Interview: Joe Depa, world chief innovation officer, EY
As world chief innovation officer (CIO) at EY, Joe Depa helps his agency embrace new concepts that increase service supply and handle shopper challenges in key areas, corresponding to tax and assurance.
Depa, beforehand chief knowledge and synthetic intelligence (AI) officer at Emory College and world lead for knowledge and AI at Accenture, turned world CIO at EY in November 2024, and says the data-intensive nature of the position appealed to him.
“Tax and assurance don’t sound all that thrilling at first, however then if you study what it includes, it’s about coping with an incredible quantity of information,” he says.
“At EY, we course of a few trillion strains of monetary knowledge yearly. We’ve received 50% of the Fortune 500 firms’ datasets as a part of our tax and assurance enterprise. That knowledge places us in a novel place to assist our purchasers make extra strategic selections.”
Depa says the position permits him to use a number of the expertise he’s acquired throughout his profession. With the rise of AI and the ever-increasing significance of information, he noticed the chance to guide EY into novel areas: “I wished to proceed to speed up my studying in technological innovation we’re seeing across the world panorama and I felt like EY gave me the platform to do this.”
Innovating in the fitting locations
As world CIO, Depa is liable for advancing the agency’s innovation technique. His crew helps the enterprise exploit value-adding applied sciences, from new services and products to higher methods of working. There are three important elements to his position.
One half is operating the agency’s knowledge workplace – EY’s chief knowledge officer experiences to Depa. The second element of his position is what he calls accountable AI agent orchestration: “That’s concerning the capability to leverage the info utilizing our insurance policies and frameworks.”
Depa says a part of that work includes creating an assurance apply for the info and AI brokers that shall be used sooner or later, which he refers to as a “essential” piece of labor, given the fast-moving nature of the digital atmosphere.
The third element of Depa’s position is to consider the following frontier, which covers technological developments on the horizon: “It’s targeted on issues like robotics, bodily, cyber, AI, quantum – a number of the applied sciences that aren’t essentially having an affect proper now, however they’re coming quickly, they usually’re coming quick.
“Now we have a data-led strategy, unsurprisingly, as a result of I’m a knowledge man at coronary heart, and we take a look at enterprise capital and personal fairness spend. That strategy helps us determine the place the market’s headed by markets, areas and industries.
“For enterprise capital, we all know the timeline is often 5 to 10 years, and we all know the non-public fairness timeline is just a little bit shorter, name it 5 or much less. Proper now, we’re seeing an uptick in bodily AI, which is robotics, notably in some areas, like Asia-Pacific. So, the info we accumulate permits me to suppose, ‘Okay, I have to deal with that space’.”
Depa says that one other focus for the following frontier is what he refers to because the omniverse, which encompasses metaverse and digital twin applied sciences: “The power to simulate a large number of eventualities directly is seeing numerous funding,” he says. With this data acquired, Depa helps EY and its workers to deploy applied sciences internally and to advise purchasers externally.
“It’s about asking questions like, ‘How do you apply the fitting AI-ready knowledge inside our surroundings? How can we guarantee we’re doing issues responsibly from an agentic perspective, and the way can we be sure that we’ve received the following frontier applied sciences coated inside our person interface?’. Answering these questions is 50% of my job. The opposite 50% of the job is considering how we take these applied sciences and assist our purchasers.”
Creating an efficient technique
Depa’s 100-strong innovation crew works with EY’s 400,000 professionals to focus on alternatives for data-led enterprise change. The agency’s governance construction means innovation is utilized persistently and shortly throughout service strains and areas.
“Once I got here into the position, I stated the very last thing I need to do is centralise knowledge, AI and innovation as a result of that strategy stifles change, it slows issues down,” he says. “My crew’s position is to allow, orchestrate and lift visibility about what’s working in every of the areas and repair strains.”
Depa’s crew spreads good concepts from one place within the enterprise to a different, making certain the hole between theoretical and sensible deployment is bridged quickly and successfully. Whereas he’s solely been within the CIO position for six months, Depa can already level to some key achievements.
“I need us to be the perfect in knowledge – AI-ready knowledge that we personal. I need us to be the perfect at securing the info and harvesting that knowledge for our purchasers in a safe and accountable AI method”
Joe Depa, EY
“What I wished to do in a short time was set up our utilized innovation technique – that was the first step,” he says. “Utilized innovation is a vital time period, and I selected it purposefully as a result of I wished to make sure that we’re making use of innovation. I didn’t need our groups to really feel like we had been only a think-tank that constructed issues in a lab that didn’t apply to EY or our purchasers.”
Depa constructed the utilized innovation technique with enter from regional leaders, market leaders, EY’s purchasers and the agency’s skilled groups. He wished to grasp methods to focus the technique on compelling concepts, which could be a wrestle for innovation chiefs.
“Once I got here in, and I feel many firms have this challenge, we had been attempting to do numerous issues and, due to this fact, not doing something effectively,” he says. “I stated, ‘Let’s deal with three areas we are able to do effectively primarily based on our model positioning.’”
Delivering excellence in three areas
Depa says the primary of these three areas is knowledge: “I need us to be the perfect in knowledge – AI-ready knowledge that we personal. I need us to be the perfect at securing the info and harvesting that knowledge for our purchasers in a safe and accountable AI method.”
The second space is creating differentiation round accountable AI: “I need to really embed accountable AI into our processes and the way in which our purchasers leverage knowledge and AI. I name it the orchestration tower as a result of our assurance apply will help increase any points or dangers that may present traceability and audibility for the AI brokers of the long run.”
The third space covers what Depa refers to because the innovation muscle, which he says will differentiate the AI and knowledge pioneers from the laggards.
“That’s about how we, as an innovation crew, assist our organisation adapt to the speedy tempo of change,” he provides. “The velocity is quick for everybody, together with EY and our purchasers. Success means enabling the fitting individuals, processes and coaching so our groups can rise to the event.”
Depa says his crew has made good progress throughout these three areas and is making use of the rules internally and with the agency’s purchasers. The crew can also be the way it will put money into expertise, by way of inside coaching programmes and exterior hiring, to assist improvement throughout these three areas.
New merchandise are being pushed into operation. EY has deployed a brand new toolkit for assurance that permits the agency to embed accountable AI into the way it audits and gives assurance capabilities for its purchasers. EY has additionally pioneered developments in artificial knowledge, which firms use to fill gaps the place actual knowledge is restricted, particularly in regulated industries.
“Artificial knowledge permits us to attempt some simulations and eventualities with our purchasers, with out utilizing actual knowledge,” he says. “We are able to take a look at issues extra safely. Artificial knowledge shall be an necessary element of an AI-ready knowledge technique for EY and our purchasers.”
Coaching the innovation muscle
Depa is happy with the progress throughout his first six months at EY. He refers back to the significance of an “open innovation ecosystem”, which permits CIOs to convey collectively the brightest minds and applied sciences to get to market shortly. He says the perfect innovation chiefs are humble and look to study one thing new every day.
“I consider that, for innovation officers of the long run, the idea of centralised management will diminish as a result of it doesn’t provide you with velocity,” he says. “The second factor to recognise is that no innovation chief has all of the solutions. All CIOs should know methods to collaborate and work along with alliance companions, leaders and purchasers to get solutions.”
Through the subsequent 24 months, Depa desires EY to grow to be an professional in AI-ready knowledge, making certain the agency makes use of and deploys accountable AI at scale. He says any enterprise that will get the info foundations proper now shall be finest positioned to take advantage of agentic AI in a safe and compliant method, including: “I need us to be the leaders in accountable AI orchestration.”
Depa returns to the idea of the innovation muscle and says he’s looking forward to individuals throughout the organisation to really feel assured they will use know-how to assist them do their jobs higher. He desires individuals to undertake and adapt rising know-how sooner than right this moment. For instance, Depa refers to EY.ai EYQ, a bespoke generative AI platform designed to empower the agency’s workers with data-powered insights in a non-public, safe atmosphere.
“EYQ is a big language mannequin platform that permits EY professionals to work together with a ChatGPT-style chatbot. Now we have over 100,000 month-to-month customers, so about 25% of our workers use the platform. However what I discover attention-grabbing is that our knowledge exhibits that the workers who use the know-how are extra engaged,” he says.
“These outcomes present you that AI will help you, in some ways, to do your job higher. You possibly can really feel extra empowered. You possibly can deal with stuff you need to do as an alternative of repetitive duties. I hope we proceed to see that development develop over the following 24 months, the place workers are extra engaged, happier about their jobs, and really feel like they’re having an affect. That’s once I’ll know we’ve been profitable.”
