What sets an AI-driven company like PwC apart: our approach and key success factors

We deliberately chose freedom of choice over vendor lock-in, building a technology-agnostic stack that stays current and meets the high standards of our regulated environment. At the same time, we invested in data architecture and data quality and established a clear build-or-buy approach. Where the market offers strong solutions, we use them. Where we have an edge of our own, we build in-house. This led to solutions such as ChatPwC, our internal AI assistant that gives every employee access to a range of large language models, and our own secure vibe-coding environment, available to all our people. What matters is not simply access to technology, but what we do with it for our business.

In a business where trust is our most valuable asset, AI needs clear guardrails from the outset. That is why we built an internal Responsible AI Toolkit, which embeds risk standards directly into the development of every AI application and supports the entire process, rather than acting as a checkpoint at the very end. This is complemented by a binding AI code of conduct for all our people and secure environments that allow AI to be used safely, even with sensitive data. Our experience shows that clear rules do not slow things down. They create confidence, and that confidence is what encourages people to actually use AI rather than avoid it out of uncertainty.

AI needs clear rules for trust to develop. The PwC study "Want ROI from AI? Go for growth" (2026) underlines this: the top-performing 20% of companies are 1.6 times more likely to have a Responsible AI framework in place and 2.3 times more likely to achieve better compliance.

With strategy, technology and governance in place, we could focus on the real change: our business processes. Our first instinct was to integrate AI into existing workflows. We soon realised that this was not enough. Our processes needed to be fundamentally rethought, with AI at their core rather than bolted on.

Progress doesn't happen in your comfort zone. Our experience shows that leaders don't leave innovation to chance. They give the right people the freedom and resources to innovate, steer innovation with purpose and challenge their own business before others do. That ambition also means not simply optimising existing processes, but reimagining them from the ground up.

Many of our best ideas started life as pilot projects. The real challenge was turning them into stable, production-ready solutions. To do this, we established a clear path for developing and scaling AI solutions, from initial idea through to live deployment. Among the results are delivery platforms that bring together our AI capabilities and expert knowledge within each of our lines of service. In consulting, our Agentic Consulting Framework enables consultants and specialised AI agents to work side by side as a single project team throughout the entire engagement. In tax and legal, NEO combines tax process expertise with verified subject-matter content, from establishing the facts of a case through to the final memorandum. In deals, Junction provides a digital workspace with AI-powered data exploration to identify risks and value drivers. And in audit, Maestro is setting new standards.

One of the most important lessons from our transformation is that technology alone changes nothing. Even the best tools only deliver value when our 16,000 people use them as a natural part of their everyday work. That is why we launched a comprehensive change and empowerment programme with role-specific upskilling, from leadership through to every part of the business. Our leaders set the pace, visibly using AI in their own day-to-day work. That shapes our culture far more than traditional training alone. Gamification and peer-to-peer learning add enthusiasm and encourage active use. After all, success depends not only on the technology itself, but on how naturally it is adopted and used in everyday work.

The PwC Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2026 shows just how important leadership is here: 46% of senior executives do not understand why their role is changing. Our experience shows that enablement must therefore start at the very top. Leaders need to understand how AI is changing their own role before they can shape and model change across the organisation. Those who are expected to lead the transformation must first understand it themselves. Otherwise, no organisation can change in a lasting way.

We want successful approaches developed by individual teams to make an impact across the entire organisation. That is why we run targeted workshops to identify particularly effective, domain-specific solutions, pinpoint the elements that can be transferred and develop them into scalable solutions through internal incubators and dedicated AI expert teams. In this way, successful standalone initiatives become approaches that can be used across all our lines of service. Our experience shows that scaling requires clear structures, defined ownership and focused attention. It does not happen by itself.

Our own AI journey has not only changed the way we work. It has also given us a much clearer understanding of what organisations really need from an AI transformation, and where the common pitfalls lie.

Drawing on this experience, we have developed an AI service portfolio that brings together insights from across our entire business. The ideal starting point is our AI Accelerator Workshop.

AI Accelerator Workshop: one day to gain clarity

In a single day, we work with you to prioritise your greatest AI opportunities, identify the value drivers with the highest impact and translate them into a robust business case. The result is a clear agenda for your AI transformation and a solid basis for deciding your next steps.

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