated Finance Managed Services, we're able to lift some of the burden that so often hinders business transformation efforts, meaning they can turn their attention to the real drivers of success. As IntraBio's story clearly shows, companies that can redirect their time and energy toward their priorities can reap incredible rewards in terms of innovation, product development, and ultimately their competitive edge." In addressing the operational considerations faced by businesses, Raj Sharma, EY Global Managing Partner - Growth and Innovation, said: "The world's most innovative companies with bold growth and transformation plans are often weighed down by non-core tasks, diverting valuable executive time and resources. Well-structured enterprise functions are critical to scaling and sustaining success, but without the right support, it can become a distraction from the strategic priorities that drive real value." "The Integrated Finance Managed Services solution can provide companies with a new model, helping businesses operate more efficiently and enabling leaders to focus on what matters most. We believe this solution can fundamentally change how clients think about their enterprise functions." Thomas Saueressig, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Customer Services & Delivery, added: "Through this collaboration with EY, we are excited to combine SAP's leading cloud suite, enriched with Business AI capabilities, and EY teams' deep domain and industry experience to help deliver better insights and drive better outcomes for customers." EY's solution is positioned as an option for organisations seeking to shift focus from operational management to strategic business objectives, responding to increasing pressure in finance and other business-critical domains in the current economic and regulatory environment.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EY unveils new finance managed services
Accounting giant EY has launched Integrated Finance Managed Services, a solution designed to expedite enterprise transformation by leveraging SAP S/4HANA Cloud. The service is designed to streamline functions across treasury and tax, human resources, payroll and finance operations, among others. EY's new service integrates SAP S/4HANA Cloud with the organisation's extensive expertise in finance operations and industry knowledge. The service is expected to support high-growth companies in creating value and building trust with stakeholders. EY said the partnership with SAP is reinforced by its recent entry into the SAP PartnerEdge programme as a managed services provider with a 'Run' focus. SAP Customer Services & Delivery executive board member Thomas Saueressig said: 'Through this collaboration with EY, we are excited to combine SAP's leading cloud suite, enriched with Business AI capabilities, and EY teams' deep domain and industry experience to help deliver better insights and drive better outcomes for customers.' The new solution by EY is founded on state-of-the-art data infrastructure and is bolstered by a network of alliances. The service is designed to aid rapid scalability, promote governance and insight for automation, and reduce the burden of technology investment. EY Growth and Innovation global managing partner Raj Sharma said: 'The world's most innovative companies with bold growth and transformation plans are often weighed down by non-core tasks, diverting valuable executive time and resources. 'Well-structured enterprise functions are critical to scaling and sustaining success, but without the right support, it can become a distraction from the strategic priorities that drive real value. The Integrated Finance Managed Services solution can provide companies with a new model, helping businesses operate more efficiently and enabling leaders to focus on what matters most.' In April 2025, Ernst & Young US appointed Martin Fiore as the Americas vice-chair of tax, effective 1 July. "EY unveils new finance managed services" was originally created and published by International Accounting Bulletin, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EY unveils new finance managed services
Accounting giant EY has launched Integrated Finance Managed Services, a solution designed to expedite enterprise transformation by leveraging SAP S/4HANA Cloud. The service is designed to streamline functions across treasury and tax, human resources, payroll and finance operations, among others. EY's new service integrates SAP S/4HANA Cloud with the organisation's extensive expertise in finance operations and industry knowledge. The service is expected to support high-growth companies in creating value and building trust with stakeholders. EY said the partnership with SAP is reinforced by its recent entry into the SAP PartnerEdge programme as a managed services provider with a 'Run' focus. SAP Customer Services & Delivery executive board member Thomas Saueressig said: 'Through this collaboration with EY, we are excited to combine SAP's leading cloud suite, enriched with Business AI capabilities, and EY teams' deep domain and industry experience to help deliver better insights and drive better outcomes for customers.' The new solution by EY is founded on state-of-the-art data infrastructure and is bolstered by a network of alliances. The service is designed to aid rapid scalability, promote governance and insight for automation, and reduce the burden of technology investment. EY Growth and Innovation global managing partner Raj Sharma said: 'The world's most innovative companies with bold growth and transformation plans are often weighed down by non-core tasks, diverting valuable executive time and resources. 'Well-structured enterprise functions are critical to scaling and sustaining success, but without the right support, it can become a distraction from the strategic priorities that drive real value. The Integrated Finance Managed Services solution can provide companies with a new model, helping businesses operate more efficiently and enabling leaders to focus on what matters most.' In April 2025, Ernst & Young US appointed Martin Fiore as the Americas vice-chair of tax, effective 1 July. "EY unveils new finance managed services" was originally created and published by International Accounting Bulletin, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
