In a time where AI capabilities are evolving rapidly, the organizations that pull ahead are those that go beyond adopting new tools—rethinking how work gets done, challenging existing processes, and empowering their teams to explore what’s possible.
In this episode of Frontier Forward: Asia Edition, I sit down with Tracey Kennair, Microsoft Alliance Leader for Australia and Asia at PwC, to explore how PwC is partnering with Microsoft to deliver transformative outcomes across industries. From financial services to retail and healthcare, our conversation highlights how organizations are using Microsoft Cloud, Copilot, and AI agents to move beyond experimentation and embed AI into real-world operations.
Episode 8: Turning curiosity into real-world AI impact across industries
Key takeaways
- Delivering customer impact with a 360-degree view powered by AI: PwC and Microsoft helped an Indian financial institution use Copilot and AI agents to achieve a 360-degree customer view, improving first-call resolution, operational efficiency, and customer experiences through real-time insights.
- Transforming data foundations to unlock AI at scale: Modern data strategies, the Microsoft data platform, and PwC’s advisory expertise empower organizations to build strong AI foundations, unlocking real-time decisions, intelligent automation, and support adoption through familiar Microsoft interfaces.
- Overcoming cost and complexity through agent-driven automation: PwC used Microsoft tools, including GitHub Copilot and AI agents, to automate a large retail data migration and address cost constraints, accelerating delivery and efficient modernization.
- Building capability through upskilling and empowered change agents: PwC emphasizes identifying change agents across the organization and equipping them with the tools, guardrails, and governance needed to innovate responsibly—ultimately empowering organizations to move faster while maintaining control.
- Rethinking processes for agentic AI-driven transformation: AI adoption is shifting from workflow automation to work redesign, with AI agents managing routine processing while people focus on higher-value decisions and outcomes.
- Driving better outcomes through early and deep partnerships: Collaboration between partners, customers, and Microsoft can power meaningful outcomes. Engaging early, aligning on objectives, and co-creating solutions empowers organizations to tap into greater value and accelerate transformation journeys.
Stay connected
Keep tuning in to Frontier Forward: Asia Edition for more partner stories and insights that showcase how organizations across Asia are turning AI ambition into tangible business impact through innovation, data and collaboration.
Full transcript:
Disclaimer: This AI-generated transcript may contain errors. Please verify with the original audio or script for accuracy.
Heather:
Hi, Tracey, and welcome. It's so wonderful to have you here with us today. Could you take the opportunity to briefly introduce yourself?
Tracey:
Yeah, sure, I'd love to, Heather, and thanks for having me, and thanks to everyone out there as well. It's great to see you all.
My name is Tracey Kennair, and I have the pleasure of being the Microsoft Alliance Leader for both Australia and Asia. I've been with PwC for 21 years now, which makes me feel rather old, but I just love being at the forefront of technology. I just think what an exciting, agentic AI era we're in, and I've always been passionate about helping clients leverage technology. I think the capabilities that Microsoft brings to the table mean there's so much more we can do, and it's just such an exciting time.
Heather:
Fantastic! And in that exciting time, can you share a little bit with us around what PwC does and which markets you serve?
Tracey:
PwC is one of the world's leading professional services firms. We started our journey 175 years ago with a handful of accountants, and now our firm looks so amazingly different. We have technologists and engineers at the heart of our advisory business, and we have 390,000 employees now, combined with a fairly significant and growing scrum of AI agents that we use to service our clients.
We work across all sorts of sizes of organizations, and we operate across all sorts of industries. From an Asia perspective, and our Microsoft alliance, we very much focus on financial services, telco, retail consumer, healthcare, and public sector as well.
Heather:
175 years and 390,000 employees plus agents, that's incredible. Could you perhaps share with us a recent story that's really impactful, which was a win between Microsoft and yourselves?
Tracey:
When I think about our alliance across Asia, one of our standout territories is India, and we've had significant growth in that space, which is fantastic. We've worked with one of the leading financial institutions in India. To give you a sense of the size of that organization, they process hundreds of thousands of transactions on their mobile technology. They’re an internet-led, mobile-led banking institution, with multiple businesses within that group.
They were really keen to think about how they could better service their customers. This is where we leaned on Microsoft to help generate a 360-degree view of the customer. To do that, it wasn’t just about a simple CRM—it was about how we take Copilot and agents to help automate services.
From a contact center perspective, where there's significant growth in agentic AI, we leveraged Microsoft services to provide first-call resolution for customers. For field lenders visiting customers, it enabled real-time insights about those customers. All of this was underpinned by a strong data strategy focused on managing and extracting insights effectively.
What made Microsoft stand out was that users could continue using familiar interfaces. We talk about Microsoft being the UI to the AI. While there were major process changes, users remained comfortable with tools they already knew, helping them better serve customers. Ultimately, the efficiency gains and improvements in customer service had a significant bottom-line impact.
Heather:
What a fantastic example, thank you. Let’s talk about the other side. Could you share a challenge you faced with a customer and how you overcame it with a Microsoft solution?
Tracey:
It makes me think of work we did with one of Australia’s leading supermarkets. They wanted to modernize their data environment through migration, but the key challenge was funding. While there was a strong desire, traditional approaches made it cost-prohibitive.
We approached this differently with Microsoft by leveraging agents and automation. We developed a number of agents to assist across the lifecycle—from design through implementation. Using tools like GitHub Copilot, we enabled a more efficient delivery model.
By leveraging Microsoft’s capabilities, we were able to overcome the cost barrier and successfully complete the project. Sometimes, challenges like these become the catalyst for change.
Heather:
Another fantastic example. As you think about these scenarios, could you share some of the best practices or advice from your experience working with Microsoft?
Tracey:
For me, three things come to mind.
First, focus on upskilling your people. The pace of change is incredible, and while the technology is powerful, it can also be overwhelming. It’s important to identify and empower change agents, often at more junior levels. Give them tools, governance, and guardrails, and then let them innovate. We've done this ourselves and have seen tremendous impact.
Second, when thinking about automation, focus on where the value is. Organizations shouldn’t just automate existing processes but rethink them entirely. It’s about simplifying workflows, identifying key decisions where humans add the most value, and letting AI agents handle the rest.
Third, partnership is critical. The best outcomes occur when Microsoft, the partner, and the client collaborate early to define goals and co-create values. Early alignment consistently leads to better outcomes.
Heather:
Well, thanks, Tracey. In closing, what’s one thing you’d like to leave the audience with?
Tracey:
I’d encourage everyone to lean into curiosity. That’s where innovation happens. It can be hard to find the time but taking that time to explore and learn is essential. Curiosity helps us understand the art of the possible.
Heather:
Fantastic. Well, Tracey, thank you for your time. It’s been wonderful having you with us today.
Tracey:
Thanks, Heather. I’ve loved being here.