TM

EY artificial intelligence journey creates big employee impact

EY and IBM strategic relationship: a foundation to success

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EY artificial intelligence journey creates big employee impact

In 2017, a breakthrough cognitive chatbot, “Goldie,” was deployed to more than 250,000 staff members at EY firms around the world. Powered by IBM® Watson™, this solution resulted in unparalleled employee engagement, rapid return on investment and substantial annual savings. It has transformed the way that EY firms provide HR services globally and has kick-started an expansive AI journey across EY operations.

“Goldie” was delivered to

250,000 professionals

in 150 countries

in 31 days

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The drive to build an exceptional digital experience

There are 250,000 EY professionals located across continents and the number is constantly growing. The organization receives more than 2 million employment applications each year and hires an average of 1 person every 8 minutes. At this pace and scale, the support needed for employee onboarding and performance management is extensive.

Expectations of professionals in the Transformative Age are also changing. Nearly 75 percent of EY people are millennials. Having been immersed in a digital world most of their lives, millennials have high expectations: an easy-to-navigate, digital work environment. Yet, to start and manage their EY careers, professionals must interact with multiple disconnected pieces of technology.

EY recognized the need to change these dynamics and create an exceptional HR experience for the people. Doing so would require a step change in the way EY people experience and interact with HR.

“Goldie” answered

500,000 questions

in 28 days and achieved ROI

in 1 week

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How EY and IBM created a step change in HR interactions

EY was guided by two principles as it embarked on its HR user experience transformation. The teams made a conscious decision to: (1) put the end user first, and (2) bring consumer technology into the enterprise.

To bring the user into the design process, EY followed a “design thinking” approach. This human-centered approach to innovation uses elements such as empathy and experimentation to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for businesses success. By using design thinking, EY made decisions based on what future users really want rather than on historical data or instinct.

EY also leveraged the strategic relationship with IBM to gain access to leading-edge digital solutions, including IBM Watson and virtual reality. IBM Watson was a natural fit for EY needs, and the exceptional EY and IBM strategic relationship made teaming on this engagement a wonderful business fit as well. IBM technologies provided a completely new way to engage EY people and equip them with the tools they need to start and manage their EY career journey.

The teams started with a proof of concept (POC) named Buddy. This POC delivered a “digital cognitive buddy” to complement real-world buddies for new professionals. It gave new joiners another channel (a chatbot) to support their onboarding experience. For example, new joiners could ask Buddy questions such as, “How do I record my time?” or “How do I connect to the printer?”

The POC proved to stakeholders that artificial intelligence (AI) could be applied to HR processes and could improve employee experience by providing quicker and more accurate answers to questions. This paved the way for a more extensive AI deployment: an enterprise-wide chatbot, named Goldie, to sit alongside EY Success Factors Performance Management solution and help professionals find answers to a variety of performance management questions.

Using the same design thinking and business-collaboration approach applied in the POC, along with lessons learned from the Buddy experience, EY was able to implement Goldie for more than 250,000 EY professionals across 150 countries in just 31 days.

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Powerful business impact

EY is experiencing unparalleled employee engagement with Goldie. More than 500,000 questions were answered in Goldie’s first 28 days. Calls to Shared Services are reduced, allowing EY Talent Teams to focus on the more complex needs of the EY professionals across the globe. With such rapid adoption, EY achieved its return on investment in seven days.

Even more exciting is how Goldie has set a path for changing how EY engages people and operates. User-centered design thinking gave professionals a consumer-like digital experience. The approach, combined with IBM technology, helped EY deploy a new solution faster than it ever has. And EY has learned how to achieve the right people/digital combination to improve productivity while helping teams to better understand the future of their roles with AI.

EY continues to train Goldie on new content to expand its cognitive capabilities. Based on Goldie’s success, EY is exploring broader use of cognitive solutions across its Talent processes as well as other functions, such as Finance and Risk.

EY recognizes that every action to create an exceptional employee experience contributes to greater retention, greater productivity and greater revenue – strong motivations to continue its AI journey.

IBM and Watson are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

“IBM was a natural fit. From a technology perspective, IBM Watson is an absolute proven AI capability and it was the right engine for us. The strategic relationship with IBM is exceptional and a wonderful fit from a people perspective as well.”

Antony Shields, Director, EY Global HR Systems, Ernst & Young LLP

EY | Assurance | Tax | Transactions | AdvisoryAbout EYEY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

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. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.

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This material has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as accounting, tax or other professional advice. Please refer to your advisors for specific advice.

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