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LONDON and REDMOND, Wash. â€� July 11, 2023 â€� ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø and Microsoft have announced a significant expansion of their global relationship that will reshape professional services across a number of business-critical areas including workforce modernization, safe and secure development, and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions for clients, industries and society more broadly.

The industry-leading collaboration between the two global organizations includes a ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø multibillion dollar commitment in Microsoft cloud and AI services over the next 5 years that will help to unlock potential incremental growth opportunity for ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø of over US$12 billion. The expanded alliance will enhance ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø client engagements and supercharge the employee experience in a way that is responsible, trustworthy and safe.Ìý

The Microsoft cloud and Azure OpenAI Service capabilities will empower the ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø global workforce of 265,000 to unleash their creativity, provide faster analysis and spend more time on strategic advice. This will enable them to help clients, including more than 2,500 ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø and Microsoft joint clients, keep pace with the rapidly evolving AI landscape and solve their greatest business challenges while positioning them for success in the future world of work.

As an early access partner for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service, ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø professionals will pilot the technologies with select business groups across the global organization, bringing together the increased capabilities of these tools with their experience, insights and sector expertise to enhance client engagements and accelerate digital solution development.Ìý

Bill Thomas, Global Chairman and CEO, ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø International, said: “Our renewed and strengthened relationship with Microsoft is an exciting moment for our people and our clients. It will help harness the power of our multidisciplinary model by ensuring that our people always have the right expertise, skills, and tools to overcome challenges and provide the very best advice to clients. It will also help make ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø a more agile and resilient business that continues to be an interesting and exciting place to work.â€�

This expansion of our global alliance builds on the combined power of two world-class organizations that share a common set of core values, working together to responsibly use cutting-edge cloud and AI technologies. ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø is embracing the future, and we believe that AI is key to unlocking sustainable growth in a way that will build a better future for our people, our clients and society.â€�

Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft, said: "We have a real opportunity to apply this next generation of AI to help transform every industry, including professional services. Our expanded partnership with ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø will bring together AI innovation across the Microsoft Cloud with ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø's tax, audit and advisory expertise to empower its employees and unlock insights for its customers." Ì�

The collaboration, which spans more than a decade, underpinned by this major expansion will benefit ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø firmsâ€� core business areas in the following ways:

Audit

By infusing data analytics,  a²Ô»å Ìýinto the audit process, through the ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø smart audit platform ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø Clara, 85,000 audit professionals who collectively work on hundreds of thousands of audits a year will be empowered to focus more closely on higher-risk areas of the audit, sector-specific risks and challenges â€� to the benefit of both stakeholders and capital markets. This integration also opens up new market opportunities for ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø professionals and their clients. For example, with the integration of Microsoft Fabric, ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø teams will have the ability to directly point to client data instead of having to ingest it, which is a key component to helping enable ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø professionals to perform audits on a more real time basis.

Tax

Integrating Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Fabric into ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø Digital Gateway, a ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø single platform solution, will give clients access to the full suite of ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø Tax & Legal technologies, and allow them to gain more integrated and transparent access to their data and take a more holistic management approach to their tax functions. This was demonstrated most recently through a co-developed AI solution using the Azure OpenAI Service that helps to analyze environmental, social and governance (ESG) data, establish data patterns and draft ESG tax transparency reports, all at increased speed and scale. Additionally, ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø firms will operate a generative-AI powered “virtual assistantâ€� to create new client service models to help tax professionals become more efficient. It will also help with revenue-generating opportunities such as product experience enhancements and knowledge management for complex tax laws.Ìý

Advisory

Developing an AI-enabled application development and knowledge platform on Microsoft Azure will expedite the creation of specialized solutions for clients, helping to enhance their competitive advantage and profitability while putting ethics and security at the very core of the offerings. The benefits and ongoing success of this continued collaboration already include a joint engagement with Coca-Cola EuroPacific Partners (CCEP) of which Peter Brickley, Chief Information Officer at CCEP said, “ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø and Microsoft are working together with Coca-Cola EuroPacific Partners on innovative use cases which pioneer improvements to back-office efficiency using generative AI on the Azure platform. By using this new technology, we will prepare our organization for the future, improve our employee experience and support our growth ambitions globally.â€�

Making an Impact

ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø professionals will work together with Microsoft to help support businesses with their ESG agendas. Building on the success of the ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍøÌýCircularity TrackerÌý²¹²Ô»åÌý, both of which have Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and Microsoft Azure at their core, joint teams will continue to help clients to unify their data sources, leverage the required inputs to help make real-time value-add decisions, and help them to deliver on their sustainability commitments.Ìý

In addition, to enhance the commercial prospects of the agreement, ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø and Microsoft will continue to explore and participate in joint opportunities where they can work together to drive social and community impact worldwide. These currently include the UNESCOÌýÌýand the ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø 10x30 strategy to help economically empower 10 million underprivileged youths by 2030 â€� through education, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. The companies will also continue to work together to enhance the reliability of carbon accounting through theÌýÌýto which both ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø and Microsoft were founding signatories.Ìý

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Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø audit clients and their affiliates or related entities.

The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act on such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

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Notes to Editors:Ìý

Additional clients already seeing the benefits of experience of ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø teams from across the global organization:Ìý

, a global healthcare products and solutions provider, is working with ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø in Denmark to add generative AI capabilities to their own internal information platform. Through the use of Azure Cognitive Search and Azure OpenAI Service, the developed chatbot will be able interact with intranet guides, product manuals and other data sets chosen by Radiometer, allowing employees to chat with their intranet guides and product manuals, increasing the speed and relevance of the information they receive.Ìý

Xebia, a global IT consultancy where Azure Synapse Analytics andÌýÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø One Data PlatformÌýhelped to revolutionize their data infrastructure, processes, and workloads to enable more informed decision-making and meet the increased needs of ESG reporting and regulation. With this digital foundation in place, Xebia is well placed to further improve productivity and competitive advantage through the ongoing use of Microsoft Fabric, Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for MicrosoftÌý
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