Microsoft and EY to spend US$1 billion to help clients adopt AI
Published Thu, May 21, 2026 · 10:54 PM
TECHNOLOGY giant Microsoft and consulting firm EY are partnering to spend more than US$1 billion to encourage their clients to launch major artificial intelligence projects.
The initiative is designed to help companies grow AI projects from the pilot stage into large-scale efforts, EY global vice-chair of Consulting Errol Gardner said in an interview. That’s when clients can “really receive a return on investment.”
Initially, the companies will focus on finance, tax, human resources and supply chain work, according to an emailed statement. That’ll be within the financial services, industrials, energy, consumer and retail, government and healthcare sectors.
There’s been a series of tie-ups between companies developing AI and consulting firms in recent months as they push to encourage clients to adopt such technology at scale.
Alphabet’s Google launched a US$750 million fund in April to help consultancy firms such as McKinsey & Co. and Deloitte deliver AI for their clients.
KPMG and Anthropic PBC said this month that the consulting firm would make its AI model Claude available for its staff, as well as embedding the technology across some of its own tools.
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“There’s an intensity and urgency right now that we’re all feeling,” said Deb Cupp, Microsoft’s chief revenue officer for its global enterprise sales business. “We want to align ourselves in a way that we can create outcomes more effectively for customers.”
The initiative aims to marry Microsoft’s AI products and its engineering expertise with EY’s industry knowledge and change management skills, according to Cupp. Microsoft will also provide engineers to work alongside EY consultants to help clients with agentic AI projects.
The billions of dollars spent by companies on AI has not always led to profitable growth.
A 2025 study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that 95 per cent of corporate AI projects had failed to deliver a return. This has put pressure on many AI companies to deliver greater impact for their clients. BLOOMBERG
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