Leading accounting and consulting firm EY has announced that its key unit, EY-Parthenon, is set to make a $250 million investment in its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Edge platforms working with ecosystem partners Microsoft and vendors including OpenAI.

 

The AI-powered Edge platforms – including Competitive Edge, Diligence Edge and Capital Edge – give private equity and corporate clients access to the most advanced tech and relevant datasets to support their transformative strategies and transactions, helping them create new value and gain competitive advantages.

 

EY-Parthenon is a joint venture between EY and Parthenon Group, a global strategy consultancy with offices in Boston, London, Mumbai, San Francisco, Shanghai and Singapore. It now boasts a 25,000-strong  workforce with presence in 150 countries.

 

The newly formed EY-Parthenon brand aims to appeal to an increasingly diverse range of talent with an investor mindset – professionals eager to address the most challenging business and societal issues within the most collaborative culture in strategic consulting.

 

According to EY, Brad Watson, an industry veteran, will be leading the sub-brand in the Mena region.

 

Unveiling the key expansion strategy, EY said it is unifying the organization’s strategy and transactions service line under a single, distinctive sub-brand focused on creating value for EY clients, people and society more broadly at the intersection of strategy, transaction services and transformation.

 

The move is a significant milestone in the broader EY global strategy, “All in,” and is designed to enhance the full consulting transformation capabilities of the organization. 

 

The expanded offering will be a unique combination of transformative strategy and transactions functions integrated within the full spectrum of EY services – from tax to technology – and will enhance the ability of EY professionals to help deliver market-leading, multi-disciplinary, cross-functional transformational solutions.

 

As part of this transition, the EY-Parthenon brand identity is being refreshed in line with the EY organization’s “Shape the future with confidence” brand expansion announced in June 2024, to inspire EY people, clients and stakeholders around the value delivered across all service lines and sectors.

 

Andrea Guerzoni, EY-Parthenon Global Vice Chair, said: "At a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty and relentless tech-driven transformational change, client demand around strategic consultancy is evolving. This newly expanded proposition is meeting those new demands, focusing on delivering real-world value – solutions that work in practice, not just on paper."

 

"EY-Parthenon, with its deep functional talent and sector capabilities, innovative AI-powered technology and investor mindset, is designed to collaborate with CEOs, boards, private equity and governments on every step of their transformation journey – helping them to shape the future with confidence," he stated.

 

Guerzoni pointed out that this change would see EY-Parthenon strengthen its leading position in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), divestitures, corporate finance, value creation, turnaround, and optimization, as well as sector-driven strategic advisory and transformation services.

 

The newly integrated team will also benefit from cross-functional collaboration with the full spectrum of services provided by 400,000 EY people worldwide, enhancing the strength of the organization across Consulting, Tax and Assurance – and particularly around large-scale transformational programs.

 

EY Global Chair and CEO Janet Truncale said: "Expanding the EY-Parthenon brand is a pivotal step in reinforcing EY’s strategic consulting offerings to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Our “All in” strategy is rooted in the transformation of the EY organization to support clients as they shape the future with confidence."

 

"The strengthened EY-Parthenon will help deliver on this mission and drive value for C-suite and boards," he stated.

 

Watson said the elevation of Parthenon will unify its service line under a single and distinctive sub-brand here in the Mena region, as well as globally. 

 

"This will not only provide us with unique positioning in the market to further differentiate our team, but it will also showcase the full strategy, transaction, and transformation capabilities of EY – demonstrating our ability to deliver market-leading, multidisciplinary, cross-functional solutions for clients based in the region,"he added.

 

Nadine Mirchandani, EY-Parthenon Deputy Global Vice Chair, said: "Some of the most recent senior EY-Parthenon hires have included government policy advisors, data scientists, civil engineers, solution architects and technologists."

 

"The talent profile is rapidly changing and while EY-Parthenon continues to hire people with strategy, financial, M&A and investment banking skills, this recruitment strategy addresses clients’ growing needs for demonstrable value realization on the back of strategic consulting work," he stated. 

 

"That means more and more deep industry knowledge, and capabilities around emerging technology – including AI, and operational and functional offerings," he added.

 

Investments have also included strengthening EY-Parthenon’s Geostrategy Business Group – a well-established strategic offering focused on helping clients navigate macro-issues and the business implications of shifting geopolitical change. In full alignment with the core proposition of EY-Parthenon, the group translates emerging and anticipated trends into practical strategic and operational advice to help boards and public institutions navigate disruption and uncertainty.

 

EY-Parthenon is also making a $250m investment in its AI-powered Edge platforms working with ecosystem partners such as Microsoft and vendors including OpenAI.

 

Competitive Edge encompasses more than 26m company profiles, 2.1m transactions and more than 325,000 company reports. It also keeps a pulse on the market by monitoring 677m news articles and proprietary data sources.

 

The full Edge suite is being leveraged by more than 25,000 people, including more than 10,000 clients across the globe. Combined, the three platforms provide AI-supported insights and benchmarks – empowering the EY-Parthenon offering from strategy and deal sourcing to due diligence and private equity value creation.-TradeArabia News Service