EY Launches new AI centre of excellence (“AI labs”) to help businesses supercharge growth through innovation

• AI Labs at EY Ireland will be available to organisations seeking to implement and explore the game changing business benefits of AI-based technologies
• This new client service offering will focus on big data, AI, smart automation, VR/AR and advanced analytics – all designed to help clients solve their most complex challenges
• EY will collaborate with the Science Foundation Ireland ADAPT Centre by investing in PHD students and research fellowships to drive research capacity and innovation in the area of AI

Dublin, 29 September 2022: EY has today launched AI Labs – a unique AI centre of excellence – offering clients access to game changing capabilities in big data, AI, smart automation, VR/AR and advanced analytics. EY Ireland’s expanding data analytics and technology consulting team, encompassing 220 people, will run and manage AI Labs to deploy a set of advanced technology client solutions and highly specialised client services. The skills and resources provided through AI Labs will ultimately equip organisations with the resources, tools, and insights they need to drive growth and market leading innovation.

AI Labs, run in collaboration with the EY wavespace™ innovation centre, will introduce a host of services to clients across maturity assessment, strategy, solution deployment, business training, rapid prototyping/POC, and Solution Development/MVP. The suite of AI capabilities and services on offer will allow organisations across multiple industries and sectors to deploy these advanced technologies to optimise new growth opportunities and to solve their most complex industry challenges. AI Labs will expand EY’s existing technology consulting business across AI, automation, machine learning, and big data over the next three years.

Speaking at an event to launch the AI Labs today, Paul Pierotti, EY Ireland Partner, Data Analytics and Emerging Technology said: “AI and smart automation present endless opportunities for organisations to solve complex issues in their respective industries. By adopting these technologies and embedding them in their operational models, organisations will find themselves at the forefront of positive industry and societal change. By taking the necessary measures to adopt these technologies Irish organisations will be set on a new path of digital optimisation and success. AI Labs at EY epitomises the value we place on innovation as a firm as reflected in the ongoing expansion of our vibrant technology consulting business.”

The unique offering of AI Labs will include capabilities across natural language processing, predictive analytics, optimisation, expert systems, and advanced computer recognition. By leveraging these AI capabilities, organisations will be at the forefront of the digital economy. EY will also be able to build on its rapid prototyping capabilities, using design thinking, agile methodology, discovery sessions, and the latest technology and industry insights to solve critical business issues alongside cutting-edge AI technologies.

Frank O’Keeffe, Managing Partner, EY Ireland, commented: “The launch of AI Labs here in EY Ireland is a natural evolution of our already extensive suite of services to clients in the technology space. I’m hugely excited about the opportunities it will unlock for our clients right across the island of Ireland. Long term sustainable success in business requires innovative thinking and access to the latest cutting-edge ideas and technologies. Through our new AI labs and our partnership with the ADAPT centre, will be able to bring the incredible potential of AI alive for our clients through bespoke workshops and demonstrations. We can’t wait to bring together the brightest minds in AI across this island to co-create game changing solutions with our clients.”

To ensure AI Labs is supported with the advanced research, skills, and insights it needs to thrive, EY will enter into a 4-year strategic collaboration with the ADAPT Centre – the world-leading Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre for AI-driven digital content technology. The collaboration will facilitate the application of advanced technology and research initiatives that address real-world industry challenges. These will consist of a portfolio of collaborative projects, initially co-funding two PhD students in 2022 but scaling to include research fellowships, targeted projects and other collaborations, including but not limited to health, transport, and utilities.

Declan McKibben, Executive Director of the ADAPT Centre added: “The ADAPT Centre brings together the best researchers in Human Centric AI across eight universities in Ireland to drive AI Adoption and Innovation here in Ireland and internationally. By building and valuing strong relationships with academic institutions, the innovation ecosystem, and businesses, we ensure that knowledge transfer can happen much more rapidly in line with the pace of innovation today. This partnership signals a new strategic approach to our engagement with EY which will nurture talent, drive innovation and turn good ideas into great solutions for tomorrow."

The ADAPT collaboration will allow EY the opportunity to invest in research initiatives that align with its digital strategy, through creating additional research capacity and driving innovation. Research will be focused on initial use cases in data governance, customer content & engagement, intelligent supply chain and manufacturing, and sustainability.

For more information on AI Labs click here.

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Notes to editors

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

About ADAPT

ADAPT is the world-leading SFI research centre for AI Driven Digital Content Technology hosted by Trinity College Dublin.  ADAPT’s partner institutions include Dublin City University, University College Dublin, Technological University Dublin, Maynooth University, Munster Technological University, Athlone Institute of Technology, and the National University of Ireland Galway.

ADAPT's research vision is to pioneer new forms of proactive, scalable, and integrated AI-driven Digital Content Technology that empower individuals and society to engage in digital experiences with control, inclusion, and accountability with the long-term goal of a balanced digital society by 2030. ADAPT is pioneering new Human Centric AI techniques and technologies including personalisation, natural language processing, data analytics, intelligent machine translation human-computer interaction, as well as setting the standards for data governance, privacy and ethics for digital content.

About EY wavespace

EY wavespace innovation centres curate talent and technology, bringing them together in a collaboration, proven to energise, and align teams to create meaningful outcomes - whether the goal is to grow, transform or disrupt.

The challenges we face today are unprecedented, meaning organisations must think differently and more creatively about how to prioritise and tackle challenges. As a business using EY wavespace, you can convene the right people from across your organisation and EY's global network. Using the EY wavespace proven approach, methods, and technology collaboration tools we help your team to deconstruct challenges with a single-minded focus on reaching meaningful outcomes in a shorter time frame. Explore innovative ideas, unlock ingenuity and make change happen – faster.