Keep pulling the thread on Dan Diazio.
Dan Diazio reports that most of his clients at EY are more concerned about competition from unseen, AI-native startups than from their traditional industry rivals.
Dan Diazio predicts that new employees joining companies in the next year will function as managers from their first day, overseeing a workforce of AI agents.
EY is actively working to disrupt its historical effort-based, billable-hour business model by using AI.
EY invested over $1 billion last year in capital to transform itself into an AI-driven "frontier firm".
According to Dan Diazio, most corporate investment in AI is disproportionately focused on the "toolset," neglecting the equally important "mindset" and "skillset" required for success.
Dan Diazio recommends an optimal workflow sequence for leveraging AI agents: a human initiates the task, an agent executes it, and a human reviews and finalizes the output.
EY's "blueprint" for AI-native functions includes a dedicated control layer responsible for managing the level of autonomy granted to AI agents.
EY is a member of the inaugural class of the Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard's "Frontier Firm AI Initiative," a collaboration with Harvard Business School and Microsoft.
EY created a new business unit called "ey.ai" to signal a systemic, internal shift from its traditional business model to an AI-centric one.
Dan Diazio asserts that AI commoditizes output, raising the quality floor for average work but not raising the ceiling for exceptional work.
EY's framework for effective AI use posits that unlocking its potential requires combining it with four key human skills: creativity, critical thinking, systems thinking, and deep domain expertise.
Dan Diazio believes the role of a consultant will shift from producing content to being a "creator" who directs AI agents to perform tasks.