The investment is part of multibillion pound global programme to ramp up widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI) across the Big Four firm’s global network, and will see ‘new EY capabilities, integrated with Microsoft technology, strengthen quality, transform workflows and enhance the client and people experience’.

EY said the move ‘marks a fundamental shift toward AI-transformed audits’, which should see prices for audit clients reduce as more technology is implemented.

‘These capabilities will help audit teams orchestrate complex tasks, processes and technologies, and address risks more dynamically, while accessing continuously updated auditing and accounting guidance, at unprecedented scale and speed,’ EY stressed.