MWC 2026: How EY is Reimagining Enterprise AI Transformation

At MWC Barcelona 2026, few conversations captured the momentum of enterprise transformation quite like those exploring AI at scale. 

For Julie Linn Teigland, EY’s Global Vice Chair for Alliances & Ecosystems, AI isn’t just supercharging efficiency – it’s fundamentally reshaping the way organisations innovate, collaborate and lead.

EY, best known for its work across assurance, tax, consulting and strategy, sits at the convergence of industries where digital disruption is making waves. 

“Telco is a major sector for us where we dominate globally,” Julie says. 

Across assurance, tax, consulting to “reimagine the enterprise,” and strategy & transactions, EY showcased telco prowess at the global event.

EY’s more than 120 technology alliances now prioritise emerging tech, too.

Julie adds: “We’re onboarding many more emerging tech companies to support our journey.”

Solutions like “voice AI, which can be added onto a customer support solution or solutions that evolve on redesigning the customer support function” bolt onto client services, she adds. 

“We’re constantly on the lookout for new and emerging players and ways for us to collaborate, sharing go-to-market, bringing the best technology to our customers.”

Examples of EY’s flourishing partnerships include NVIDIA, Microsoft and Snowflake.

“No one technology partner is going to do it all,” she says. 

“They’ve got to orchestrate and stack those partners into an ecosystem that brings together the best for them, cutting across their whole technology stack from the data layer into their ERP system. That’s what we see most evolving.”

Telco: Leading AI’s industry surge

“Telco is back because of AI,” Julie notes. “On the network side, it’s allowing for efficiencies of redesign of how that network utilisation is happening. 

“But on the customer support side, telcos are suddenly realising they own the customer distribution channel. 

“They can do so much more with it, which means customer support has reached its lowest point in history. It’s only going to get better from here.”

Julie sees other industries taking a different perspective. Financial services for example, require higher levels of back office support to execute its processes thanks to the burden of compliance and regulation.

She explains: “I see everyone looking at things like what can they do on that customer experience side. You think of the future of retail and how customers can be reached. 

“If it’s no longer you shopping in the future, but your agent, how is a retailer going to redesign their appearance, their attraction, their marketing to attract your business? That's a whole new world that’s being explored right now in leveraging the power of AI.”

AI responsibility and leading in the AI era

From Julie’s perspective, responsibility around the train and use of AI can’t be an afterthought.

“AI responsibility has to be baked in from the beginning, it is not something you tack on at the end,” she explores. “We really need the boards top down to set governance rules and guidance, to embrace it and implement it. Ethical guidelines are non-negotiable.”

She adds that people in leadership positions are – and rightly so – realising that adaptability is an important trait to have and lean into.

“The world is changing fast,” Julie continues. “They also require extreme empathy. People are going through massive change and we need to take them with us.”

What AI is driving

As well as this, Julie emphasises that organisational culture cannot be outsourced to machines, even as agent-human teams emerge.

“How are you really certain that you’re driving the culture that you want if you’re not even personally hiring the people most important for your team?” she asks.

As agents handle resumes, reviews and initial interviews, she urges leaders to prioritise human connectivity to sustain team cohesion amid mixed workforces.

On the subject of AI’s role in the workplace, Julie urges to reframe AI’s story outside of anxiety around automation.

She explains: “There’s a whole lot of talk about productivity gains and efficiency in the market – it’s almost like a doomsday speak. 

“I would love to help us change that narrative because Gen AI is going to provide so much upside in terms of new business models and new jobs.

“When the washing machine was invented, do you think people thought they’d be out of a job, or do you think people celebrated it? We’ve really got to really rethink where we are and where we are going.

“Jobs changed when the internet came. Now, I think we’re too focused on cost takeout efficiency and not enough on new business models, what this means and how many more of us could be entrepreneurs in the future versus today.”