As the EY Regional Managing Partner and CEO of Oceania, David Larocca saw AI’s potential to transform the organization and how its 9,000 people work, and that he needed to learn a lot more about it to realize that promise.
When the EY member firms across Oceania became some of the earliest adopters of Microsoft 365 Copilot in 2024, Larocca immersed himself in AI. He regularly dedicates at least one precious hour each fortnight to it, reading, listening to podcasts, connecting with other leaders and using Copilot.
“Particularly when it comes to change and new tools and new ways of doing things, I think it’s important that all of our leaders lead from the front here and actually show that you’re rolling the sleeves up and doing, not just telling,” Larocca, who is based in Sydney, Australia, said.
Copilot can do a lot more
Initially, Larocca started with simple tasks like asking Copilot to organize his emails. Quickly he saw Copilot could do more, a lot more, and he began using the AI assistant to summarize meetings and materials.
Soon, he was turning to Copilot on Friday afternoon or Sunday evening to help him plan his busy week ahead.
The more Larocca learned about Copilot, the more he wove it into his day’s DNA. He turned to Copilot for help preparing for client meetings, using prompts to quickly summarize materials, and share the latest developments about a client and the people he’d meet.
If a challenging conversation loomed, Larocca would sometimes turn to Copilot for help.
“I want to have this conversation…I’m feeling this way about it,” Larocca would tell Copilot. “Can you write a first cut for me? And it’s pretty good. And then I’ll sort of tailor it to my language.”
It “really enabled me to be faster at focusing on what’s important,” Larocca said.
Larocca is even known for breaking out Copilot on stage. During a panel on the EY alliance with Microsoft, he pulled out his phone and asked Copilot: “What does success look like for the EY / Microsoft alliance? What does being great in this alliance mean?”
Larocca’s AI use set an important tone from the top, as EY member firms across Oceania — which spans Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji — pushed forward with their AI adoption strategy. Executive leadership meetings, for example, became more efficient because Copilot could share summaries, discussion points, agreements or disagreements, suggest actions and answer questions in real time. This meant executives could jump out of a meeting and then catch up quickly when they returned.
Copilot delivered what many senior executives need: more time.
Copilot has spread far beyond the C-suite — nearly 70 percent of 9,000 EY people have adopted the AI assistant. A year into adoption, Copilot is freeing EY people from mundane tasks, such as finding and collating credentials in large proposals. Instead, they can spend their time on higher value work like developing strategies for clients.
A team can focus on “what do we need to make this proposal a winning proposal?” Larocca said. “There’s a real opportunity, a massive opportunity, for our people and our business to be even more impactful with our clients.”
Simply put, Copilot is helping EY people across Oceania provide value to clients, faster.
Lessons from an early AI adopter
After a year studying AI and Copilot, Larocca has learned a few things about how to deploy AI and Copilot.
It’s critical that leaders are clear about why Copilot and AI are essential for their business, according to Larocca. The answer will vary among different businesses, he added, “but I think there is no sector or business in my view that shouldn’t be engaging” with AI.
And it starts in the C-suite.
Leaders should make learning about AI a habit, Larocca recommended. Set aside a regular time to experiment with tools like Copilot, try new prompts and learn about AI. Then share what you’re learning with your teams. To tap Copilot’s true potential, you need to engage it and do the training.
“If we have this discussion in six months, I’m sure I’ll come up with six, seven or eight other things that I didn’t think about.”
Top image: David Larocca, EY Regional Managing Partner and CEO of Oceania. Photo: EY. Image background generated with Microsoft Copilot.
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