EY India to Conduct a First-of-its-kind Intelligent Automation Hackathon to Simplify Tax and Business Functions

EY, the leading global professional services organization, announced the second edition of EY Hackathon in India, this time focussing on Intelligent Automation as a technology enabler. The Hackathon challenges technology enthusiasts and chartered accountants to conceive and build innovative digital solutions for complex business functions. In a world where everything from business models and value chains to government functions and social contracts is getting disrupted, this hackathon emerges as an innovative platform to address some of the tough questions facing organisations today by seizing the upside of disruption.

A 24-hour uninterrupted codefest, EY Hackathon – Intelligent Automation, will present opportunities to application developers, coders, UI/UX experts and chartered accountants, to collaborate and create unique prototypes and simulations that will have a lasting impact on how businesses function. It is an attempt to simplify the dynamic business operations such as tax, compliance and supply chain among others with the use of intelligent applications such as Robotics Process Automation, Machine Learning, Natural Language Generation and Natural Language Processing.

Farokh Balsara, Partner and Markets Leader, EY India said, “Our first EY Hackathon on Blockchain offered opportunities for young talent from various startups, business houses and educational institutions to collaborate with EY subject matter experts in an open innovation environment, to solve real life business challenges. The second edition of EY Hackathon is a unique effort in bringing together developers, design enthusiasts and chartered accountants to realize functional prototypes using Intelligent Automation.”

The development of solutions will be aided by an array of tools and cloud platforms provided by Automation Anywhere, IBM and Microsoft. The two best prototypes will be evaluated and awarded on the basis of uniqueness, scalability and their applicability in businesses.

Ram Sarvepalli, Partner and National Leader, Advisory Services, EY India said, “Some of the most disruptive technologies on the horizon, such as artificial intelligence and robotics will disrupt not just corporate business models, but also society at large. While these challenges are certainly palpable, how a company responds to disruption will eventually determine its fate. Therefore, in this highly dynamic business environment, platforms that encourage innovation and demand output amidst cut-throat competition will have a leverage over others. Our Hackathon on Intelligent Automation is an initiative in a similar direction. Through this, the gen-y will get a hands on experience in addressing problems that will shape the future of businesses.”

Sudhir Kapadia, Partner and National Tax Leader, EY India said, “In the past one year, the digital wave has become stronger and the business case for the adoption of new technologies in the tax function has gained further momentum. Alongside, digital tax administration has emerged as one of the biggest drivers of tax function transformation in 2017, with GST being the leading technology driven tax reform necessitating a large-scale business transformation. To be future ready, we believe that it is imperative for the tax professionals to take maximum advantage of the technology ecosystem available around us.”

The EY Hackathon - Intelligent Automation will commence on Saturday, 4 November 2017 at GoWork@108, Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon and conclude on 5 November 2017 with the felicitation of winners.

“EY Hackathon is one of the many platforms that we have created to fuel digital innovation and a culture of collaboration as we make every effort in building a better working world”, said Farokh Balsara.

For more details on the EY Hackathon – Intelligent Automation, visit us at www.ey.com/in/hackathon