In an era marked by The Great Resignation, rapidly evolving work models, and the transformative potential of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to enhance or replace tasks, employee experience (EX) services are racing to keep up. These services help to attract and retain talent, boost employee engagement and well-being, foster efficient upskilling and adaptability, and drive productivity in a fiercely competitive market. We’ve analyzed EX providers to understand how they leverage and embed GenAI to enhance the employee experience for the Generative Enterprise™.
EY facts and figures for EX services
Strategic vision and investments
- EY has invested $10 billion in technology, sustainability, strategy, and audit, including a $1.4 billion commitment to GenAI.
- EY launched EY.ai, a unifying platform combining experience with a holistic AI ecosystem and advanced technology, and EYQ, a conversational artificial intelligence (AI) assistant enabling EY’s nearly 400,000 people to harness large language model (LLM) capabilities in a secure environment.
- The evolution of its People Experience Platform (PEXP) and the launch of EY.ai Workforce, a new solution that helps organizations integrate AI into their key HR business processes, underscores EY’s commitment to transforming the employee experience to support strategic business outcomes.
Key highlights
- Value proposition: EY’s value proposition in the EX space centers on empowering humans through AI. It believes that AI exists to enable humans to conduct higher-value work and create more fulfilling work experiences.
- Growth proof points: EY has demonstrated its commitment to the people business by achieving a remarkable 20% growth in this area in the past year. It has ambitious plans to become a $5 billion business by 2027, showing its dedication to continued expansion.
- Framework for EX: EY’s “Me, We, Here” framework for EX enhances the workplace by emphasizing three key domains: individual well-being and skill-building (Me), fostering collaboration and belonging within teams (We), and cultivating a positive organizational culture and environment (Here)—whether in-person, hybrid, or remote. This approach aims to holistically improve the elements of experiences.
- Key differentiators: EY stands out by focusing on emotional quotient (EQ) and rational journey in bringing people forward. Its approach addresses employees’ IQ (skills, roles, and structure) and EQ (emotional well-being). Additionally, EY’s commitment to data-driven well-being is a notable differentiator, underscoring its dedication to a foundational EX element.
- Outcomes: EY emphasizes the importance of quantifiable value in people and business outcomes. It has a strong measurement strategy to prove the impact of AI investments.
- Alliances: EY collaborates with tech giants like IBM, Microsoft, ServiceNow, and Qualtrics to offer cutting-edge solutions in the EX space. It embeds humans at the center of research and diagnostics within the Microsoft Teams environment.
Key offerings
- Strategic Consulting: EY offers tech-enabled, data-driven, human-centered strategic consulting services to optimize organizations and enhance employee experiences.
- EY People Experience Platform: The EY People Experience Platform integrates experiential and operational client, provider, benchmark, and sentiment data to drive business insights and improvements.
- EY Skills Foundry: EY offers training, upskilling, and reskilling programs to help clients and their employees understand and harness the power of AI models.
- EY.AI Platform: The EY.AI platform is a unifying platform combining human capabilities with AI to help organizations confidently and responsibly adopt AI, leveraging EY’s technology platforms and AI capabilities along with a robust AI ecosystem.
- EY.ai Workforce: EY.ai Workforce is a digital worker solution that helps increase the capacity and productivity of the HR function. Leveraging an inventory of AI skills, digital workers complete HR work and processes.
HFS’ take
- EY’s impressive growth rates and ambitious goal to become a $5 billion business in the people business by 2027 underline their commitment and intent in the EX space.
- EY’s holistic “Me, We, Here” model addresses various aspects of EX and provides clients with a structured approach to evaluating their employee experiences. At the same time, its emphasis on upskilling and reskilling, especially in the age of AI, positions it as a forward-looking partner with a strong framework for the intricate parts of EX.
- EY has a strong ecosystem of vendors, highlighting its commitment to the OneEcosystem™ approach to thinking.
- EY’s clients commend its strategic utilization of the XM platform and the exceptional skills displayed in platform functionality. Nevertheless, they perceive opportunities for EY to demonstrate their expertise in innovative domains more effectively, emphasizing the need for more assertive and convincing demonstrations of their capabilities.
- As EY continues to push the boundaries and explore GenAI’s potential within its workforce, numerous opportunities lie ahead to extend these capabilities to its clients. This could involve enhancing its existing service offerings with additional capabilities or discovering entirely new avenues of value through this innovative technology in the near future.
