Verified
PwC
Piloting- Professional services
- 369,945 people
- 285,000+ Copilot users
- 54% use AI weekly
- US$3B into AI and tech (FY26)
- No AI return reported
PwC deploys AI through ChatPwC, an assistant it built on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service in 2023, agent OS, its own platform for orchestrating AI agents, and bought tools: Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Anthropic's Claude. PwC has not reported a financial return on its own use of AI; it reports reach instead, with more than 285,000 Copilot users and 54% of its workforce using AI tools weekly (Apr 2026 figures). The PwC network invested US$3 billion, chiefly in AI and technology, in the year to Jun 30, 2026.
pwc.comTheir approach to AI
- The platform
- ChatPwC, an assistant PwC built on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service in 2023, sits beside agent OS, the agent orchestration platform PwC launched in Mar 2025, and PwC One, an AI platform PwC launched for its teams and clients in Mar 2026.
- The models
- PwC buys its models: OpenAI's through Azure and ChatGPT Enterprise, Microsoft Copilot, and Anthropic's Claude, which runs inside ChatPwC and, from May 2026, as Claude Code and Cowork for US teams.
- The reach
- PwC reports more than 285,000 Microsoft Copilot users in over 100 countries and 54% of its workforce using AI tools weekly (Apr 2026 figures), and more than 330,000 people trained in AI (Oct 2026); PwC UK has rolled out AI tools to every employee, and PwC US gives all 80,000 staff ChatPwC, Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude.
- The catch
- PwC reports AI usage, hours and spending, not a financial return: its own Copilot figure is more than 1 million hours of capacity freed in Apr 2026, the US$150 million of Copilot time savings comes from a Microsoft case study (Feb 2026), and PwC US audit time savings are "not that drastic yet" (Oct 2026).
Snapshot
- Employees
- 369,945
- Network headcount at Jun 30, 2026, in 136 countries
- Technology budget
- US$3B invested (FY26)
- Network investment in capabilities, particularly AI and technology; no separate AI figure
- AI/ML headcount
- Not disclosed
- PwC US created an engineering career track in Jan 2026
- Who owns AI
- Joe Atkinson
- Global Chief AI Officer; Dan Priest (PwC US) and Jeremy Bassinder (PwC UK, named Sep 2026) lead member firms
- Platform
- ChatPwC and agent OS
- ChatPwC since 2023; agent OS since Mar 2025
- Models
- OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft Copilot
- Azure OpenAI Service behind ChatPwC; Claude added by May 2026
- Reach
- 285,000+ Copilot users
- Apr 2026 figures; 54% use AI tools weekly; 330,000+ trained in AI (Oct 2026); every PwC UK employee has AI tools (Sep 2026)
- Use cases
- 250+ internal agentsest.
- Mar 2025; 3,000+ internal generative AI use cases identified (May 2024); 12,000+ custom GPTs reported in Jun 2025
Key findings
PwC has not reported a financial return on its own AI use: its own Copilot case study counts more than 1 million hours of capacity freed in Apr 2026, a measure of time, the US$150 million of Copilot time savings in a Microsoft customer story (Feb 2026) also values time returned to staff, and PwC US tied a planned cut of almost a third in entry-level hiring (Aug 2025) to AI, offshoring and transformation together.
PwC runs a multi-vendor stack: ChatPwC, built on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service in 2023, now offers Anthropic's Claude; PwC US and PwC UK announced a ChatGPT Enterprise rollout to more than 100,000 staff in May 2024; and PwC reports more than 285,000 Microsoft Copilot users in over 100 countries, with 54% of its workforce using AI tools weekly (Apr 2026 figures).
PwC firms invested US$3 billion across the network in the year to Jun 30, 2026, particularly in AI and technology, and more than 330,000 people have taken part in AI training at PwC, which had 369,945 staff at that date.
PwC expanded its Anthropic alliance on May 14, 2026 to roll out Claude Code and Cowork, starting with US teams, to train and certify 30,000 US professionals on Claude, and to open a Claude-based finance business group in its Office of the CFO practice.
PwC's AI-native assurance platform, at the center of a collective US$1 billion next generation audit programme, finished internal development in FY26 and took on its first clients in Jul 2026, while PwC US assurance transformation leader Shawn Panson said in Oct 2026 that audit time savings so far are a shift, not a dramatic cut.
Where PwC sits
- Stage
- Piloting
PwC has reported no business return it credits to AI, for any internal use case or for the firm: the Global Annual Review 2026 and PwC UK's FY26 results give investment and training figures but no cost, revenue or margin credited to AI, the more than 1 million hours of Copilot capacity PwC counted in Apr 2026 measure time rather than money, and the US$150 million of Copilot time savings comes from a Microsoft customer story (Feb 2026). PwC has officially reported a company-wide rollout: its own Copilot case study, updated with Apr 2026 figures, counts more than 285,000 Copilot users in over 100 countries and 54% of the global workforce using AI tools weekly, and Joe Atkinson owns AI as Global Chief AI Officer. PwC is therefore at Piloting; returns it credits to AI in two or more functions, or a firm-level AI figure, would move it to Scaling.
How the stages are defined - Ownership
- Global Chief AI Officer Joe Atkinson, with Chief AI Officers in PwC US and PwC UK
- Platform
- Hybrid: ChatPwC, agent OS and PwC One built in-house; Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude bought
- Models
- OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft Copilot, chosen by tool
- Hosting
- ChatPwC and Microsoft 365 Copilot on Microsoft's cloud; agent OS deployable on Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Salesforce or on premises
- Reach
- 285,000+ Copilot users; 54% use AI weekly (Apr 2026 figures); 330,000+ trained in AI
How they deploy
Buy the models, build the layers on top
PwC builds its own interfaces and orchestration and buys the models underneath. ChatPwC was built in 2023 on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service with retrieval over PwC content, and Microsoft reported in Jun 2024 that PwC had not fine-tuned large language models for its thousands of internal and client use cases. Agent OS, launched in Mar 2025, connects agents built on Anthropic, AWS, GitHub, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, OpenAI, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and Workday into governed workflows.
Run internally what it sells
PwC uses the same alliances it resells. PwC became OpenAI's first ChatGPT Enterprise reseller in May 2024, when it announced a rollout to more than 100,000 of its own staff, Claude runs inside ChatPwC while PwC builds Claude-based client practices, and Forrester's May 2026 evaluation says PwC applies lessons from its own Copilot rollout to 230,000 employees in client change management.
AI as business transformation
Paul Griggs, PwC US Senior Partner and CEO, told the Financial Times in Mar 2026 that anyone at PwC who thinks they can opt out of AI will not be there long, and that some tax and advisory work will move from hourly billing to AI tools such as PwC One. Griggs told Business Insider in Jul 2026 that AI is a large-scale business transformation and a change-management exercise, not a project to leave to the CIO, and called taking the gains straight to the bottom line "the lazy answer".
Skills over headcount growth
PwC treats AI skills as a firmwide requirement: more than 330,000 people have taken AI training (Oct 2026), PwC US launched a Learning Collective built on 15 AI skills and 15 human skills in Feb 2026, and PwC US created an engineering career track in Jan 2026. Mohamed Kande, Global Chairman, told the BBC in Nov 2025 that the network is looking for hundreds and hundreds of engineers and cannot find them.
A more integrated network
PwC is pulling member-firm capabilities closer together around AI delivery. PwC US and PwC India agreed in Sep 2026 to combine PwC US Advisory's India-based Acceleration Centers with PwC India's consulting business, citing technology, engineering and AI capabilities at greater scale, with closing expected in the first half of 2027, and PwC UK merged its Consulting and Risk businesses from Jul 1, 2026. PwC US assurance leaders said in Oct 2025 that a single global agentic audit platform is planned.
- Deployment model
- PwC deploys AI through a network of legally separate member firms. PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited coordinates strategy and standards, including a Network AI Policy, and Joe Atkinson, Global Chief AI Officer, shapes upskilling and working practices for more than 360,000 people as a member of the Global Commercial Leadership Team. Each large member firm runs its own program: PwC US has a Chief AI Officer (Dan Priest), a Global Chief AI Engineer (Scott Likens) and James Shira as US and Global Chief Information Officer, and PwC UK named Jeremy Bassinder Chief AI Officer in Sep 2026 alongside Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Claire Reid. Lines of service build their own AI: assurance through the next generation audit programme, tax through its data and research platforms.
- Model providers
- PwC's internal AI runs mainly on OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft models. PwC US committed in Apr 2023 to build on OpenAI's GPT-4 through Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service, which became the base for ChatPwC; PwC US and PwC UK announced a ChatGPT Enterprise rollout to more than 100,000 staff in May 2024; and PwC reported more than 230,000 Microsoft Copilot users in Jan 2026. Anthropic's Claude was available in ChatPwC by May 2026, when PwC began rolling out Claude Code and Cowork to US teams. Engineers use GitHub Copilot, adopted by 70% of relevant PwC engineers by Jun 2024. PwC's agent OS can call models through Amazon Bedrock, such as Amazon Nova and Claude, and Oracle-hosted models through OCI Generative AI, and PwC's Global Tax & Legal Services signed an agreement with legal AI company Harvey in Mar 2023.
- Data and infrastructure
- PwC built ChatPwC on Microsoft Azure using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search for retrieval, Azure AI Document Intelligence for text extraction and Azure Kubernetes Service to expose the services as APIs, according to Microsoft in Jun 2024. PwC moved more than 15 petabytes of data and over 500,000 mailboxes to Microsoft 365 before adding Copilot, which works over that firm data in Microsoft's cloud (Microsoft, Feb 2026). PwC describes agent OS as cloud-agnostic, deployable on AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Salesforce or in on-premises data centers. Claude Cowork connects to enterprise data through the Model Context Protocol. PwC has not said which clouds host its own agent OS workloads or its ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude seats.
Platforms and internal tools
ChatPwC2023
ChatPwC is PwC's private generative AI assistant, built on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service with retrieval over PwC content and deployed in spring 2023 after a pilot of just over four weeks. Microsoft reported in Jun 2024 that ChatPwC was used by 75,000 professionals in the US and 125,000 colleagues elsewhere. Anthropic's Claude was available inside ChatPwC by May 2026.
- Users
- About 200,000 (Jun 2024)
- Models
- OpenAI through Azure OpenAI Service; Anthropic Claude (by May 2026)
Agent OSMar 2025
Agent OS is PwC's platform for building, orchestrating and governing AI agents from different vendors in one workflow, connecting agents built on Anthropic, AWS, GitHub, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, OpenAI, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and Workday. PwC runs agent OS inside the firm, where more than 250 AI agents were deployed for specific tasks across tax, assurance and advisory at launch on Mar 27, 2025, and sells it to clients; PwC US won a 2026 CIO 100 Award for agent OS.
- Users
- 250+ internal agents (Mar 2025)
- Models
- Vendor-neutral, including OpenAI and Anthropic models, Amazon Bedrock models such as Nova and Claude, and Oracle-hosted models
PwC OneMar 2026
PwC One is an AI platform built on a multi-agent architecture that brings PwC's knowledge, standards and methodologies to clients and PwC professionals through a chat interface and a working canvas. PwC launched PwC One in Mar 2026 with select US teams and client engagements and agent-driven services such as a financial statement analyzer, a tax incentives explorer, transfer pricing reviewers and a financial due diligence assistant, with a PwC professional reviewing outputs.
AI-native assurance platformJul 2026 (first clients)
PwC's AI-native assurance platform is the center of a collective US$1 billion next generation audit programme across PwC firms, with AI agents that run full-population analysis and automate evidence matching and documentation. The platform completed internal development in FY26 and onboarded its first clients for initial use cases in Jul 2026; PwC Australia piloted it with five audit clients and planned to roll it out in waves to all its audit teams during 2026.
PwC US audit AI tools2025
PwC US auditors use the Advanced Walkthrough Assistant, which drafts work plans and flags changes since the last audit, Evidence Match, an agent-led module that validates evidence against documents in cash, receivables and payables, and Simplified Audit for Private Business for audit planning. PwC US said in Oct 2025 it hoped to apply AI across every audit stage in calendar 2026.
AI-powered learning platform and Learning CollectiveFeb 2026 (Learning Collective)
PwC's AI-powered learning platform personalizes training across the network, and PwC US's Learning Collective, launched in Feb 2026, trains staff on 15 AI skills and 15 human skills and uses AI agents to give feedback, for example on presentations.
Vendors and partners
MicrosoftApr 2023
Azure OpenAI Service behind ChatPwC; Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio; GitHub Copilot · PwC US's US$1 billion AI investment of Apr 2023 rested on Azure OpenAI Service, PwC rolled out Microsoft 365 with Copilot across the firm, and PwC was named a strategic partner for Microsoft Agent 365 in May 2026.
OpenAIMay 2024
ChatGPT Enterprise for PwC staff; PwC is the first ChatGPT Enterprise reseller · PwC US and PwC UK announced a rollout to more than 100,000 staff in May 2024, and PwC US said in Jun 2026 that all 80,000 of its people had access.
AnthropicExpanded May 2026
Claude in ChatPwC, Claude Code and Cowork for staff; joint Center of Excellence · The May 14, 2026 expansion set a target of 30,000 US professionals trained and certified on Claude and created a Claude-based Office of the CFO business group.
Amazon Web Services2025
Agent OS runs in AWS environments and calls models through Amazon Bedrock · PwC expanded agent OS to run inside AWS with Amazon-native services, calling Bedrock models such as Nova and Claude.
Google CloudAug 2026 (Gemini Enterprise for industries)
Launch partner for Gemini Enterprise industry solutions; agent OS runs on Google Cloud · PwC and Google Cloud launched a Gemini Enterprise Center of Excellence for client work in Apr 2026.
OracleJul 2025
Agent OS runs on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure with Oracle-hosted models
HarveyMar 2023
Legal AI for PwC's Global Tax & Legal Services · PwC has not published how widely its lawyers use Harvey today.
PalantirExpanded Sep 2026
Alliance for enterprise AI, M&A and ERP work with clients
CohereOct 2026
Global alliance for client AI deployments, starting in Canada, using Cohere's North agentic platform and models · PwC has not said it uses Cohere models in its own work.
Leadership
AI, data and platform leaders
Executives
AI org map
Network AI office coordinating member firms that each run their own AI program, with tools built inside the lines of service
PwC is a network of separate member firms coordinated by PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, whose Network Leadership Team under Global Chairman Mohamed Kande sets strategy and standards. Joe Atkinson is Global Chief AI Officer and sits on the Global Commercial Leadership Team. The largest member firms run their own AI programs: PwC US under Senior Partner Paul Griggs has a Chief AI Officer, Dan Priest, and a Global Chief AI Engineer, Scott Likens, and PwC UK under Marco Amitrano named Jeremy Bassinder Chief AI Officer in Sep 2026. James Shira serves as both Global and US Chief Information Officer.
PwC does not publish a count of its AI engineers or data scientists. PwC's AI work sits in three places: network roles such as Global Chief AI Officer Joe Atkinson and Global and US CIO James Shira; member-firm AI offices, such as PwC US's Chief AI Officer and Global Chief AI Engineer and PwC UK's Chief AI Officer; and teams inside the lines of service, such as PwC US assurance, where engineers and data scientists build audit tools. Forrester said in May 2026 that PwC's AI consulting practice draws on 130,000 consultants and technologists and an offshore pool in 12 delivery centers, including PwC US's Acceleration Centers in India, and theCUBE Research reported more than 3,200 AI champions at PwC in Jun 2025.
Reporting lines
Global Chairman and Network Leadership Team
PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, London; coordinates the network and does not serve clients
Global Commercial Leadership
Agnes Koops, Global Chief Commercial Officer
Koops's leadership of the Global Commercial Leadership Team is inferred from her title, not published
Global Chief AI Officer
Atkinson is a member of the Global Commercial Leadership Team; his direct reporting line is not published
Global and US Chief Information Officer
Sits on both the Global Leadership Team and the PwC US leadership team
PwC US
Paul Griggs, Senior Partner and CEO
Legally separate member firm; Griggs sits on the network Strategy Council chaired by Kande
PwC US Chief AI Office
Dan Priest, US Chief AI Officer
PwC US Assurance
Deanna Byrne, Assurance Leader
Assurance transformation and AI assurance
Shawn Panson; Jennifer Kosar; Kyle Maryanski
Builds the AI audit tools and the next generation audit; exact reporting lines not published
PwC US People & Inclusion
Runs AI upskilling, the Learning Collective and AI coaching
PwC UK Technology and Innovation
Claire Reid, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer
PwC UK Chief AI Officer
Jeremy Bassinder
Line inferred from Claire Reid announcing the appointment in Sep 2026; not published
PwC publishes leadership lists but not reporting lines for its AI roles. Joe Atkinson's PwC biography places him on the Global Commercial Leadership Team; PwC does not say who leads that team, and the line to Global Chief Commercial Officer Agnes Koops is inferred. Matt Wood, who joined PwC in Oct 2024 as US and Global Commercial Technology & Innovation Officer and was later described as its chief technology and innovation officer, left in May 2026 to rejoin Amazon Web Services; public sources checked on Nov 1, 2026 name no successor.
Where the AI workforce sits
Advisory
Share of all PwC people at Jun 30, 2026, not of AI specialists, whom PwC does not count publicly; AI tools are issued to all staff in PwC US and PwC UK.
37%Assurance
Share of all PwC people at Jun 30, 2026; assurance hosts the AI-native audit platform and US audit AI tools.
33%Tax and Legal
Share of all PwC people at Jun 30, 2026; tax runs AI-enabled research agents and a data aggregation platform.
16%Internal firm services
Share of all PwC people at Jun 30, 2026, including technology and people functions.
14%
Named people
Use cases
PwC runs AI in its own work across every line of service: firmwide assistants (ChatPwC, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude), more than 250 internal agents and Copilot Studio agents, AI audit tools and an AI-native assurance platform, tax research agents, an AI-powered learning platform, and PwC One, launched for teams and clients in Mar 2026. PwC said in May 2024 it had identified more than 3,000 internal generative AI use cases, but PwC has published no business return for any named use case. The only dollar figure, US$150 million of time savings from Copilot in a Microsoft customer story (Feb 2026), values time returned to staff rather than a cost PwC reports, so no ROI is recorded.
| Use case | Area | Status | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatPwC ChatPwC is PwC's private assistant on Azure OpenAI Service for drafting, summarizing and searching PwC content, with Claude available inside it by May 2026. | Firmwide | In production | |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot PwC reports more than 285,000 Microsoft Copilot users in over 100 countries and more than 20 million Copilot actions in Apr 2026, after a US pilot with more than 1,800 users; Microsoft counted more than 200,000 Copilot licenses enabled and 40.8 million Copilot actions in six months (Feb 2026). | Firmwide | In production | |
| Copilot Studio agents PwC built custom agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio for common work, from research to HR and IT support, according to Microsoft (Feb 2026). | Firmwide (research, HR and IT) | In production | |
| ChatGPT Enterprise PwC US and PwC UK announced a ChatGPT Enterprise rollout to more than 100,000 staff in May 2024, alongside ChatPwC, and PwC US said in Jun 2026 that all 80,000 of its people had access. | Firmwide | In production | |
| Claude Code and Cowork PwC is rolling out Claude Code for engineering and Claude Cowork inside spreadsheets, documents and presentations, starting with US teams in May 2026, with 30,000 US professionals to be trained and certified. | Advisory and engineering | In production | |
| GitHub Copilot for engineers PwC engineers use GitHub Copilot, which 70% of relevant engineering employees had adopted by Jun 2024. | Technology | In production | |
| Internal agents on agent OS PwC runs more than 250 AI agents built for specific tasks and integrated into workflows across tax, assurance and advisory, orchestrated and governed through agent OS. | Firmwide | In production | |
| AI-native assurance platform PwC's AI-native assurance platform uses AI agents for full-population analysis, evidence matching and documentation, and took on its first clients for initial use cases in Jul 2026. | Assurance | Pilot | |
| Audit planning, walkthrough and evidence tools PwC US auditors use Simplified Audit for Private Business to plan audits, the Advanced Walkthrough Assistant to draft work plans and flag changes since the last audit, and Evidence Match to validate evidence in cash, receivables and payables (Oct 2025). | Assurance (PwC US) | In production | |
| Year-end audit document review For 2026 year-end audits, PwC US uses a Simplified Audit Execute tool that reads supporting documents and flags missing information, and a tool that analyzes audit committee communications to surface issues earlier. | Assurance (PwC US) | In production | |
| Audit Innovation Hub The Audit Innovation Hub automates financial statement tie-outs and testing for fund-to-fund audits and was in trial with asset and wealth management teams in Oct 2025. | Assurance (PwC US) | Pilot | |
| Tax research agents and data platform PwC tax teams use AI-enabled tax research agents and a tax data aggregation and project management platform, which the Global Annual Review lists among the network's FY26 investments. | Tax and Legal | In production | |
| AI-powered learning and coaching agents PwC's AI-powered learning platform personalizes training, and PwC US uses AI agents in its Learning Collective to coach staff, for example by critiquing presentations. | People | In production | |
| PwC One PwC One gives clients and PwC professionals agent-driven services such as a financial statement analyzer, a tax incentives explorer and a financial due diligence assistant, launched with select US teams and clients in Mar 2026, with pricing that may include subscription or consumption elements. | Client delivery | In production | |
| Claude-based Office of the CFO practice PwC is building a finance business group on Anthropic's Claude, starting with banking, insurance and healthcare clients, announced on May 14, 2026. | Client delivery (Advisory) | Announced |
Adoption
PwC spread AI by issuing tools to everyone and training at scale. ChatPwC was used by about 200,000 people in 2024 (75,000 in the US and 125,000 elsewhere), and PwC US and PwC UK announced a ChatGPT Enterprise rollout to more than 100,000 staff the same year. PwC reported more than 230,000 Microsoft Copilot users in over 100 countries in Jan 2026, and its Copilot case study, updated with Apr 2026 figures, counts more than 285,000 users, more than 20 million Copilot actions in Apr 2026 and 54% of PwC's global workforce using AI tools weekly, at an average of nine prompts a week. Yolanda Seals-Coffield said in Jun 2026 that all 80,000 PwC US employees can use ChatPwC, Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude and that more than 90% had completed early AI training, while conceding the depth of use can improve; PwC US also pays awards of up to US$5,000 to staff nominated for AI-driven results. PwC UK said in Sep 2026 that it has rolled out AI tools to every employee, and the network counts more than 330,000 people trained in AI. PwC's weekly figure covers AI tools in general and is not broken down by tool, member firm or line of service.
By the numbers
Rollout, first pilot to today
2023
PwC deployed ChatPwC on Azure OpenAI Service in spring 2023 after a pilot of just over four weeks.
Mar 2023
PwC's Global Tax & Legal Services signed an agreement with Harvey, a legal AI company built on OpenAI technology.
Apr 26, 2023
PwC US committed US$1 billion over three years to AI built on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service and OpenAI's GPT-4, including upskilling its 65,000 people.
May 29, 2024
PwC announced a ChatGPT Enterprise rollout to more than 100,000 staff in the US and UK and became OpenAI's first ChatGPT Enterprise reseller.
Jun 2024
Microsoft reported that ChatPwC was used by about 200,000 PwC people worldwide and that 70% of relevant PwC engineers had adopted GitHub Copilot.
Jul 16, 2024
PwC US named Dan Priest, its cloud and digital leader, as its first Chief AI Officer to lead the firm's own AI adoption and its client work.
Mar 27, 2025
PwC launched agent OS, with more than 250 AI agents already deployed inside the firm for specific tasks.
Oct 2025
PwC US assurance leaders said AI tools for audit planning, walkthroughs and evidence matching were in use and that they hoped to apply AI across every audit stage in calendar 2026.
Jan 2026
PwC published a case study reporting more than 230,000 Microsoft Copilot users in over 100 countries.
Feb 2026
PwC US launched the Learning Collective, built on 15 AI skills and 15 human skills, with AI agents that coach staff.
Mar 2026
PwC launched PwC One, an AI platform with agent-driven services for select US teams and clients.
Apr 2026
PwC people ran more than 20 million Copilot actions in the month, and PwC's updated Copilot case study counted more than 285,000 users, 54% of its global workforce using AI tools weekly and an initial rollout completed in just over a year.
May 2026
PwC began rolling out Claude Code and Cowork to US teams and set a target of 30,000 US professionals certified on Claude.
Jul 2026
PwC's AI-native assurance platform completed internal development and onboarded its first clients for initial use cases.
Sep 2026
PwC UK said it had rolled out AI tools to every employee, with enhanced AI training for all UK partners.
Oct 2026
PwC reported that more than 330,000 people had taken part in AI training and that PwC One had begun its initial roll-out.
Economics & controls
Spend and ROI
Investment
PwC firms invested US$3 billion across the network in the year to Jun 30, 2026 to expand capabilities, particularly AI and technology, without a separate AI figure. Mohamed Kande's letter for FY25 described accelerating nearly US$1.5 billion of investment in next-generation AI capabilities, which a PwC spokesperson cited in Oct 2026 as the latest total for AI. PwC firms are also advancing a collective US$1 billion next generation audit programme, and PwC US committed US$1 billion to AI over three years from Apr 2023.
Revenue and scale
PwC firms reported gross revenues of US$60.2 billion for the year to Jun 30, 2026, up 5.7% in US dollars and 3.5% in local currency, with 369,945 people at year end. PwC UK's revenue grew 2% to £4.365 billion and its distributable profit per partner rose 8% to £935,000 in FY26.
Reported ROI
PwC has not reported a financial return on its own use of AI in its results or annual review. PwC's own Copilot case study counts more than 1 million hours of capacity freed in Apr 2026, a measure of time, not of cost or revenue. A Microsoft customer story from Feb 2026 says PwC realized US$150 million in time savings from Copilot use, which the story describes as time returned to people, alongside US$25 million saved by consolidating platforms in the Microsoft 365 move. Forrester's May 2026 evaluation says PwC cited double-digit productivity gains across the board from its Copilot rollout, without a figure. Shawn Panson said in Oct 2026 that audit time savings so far are a shift more than a dramatic change, and Paul Griggs said in Jul 2026 that PwC would rather redeploy the AI dividend into growth than take it straight to the bottom line.
Productivity markers
In PwC's pilot of Microsoft generative AI tools, 88% of users said the tools saved time, and Microsoft reported in Jun 2024 that top ChatPwC users completed some tasks up to eight times faster. Anthropic's May 2026 announcement says Claude cut delivery times on PwC client work by up to 70%, a gain that goes to clients. Jeanelle Johnson, PwC's Washington DC managing partner, said in Sep 2026 that clients now expect some pilot and proof-of-concept work in about half the time of a year earlier.
Headcount
PwC's network headcount fell by about 5,600 in FY25 and stood at 369,945 at Jun 30, 2026. PwC US cut about 1,500 jobs in May 2025, citing historically low attrition, and an internal PwC US slide reported in Aug 2025 projected almost a third fewer entry-level hires by FY2028, citing transformation efforts, AI and offshore integration; PwC confirmed it was lowering campus hiring goals, citing technological change and historically low attrition. PwC UK cut its 2025 graduate and school leaver intake from 1,500 to 1,300, with Marco Amitrano naming the economy as the biggest factor, and Mohamed Kande said in Jun 2026 that companies adopting AI at scale are adding workers.
Pricing
Forrester's May 2026 evaluation of AI consulting services says PwC mixes traditional and results-based pricing and puts fees at risk in a third of engagements. Paul Griggs said in Mar 2026 that PwC will offer alternatives to hourly billing, and PwC One's pricing may include subscription or consumption elements.
Governance and risk
Network AI Policy
PwC's Network AI Policy sets shared principles for responsible AI across member firms, including human accountability and review, testing and validation, and governance to support quality and reliability, according to the Global Annual Review 2026. PwC's quality standards cover how the firm develops, deploys and uses AI.
Controls on agents
PwC's agent OS governs agents' access to tools and data through credential vaulting, identity-based authorization and static code analysis, according to theCUBE Research (Jun 2025), and applies PwC's risk management and oversight frameworks. On PwC One, a PwC professional reviews outputs in every case, Scott Likens said in Mar 2026. PwC rolled out Microsoft Copilot with role-based training that covers spotting hallucinations and applying Responsible AI principles (Jan 2026).
Audit under professional standards
Shawn Panson said in Oct 2026 that PwC's AI-assisted audits remain subject to regulation and professional standards, and PwC US trains new auditors to review and supervise AI output and to apply professional skepticism earlier in their careers (Jennifer Kosar, Aug 2025). The network's Global Independence Policy, which follows IESBA, SEC and PCAOB requirements, sets rules on the use of technology and on business relationships with assurance clients.
AI-written research
Detection firm GPTZero alleged in Aug 2026 that reports PwC Middle East published between 2024 and 2026 contained generated text and claims it could not verify, including government users of a framework called Citizen Pulse. PwC Middle East said it takes the accuracy of its research seriously and was updating a limited number of supporting citations.
Assurance over AI
PwC US created an AI assurance leader role in Jul 2024 and offers assurance over clients' AI systems. PwC is a founding member of the AICPA working group behind the SOC 2 plus AIUC-1 offering announced on Oct 19, 2026, which combines a SOC 2 report and AI certification in one CPA-led engagement.
Recent signals
Oct 19, 2026
PwC's Global Annual Review 2026 reported US$60.2 billion in revenue, US$3 billion invested in capabilities, particularly AI and technology, more than 330,000 people trained in AI, and the initial roll-out of PwC One.
Oct 19, 2026
The AICPA and AIUC announced a joint SOC 2 plus AIUC-1 offering for assurance over AI systems and agents; PwC says it is a founding member of the AICPA working group behind it.
Oct 7, 2026
Shawn Panson told CFO Dive that PwC US auditors have used the firm's generative AI tools for about a year and that time savings are not that drastic yet.
Oct 5, 2026
PwC and Cohere announced a global alliance, starting in Canada, to deploy Cohere's North agentic AI platform and models for clients in regulated sectors.
Sep 25, 2026
PwC UK appointed Jeremy Bassinder, who led generative AI consulting at IBM in the UK and Ireland, as its Chief AI Officer.
Sep 17, 2026
PwC UK reported FY26 revenue up 2% to £4.365 billion, said it has rolled out AI tools to every employee, and raised profit per partner 8% to £935,000.
Sep 13, 2026
PwC US and PwC India agreed to form a joint venture combining PwC US Advisory's India-based Acceleration Centers with PwC India's consulting business, citing technology, engineering and AI capabilities at greater scale.
Sep 3, 2026
PwC US and Palantir expanded their alliance to scale enterprise AI, M&A transformation and ERP modernization for clients.
Aug 25, 2026
PwC became a launch partner for Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise industry solutions for financial services and legal work.
Aug 12, 2026
GPTZero alleged that PwC Middle East reports contained AI-generated text and unverifiable claims; PwC Middle East said it was updating a limited number of citations.
Jun 4, 2026
Yolanda Seals-Coffield said all 80,000 PwC US employees have access to ChatPwC, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude, and more than 90% have completed early AI training.
May 26, 2026
Forrester named PwC a Leader in AI consulting services, citing PwC's Microsoft Copilot deployment to 230,000 employees and fees at risk in a third of engagements.
May 18, 2026
Matt Wood, PwC's chief technology and innovation officer since Oct 2024, left to rejoin Amazon Web Services as chief AI and technology officer.
May 14, 2026
PwC and Anthropic expanded their alliance: Claude Code and Cowork roll out to PwC staff starting in the US, 30,000 US professionals will be certified on Claude, and a joint Center of Excellence opens.
Mar 2026
PwC launched PwC One, an AI platform with agent-driven tax, financial statement and due diligence services, as Paul Griggs told the Financial Times that staff cannot opt out of AI and that PwC will offer alternatives to hourly billing.
Quick answers
- How does PwC deploy AI?
- PwC deploys AI through ChatPwC, an assistant it built on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service in 2023, agent OS, its own platform for orchestrating AI agents, and bought tools: Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Anthropic's Claude. PwC has not reported a financial return on its own use of AI; it reports reach instead, with more than 285,000 Copilot users and 54% of its workforce using AI tools weekly (Apr 2026 figures). The PwC network invested US$3 billion, chiefly in AI and technology, in the year to Jun 30, 2026.
- What does PwC use AI for?
- PwC runs AI in its own work across every line of service: firmwide assistants (ChatPwC, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude), more than 250 internal agents and Copilot Studio agents, AI audit tools and an AI-native assurance platform, tax research agents, an AI-powered learning platform, and PwC One, launched for teams and clients in Mar 2026. PwC said in May 2024 it had identified more than 3,000 internal generative AI use cases, but PwC has published no business return for any named use case. The only dollar figure, US$150 million of time savings from Copilot in a Microsoft customer story (Feb 2026), values time returned to staff rather than a cost PwC reports, so no ROI is recorded.
- Who leads AI at PwC?
- AI at PwC is led by Joe Atkinson (Global Chief AI Officer, PwC network); Dan Priest (US Chief AI Officer, PwC US); Scott Likens (Global Chief AI Engineer, PwC US). Ownership of AI on the org chart: Global Chief AI Officer Joe Atkinson, with Chief AI Officers in PwC US and PwC UK.
- What AI platform does PwC use?
- ChatPwC, an assistant PwC built on Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service in 2023, sits beside agent OS, the agent orchestration platform PwC launched in Mar 2025, and PwC One, an AI platform PwC launched for its teams and clients in Mar 2026.
- Which AI models does PwC use?
- PwC buys its models: OpenAI's through Azure and ChatGPT Enterprise, Microsoft Copilot, and Anthropic's Claude, which runs inside ChatPwC and, from May 2026, as Claude Code and Cowork for US teams.
- How many PwC employees use AI?
- PwC reports more than 285,000 Microsoft Copilot users in over 100 countries and 54% of its workforce using AI tools weekly (Apr 2026 figures), and more than 330,000 people trained in AI (Oct 2026); PwC UK has rolled out AI tools to every employee, and PwC US gives all 80,000 staff ChatPwC, Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude.
- How far has AI spread at PwC?
- PwC has reported no business return it credits to AI, for any internal use case or for the firm: the Global Annual Review 2026 and PwC UK's FY26 results give investment and training figures but no cost, revenue or margin credited to AI, the more than 1 million hours of Copilot capacity PwC counted in Apr 2026 measure time rather than money, and the US$150 million of Copilot time savings comes from a Microsoft customer story (Feb 2026). PwC has officially reported a company-wide rollout: its own Copilot case study, updated with Apr 2026 figures, counts more than 285,000 Copilot users in over 100 countries and 54% of the global workforce using AI tools weekly, and Joe Atkinson owns AI as Global Chief AI Officer. PwC is therefore at Piloting; returns it credits to AI in two or more functions, or a firm-level AI figure, would move it to Scaling.
Open questions
- What financial return does PwC credit to AI in its own business, such as cost per engagement or margin, and what did the more than 1 million hours of Copilot capacity in Apr 2026 and the US$150 million of Copilot time savings in Microsoft's Feb 2026 customer story turn into in cost or revenue?
- Which tools and member firms make up the 54% of PwC's workforce that uses AI tools weekly, and how does weekly use differ by line of service?
- How much of the US$3 billion invested in FY26 went to AI rather than other technology, and what do PwC's model and seat licenses cost?
- Where do PwC's own agent OS workloads and its ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude seats run, given that ChatPwC runs on Microsoft Azure and agent OS can be deployed on several clouds?
- What business return do the deployed tools deliver, including ChatPwC, the 250+ internal agents on agent OS, the PwC US audit tools and the tax research agents?
- How far and how fast will Claude Code and Cowork spread beyond PwC US teams to the rest of the network?
- Who took over Matt Wood's work as PwC's chief technology and innovation officer after he returned to Amazon Web Services in May 2026?
- How many AI engineers and data scientists does PwC employ across the network?
- When will the AI-native assurance platform reach every PwC audit team, and has the single global agentic audit platform shipped?
- How much of the planned cut in PwC US entry-level hiring comes from AI rather than offshore integration and low attrition?
Sources
PwC network
- Global Annual Review 2026 (Oct 19, 2026)
- Global Annual Review 2026, PDF
- Global leadership and Strategy Council
- Joe Atkinson, Global Chief AI Officer, biography
- Mohamed Kande, Global Chairman, biography
- Bivek Sharma, PwC Middle East Chief Technology and AI Officer, biography
- PwC named a Leader in The Forrester Wave: AI Consulting Services, Q2 2026 (May 2026)
- PwC AI services, global
- PwC announces FY27 Global Leadership Team appointments (May 22, 2026)
PwC US
- PwC US leadership team
- PwC US AI services and AI leaders
- Dan Priest, US Chief AI Officer, biography
- Shawn Panson, US Assurance Transformation Leader, biography
- PwC US makes $1 billion investment to expand and scale AI capabilities (Apr 26, 2023)
- PwC launches AI agent operating system (Mar 2025)
- Agent OS overview
- Expanding agent OS to Oracle Cloud (Jul 2025)
- PwC recognized for scaling AI with agent OS, CIO 100 Award (2026)
- Scaling secure, Responsible AI across the global network: Copilot case study (Jan 16, 2026, updated with Apr 2026 figures)
- PwC introduces PwC One (Mar 19, 2026)
- PwC and Anthropic alliance
- PwC and OpenAI alliance
- PwC and Google Cloud: Gemini Enterprise for industries (Aug 25, 2026)
- PwC and Palantir expand strategic alliance (Sep 3, 2026)
- PwC US and PwC India form joint venture (Sep 13, 2026)
- Trust in AI and the SOC 2 plus AIUC-1 initiative (Oct 2026)
- PwC and Cohere announce a global alliance (Oct 5, 2026)
PwC UK
Partners
News
- CIO Dive: PwC to roll out ChatGPT Enterprise and resell it (May 29, 2024)
- CIO Dive: PwC names Dan Priest chief AI officer (Jul 16, 2024)
- CFO Dive: PwC exec ushers in AI-assisted audits (Oct 7, 2026)
- Accounting Today: PwC CEO says staff cannot opt out of AI; PwC One launches (Mar 20, 2026)
- CTO Magazine: PwC's Microsoft Copilot deployment (Feb 25, 2026)
- GeekWire: Matt Wood returns to AWS as chief AI and technology officer (May 18, 2026)
- City AM: PwC UK chief takes a larger global role (Jun 19, 2026)
- IT Brief UK: PwC UK appoints Jeremy Bassinder as Chief AI Officer (Sep 25, 2026)
- Journal of Accountancy: AICPA partners on an AI assurance offering (Oct 2026)
- Cloud Wars: PwC updates agent OS with AWS-native services (2025)
- Accounting Today: PwC expects end-to-end AI audit automation within 2026 (Oct 28, 2025)
- Accountants Daily: PwC Australia outlines its AI transformation program (Apr 2026)
- HRD: Inside PwC's push to move 80,000 employees from AI access to action (Jun 4, 2026)
- SiliconANGLE: PwC expands Anthropic alliance, will train 30,000 staff on Claude (May 14, 2026)
- theCUBE Research: PwC's AI strategy and agent OS (Jun 2025)
- Business Insider: Anthropic expands its partnership with PwC (May 14, 2026)
- Business Insider: PwC's global chair on AI and jobs (Jun 19, 2026)
- Business Insider: PwC's US CEO on mistakes companies make with AI (Jul 29, 2026)
- Business Insider: PwC's US CEO and his AI assistant (Aug 12, 2026)
- Business Insider: PwC US memo on its India offshore structure (Sep 13, 2026)
- Business Insider: PwC's DC leader on faster consulting work (Sep 19, 2026)
- Business Insider: PwC to cut entry-level hiring over three years (Aug 21, 2025)
- Business Insider: Jennifer Kosar on AI and junior auditors (Aug 8, 2025)
- Business Insider: PwC wants hundreds more engineers (Nov 24, 2025)
- Business Insider: PwC rolls out an engineering career path (Jan 23, 2026)
- Business Insider: PwC rethinks training for the AI era (Feb 6, 2026)
- Business Insider: How Big Four leaders use AI, including Matt Wood (Apr 30, 2026)
- Business Insider: PwC's chief AI officer Dan Priest (Jul 4, 2025)
- Business Insider: Consulting firms' AI tools, including PwC's agent OS (Apr 27, 2025)
- Business Insider: PwC UK cuts graduate hiring (Sep 8, 2025)
- Business Insider: PwC cuts 1,500 US jobs (May 6, 2025)
- Business Insider: PwC's FY25 growth and head count (Oct 28, 2025)
- Consultancy.uk: GPTZero and the Big Four's AI-generated reports (Aug 12, 2026)
- Consultancy.uk: Microsoft names Agent 365 strategic partners (May 29, 2026)
- Consultancy.uk: PwC UK partner pay after cost cutting (Aug 28, 2026)
Data confidence
- Confirmed
- Stated in a primary or reputable public source.
- Estimated
- Derived or approximated from public reporting.
- Unconfirmed
- Reported, but not yet corroborated.
PwC profile · Enterprise AI diffusion report by Imagine · facts checked against their sources on Nov 1, 2026
