How incorporating AI in tax and finance can unlock value from existing data

Learn how the EY-Microsoft Alliance leverages AI-driven ecosystems to unlock untapped potential of tax data.

In brief

• EY-Microsoft utilizes AI to optimize tax and finance data utilization, driving transformation.
• Essential to such transformation is an ecosystem approach: integrating tech, people, processes.
• Implementation of a data lake enables efficient data reuse, providing fresh business insights.

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as it’s more commonly known – is changing business as we know it. Leaders in tax and finance and every other discipline are starting to see how GenAI is accelerating transformation.

What are the best case uses? How can GenAI benefit your business? What are the potential risks?

And most importantly, where do you start?

So much more than “plug and play”

An ecosystem approach brings together technology, people and processes to solve problems in a better way. EY-orchestrated ecosystems align key elements integral to tax and finance transformation. This includes the EY teams (content and implementation experience), the client (regulatory requirements, data and processes), plus their existing vendors. Trying to solve a problem with one player only doesn’t work anymore. It’s no longer a single conversation.

Time after time, client after client, the ecosystems approach and assistance with implementation  and management  by EY teams prove its worth, because it helps in accelerating  client transformation by viewing the whole picture rather than a single component part.

Raising (the) tide

One common issue – multiple data requests – is actually a great example of how beneficial ecosystems can be. Data overcollection to meet multiple tax and finance compliance requirements, often leads to overlooked value within existing data sets and adds unnecessary strain on limited resources.

A recent client engagement was centered around this very problem. They recognized that reusing tax and finance data more and collecting it less could increase operational efficiency. Plus, data reuse lends itself to applying data in a more strategic way and generating valuable business insights across the board. 

This is increasingly relevant in the tax domain as tax data in an organization is typically the largest and most granular data set available in the organization. The client wanted to understand how to leverage its tax and finance data across multiple parts of the organization without running multiple reports.

Filling a data lake, lifting all boats

Taking advantage of this ecosystem approach meant transforming the client’s data capture process, and the EY-Microsoft Alliance offered the right problem-solving skills. Coupling the EY team’s deep tax and finance acumen with Microsoft’s engineering capabilities, the combined team addressed the client's challenge by establishing a cloud-based data lake to hold transaction-level data in its rawest form.

Secure and set up specifically for the client, the data lake helped the company to easily access, reuse and repurpose existing data. This not only minimized the need to collect new data, but also provided fresh insights from existing data.

The EY teams utilized the innovative cloud-computing capabilities and high-caliber data expertise of Microsoft. This fostered a collaborative approach to the problem that also included the client. Ultimately, this ecosystem approach to data helped to free-up resources, increase productivity and lead to better-informed decision-making.

Find the right team to find your way forward

An ecosystem approach isn’t so much about working with everyone as it is about working with the right partners – those who want to contribute to your success by working collaboratively based on your longer-term needs.

This demands clarity around where your tax and finance function is and where it needs to go. And it requires making deliberate decisions on how to get there.

The EY-Microsoft Alliance helps organizations efficiently utilize existing data sets and incorporate AI, leading to significant productivity gains, cost-efficiency, improved decision-making capabilities and enhanced agility to respond to market dynamics.

EY-orchestrated ecosystems help you make the most of your data and understand the potential of AI in your business, so that your organization can transform into tomorrow. Because digitally driven success isn't merely about adapting to tomorrow’s environment; it's about actively shaping your tech-enabled future business.