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How technology is transforming lives

Tech collaboration to help transform lives __________________________________________

Debate Mate is a global social business that provides leadership and communication training − where AI plays a role in nurturing students to develop confidence, curiosity, and public speaking skills.

As businesses across the globe embrace the tech-powered age of AI, we are left to wonder - are our children being left behind? It’s time for technology companies to combine forces with the education industry, to make real change.

¹ https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/the-skills-revolution-and-the-future-of-learning-and-earning

At Debate Mate, and in my role at Microsoft, our dream is to utilize the technological evolution for the development of crucial skills to students and corporates at scale. The workplace is changing and many roles will be disrupted in the coming years. But with this threat, comes opportunity. The importance of upskilling the next generation has never been so clear. But the question is how?

Rather than replacing humans with technology, AI has the power to deliver Debate Mate’s program at scale, and enhance it’s quality. The benefits of utilizing large language models to answer questions within the right framework allows students to test their understanding of events and practice their skills.

According to McKinsey, eight out of the 10 skills needed by the current and future workplace will be soft skills¹ − including adaptability, critical and creative thinking, and communication.

Through their innovative use of a debating based methodology, Debate Mate equip people of all ages with these soft skills and the capacity to be resilient, well-informed and critical of the world around them. While technology has some way to go, the foundations are there for us to begin utilizing AI in education. The skills we are trying to harness with students will have great benefit for organizations, and to humanity as a whole.

Lilia Christofi, EMEA Banking Leader, Microsoft

Read more about how Debate Mate transforms lives here

Tech transforming the employee experience __________________________________________

The Azure OpenAI (AOAI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) is a collaboration between EY and Microsoft that aims to co-innovate Generative and Responsible AI solutions for all industries, through the distribution of Microsoft OpenAI technology and EY solutions.

Data Scientist, Francesca Argenziano is based at the CoE headquarters in EY wavespace™ Madrid and has worked on a number of AOAI use cases aimed at improving the employee experience.

Learn more about how EY and Microsoft are working together to innovate by listening to Francesca’s video below and reading more about the EY Payroll chatbot use case on the right-hand side…

EY Wavespace contacts: Diego Garcia Puado (EY EMEIA MSFT CoE Lead), Jose Maria Lucia Moreno (EY wavespace Madrid partner)

As part of their combined commitment to utilize the most advanced Azure OpenAI technologies in the tax and legal industry, EY collaborated with Microsoft to develop EY Intelligent Payroll Chatbot.

By leveraging the Microsoft Cloud and Azure OpenAI Service − enhanced by the collective intelligence of EY payroll offerings − businesses can modernize payroll employee care; transform employee satisfaction; automate payroll administrator controls, checks, and workflow; and harness strategic insights to nurture the workforce of tomorrow.

Read more about the EY payroll chabot here

Navigating my role as a female leader in technology has been like sailing into the wind – you have to learn to tack back and forth either side – drawing on your inner alpha male to push down doors and be heard, but remembering to tack back to the more authentic alter ego to help break the stereotype, so that other voices can be heard and faces seen.

This helps others rise without the need for them to also create a domineering façade, which is not only inauthentic, but tiring.

Joanne Dewar, Payments Leader, The Payments Association and Fintech Stream Mentor, Creative Destruction Lab

Leading from the front to transform accessibility for all ______________________________________________________

Technology has the power to enable inclusion more than ever before − but has its own risks that need mitigating so that the vulnerable are empowered and not exploited.

For example, the ability to access or make a payment online is considered by some as a human right. But, there is a risk that the tech savvy platform designers miss a trick in understanding the needs of the audience beyond their peers.

There is a further risk that vulnerable consumers can be more readily identified and targeted through the use of technology. For example, email addresses and company logos are almost impossible to differentiate, and advances in voice and video simulation, and the ability to identify from device interaction are truly game changing.

It is so important to include those that we are designing for, such as the elderly or those with learning difficulties, to make sure that new technologies are inclusive for all.

Fortunately, there are easy solutions like using Hemingway to check, and adapt language used and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (www.wcag.com) is the go to resource to drive accessibility by design.

It is a duty to keep vulnerable consumers top of mind, and that trusted human touchpoints are retained, as well as accessibility overlays (including for the visual and hearing impaired) and options like cash payments, manned tills, open bank branches, physical libraries and local transport.

Half of employees say they would consider resigning from their job if the values of the company did not align with their own.

Paul Polman, 2023 Net Positive Employee Barometer

Using tech to connect female talent with employers that share their values…

Today, people are leaving jobs because employers aren’t being transparent enough about their values, sustainability, DE&I and employee wellbeing at the point of talent attraction. The more transparent an organization, the more likely they are to attract and retain the right talent, customers, and long-term success.

Technology platforms, such as Windō, can clearly communicate an organization’s DE&I and Sustainability efforts to female talent pools in an engaging format − helping them to match with employers that share their values. Windō hold data on every company in the FTSE100, Fortune 100, and The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers − including EY who is reported as one of the companies leading the way on reporting across Environmental Impact, DE&I and Employee Wellbeing. You can read more about Windō here.

¹ https://www.paulpolman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/MC_Paul-Polman_Net-Positive-Employee-Barometer_Final_web.pdf ² https://www.prospects.ac.uk/prospects-press-office/91-percent-of-graduates-want-to-make-a-difference-in-their-job

After 25 years as a tech & data executive, and a year researching Sustainability and DE&I reporting, I moved to Windō − who provide a unique and transparent platform for reviewing and sharing an organization’s data. We use technology and data to present comparison tools and leader boards that allow visitors to search for employees by sector, and the topics they’re interested in − such as gender transparency.

Ken Janssens, Head of Social Impact, Windō and a former Chief Data Officer at JPMorgan Chase

Driving inclusive transformation in banking _________________________________________

For most of us, a transaction such as a contactless payment is part of everyday life. But, up to 20% of individuals in the UK have banking accessibility needs^1. Two possible reasons for why these needs might be overlooked include:

The additional resources required to adapt products and services to meet accessibility requirements
A lack of knowledge around what accessible products and services look like by those involved in product design and implementation

With this in mind, EY and UK Finance created a series of forums to explore the accessibility barriers that exist within financial services. Insights from the session highlighted six focus areas (on the right-hand side) to drive positive change…

Read more here about how to drive inclusive and accessible banking!

¹ Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)