(EMEA) The EY organization has announced the appointment of Joe Depa as the new Global Chief Innovation Officer. Within this role, he will spearhead applied innovation to help improve service delivery and guide EY teams to address and solve business challenges.

Depa joins the EY organization at a pivotal moment, as a range of emerging technologies are reshaping businesses and industries, creating a multitude of new challenges and opportunities. To keep pace, the EY organization is continuing to make significant investments in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and blockchain, and most recently formed the EY.ai Global AI Advisory Council.

A renowned thought leader in the field of AI, Depa will be leading the organization’s global innovation strategy. This will include overseeing efforts to successfully implement emerging technologies for tangible business applications, both internally and across the work of EY member firms with clients.

Throughout the last decade, Depa has worked closely with C-suite leaders and boards to bring innovative products and services to market, improve client and employee experiences, and help enhance operational efficiencies through technology.

Most recently, he served as the inaugural Chief Data and AI Officer at Emory University. At the university, he helped to promote AI literacy, launch a responsible AI governance program, and enable a secure data foundation. Prior to that, he acted as Senior Managing Director and Global Lead for Data and AI at Accenture, where he led a team of AI strategists and data engineers in developing and implementing new products and services.

Joe Depa, EY Global Chief Innovation Officer, says: “I’m truly excited to join an organization that is ‘All in’ on its commitment to the transformative potential of emerging technologies. I look forward to working with the EY teams and clients to help empower them to apply innovation in bold, new ways that help create value for clients through data, AI and emerging technologies to make the world a better place.”