Tech news: EY says "Neurosymbolic AI" platform has no hallucination risk

September 19, 2025 11:37 AM

EY says "Neurosymbolic AI" platform has no hallucination risk; Workday rolls out host of new AI agents, introduces "flex credits"; Canopy Smart Intake now includes AI-driven document requests; and other tech news.

EY rolls out "Neurosymbolic AI" platform, claims no hallucination risk

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Big Four firm EY announced the launch of EY Growth Platforms, powered by a type of AI that combines symbolic AI (a subfield of AI that focuses on the processing and manipulation of symbols or concepts, rather than numerical data, by representing and manipulating knowledge and reasoning based on logical rules) with traditional machine learning to address the weaknesses of both, called "Neurosymbolic AI." Among other things, it provides repeatable, traceable and verifiable outputs that the firm says eliminates the risk of AI "hallucinations" (a.k.a., making things up), allowing the platform to provide data-driven insights, such as supply chain optimization or hyper-personalized client experiences drawn from over 100 million data sources (both internal and external), with more certainty. EY differentiates its platform from other AI solutions by noting that it localizes outputs to sectors such as financial services, health care, manufacturing and consumer; operates in over 150 countries, delivering in-language, in-region deployment. It embeds causal logic into actual processes — strategy, sales, operations and governance. It continuously tracks, tunes and evolves growth models with real-world impact versus periodic updates.

Workday rolls out host of new AI agents, introduces "flex credits"

Accounting and human capital solutions provider Workday announced the release of Workday Illuminate agents for HR, finance, and industry. This includes a Business Process Copilot Agent, which automates the implementation, configuration and setup of new business processes; a Case Agent, which automates administrative tasks to help reduce resolution times, increase operational efficiency, and provide enhanced employee experience; a Document Intelligence for Contingent Labor Agent, which accelerates SOW creation, tracks obligations, and promotes alignment across contracts; an Employee Sentiment Agent, which empowers people leaders by continuously analyzing employee feedback; a Job Architecture Agent, which automates the creation and management of job ladders; and a Performance Agent, which analyzes performance data from various enterprise applications to streamline reviews and recommend actions. There are also finance-specific agents to handle cost and profitability setup by allowing users to define allocation rules and drivers using natural language to help them gain insights; streamline the financial close process with automation and real-time visibility; and continuously test financials to help detect fraud and enable compliance. There's also an Academic Requirements Agent, which automates the creation of academic requirements for institutions, and a Student Administration Agent, which automates repetitive administrative student tasks and provides intelligent assistance throughout the student lifecycle. These new agents will be available in 2026.

To give organizations additional agility, Workday also introduced Workday Flex Credits, a new subscription-based consumption model. Customers receive an initial allotment of Flex Credits as part of their Workday subscription, renewed annually. Flex Credits are consumed as people activate and use AI and platform capabilities, based on a universal rate card (people can turn capabilities on or off as their business priorities shift.) Organizations can add more credits as their AI usage expands. Flex Credits are fully fungible, enabling customers to apply them across Workday agents and platform innovations as business needs change. Flex credits are available now.

Workday also announced Workday Build, a new developer platform that gives customers and partners the ability to create, share and scale AI-powered solutions directly on Workday. Workday Build will also feature the new Workday Flowise Agent Builder, a low-code tool that makes it possible to build, deploy, and manage custom AI agents within Workday. This will allow customers to leverage the data and context in Workday to create business-specific AI agents. This announcement was paired with the rollout of the Workday Data Cloud, which provides zero-copy access to make it easier for customers to connect HR and finance data to their favorite enterprise data platforms. By unlocking trusted data where it already resides, organizations can generate deeper insights and power more intelligent, context-rich solutions.

Canopy Smart Intake now includes AI-driven document requests

Accounting practice management solutions provider Canopy announced the next major enhancement to its AI-powered Smart Intake feature: AI Document Request Lists. With AI Document Request Lists, Canopy scans available client tax information to generate a tailored list of required documents. Practitioners can edit these lists, adding or removing items as needed. This enables the client to be more compliant with what a firm requests, and with Canopy's automated reminders, reducing back and forth trying to get the right documents submitted. Additionally, clients will be able to set reminders for themselves if they don't have a document/file being requested. Firm members can use reference-able data within Canopy (CRM data, files, documents, etc.) to build a unique, predictive checklist. And in the coming months additional AI Document Request Lists will be available for gathering bookkeeping files, and requesting files for audits. Users can also build templates and type in prompts to help guide the AI. As clients upload files, Canopy's AI will recognize an upload that matches a request and automatically mark it as complete. The next step after this will be AI-based Questionnaires. Firms will be able to prompt Canopy AI to build a survey for them, which can be saved as a template or sent as an ad-hoc questionnaire when needing to collect information. In addition, Canopy said that, in the coming months, it will be releasing an updated and more robust version of its proposals and engagements tool, improvements to billing, and more AI integrations into its existing products.

Zone & Co. announce direct bank connectivity

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Zone & Co, an ERP-native financial operations platform, announced the launch of direct bank connectivity within ZoneReconcile. The new treasury feature allows finance teams to connect directly to more than 12,000 banks and financial institutions across the U.S., Canada and the European Union, streamlining transaction imports without leaving their ERP environment. Teams can automate daily transaction imports from thousands of banks, including major financial institutions; eliminate manual uploads and file conversions; match transactions to the general ledger in real-time; consolidate cash management across multiple entities and currencies, without extra tools or third-party systems; and maintain an audit trail of all reconciled transactions. To learn more, people can register for Zone & Co's upcoming webinar: Automate bank connectivity and accelerate your financial close with ZoneReconcile on Sept. 23 at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

MindBridge adds conversational AI agent interface

AI-driven risk discovery and management solutions provider MindBridge announced the addition of the "ask me anything" bar, an agentic interface that lets users interact with a company's financial data via natural language conversational prompts, reducing the complexity of interpreting advanced analytics. MindBridge has developed an advanced system that analyzes the intricacies of financial data, controls, and workflows, which serves as the bridge between finance teams and this specialized platform. Rachel Kirkham, CTO of MindBridge, described the agent as an industry translator that ensures finance leaders can act on insights that are accurate, explainable and purpose-built for financial decision-making.

CPAClub announces Quality Management Bootcamp

Accounting solutions provider CPAClub announced its Quality Management Bootcamp, a five-week cohort program designed for CPA firms that have not yet started or are still struggling to implement their systems of quality management under the new AICPA standards. The Bootcamp combines lLive workshops in Irvine, California, or virtual participation, weekly action steps to accelerate implementation, guided participant materials to support system building, accountability pods for peer learning and collaboration, and direct access to CPAClub experts during scheduled office hours. The Bootcamp includes five sequential CPE-eligible workshops held on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. PT on Oct. 22, Oct. 29, Nov. 5, Nov. 12, and Nov. 19. Registration is now open.

FloQast announces certification program for accountants

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Accounting software provider FloQast announced the launch of its FloQast Certified Accountant program, available for free through FloQademy. The program's core purpose is to provide accountants with a resume-ready credential that showcases their expertise in leveraging FloQast's AI-driven platform. To become a FloQast Certified Accountant, participants must complete badges across FloQast's four core solutions: Close, Compliance, Record to Report, and AI, referred to as the four pillars of modern accounting. Completing the FCA program qualifies accountants for over 20 Continuing Professional Education and Continuing Professional Development credits.

Crypto network Flow launches Forte upgrade

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Flow, a crypto network, announced a new upgrade called Forte, a network upgrade that offers a shared foundation for all DeFi protocols, making the tokenized economy programmable and composable. It uses Cadence, a secure, resource-oriented smart contract language that only exists on Flow. The company said this upgrade unlocks an advancement in consumer finance with the potential for a multitude of new business models in DeFi. The testnet launch for Forte is now live, with a mainnet launch slated for Oct. 22. More capabilities will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Partnerships and integrations

Thomson Reuters announced a partnership with digital asset solutions provider Ledgible to integrate its cryptocurrency capacities into the TR ONESOURCE Tax Information Reporting platform. The partnership addresses new IRS requirements for crypto brokerage reporting, including the new Form 1099-DA, which digital asset brokers must use starting in 2025 to report cryptocurrency transactions. Businesses can now automatically pull crypto data from the various sources, normalize it, calculate cost basis, track tax lots, and report required information to the IRS and the states. … Thomson Reuters also announced it has acquired Additive, a San Francisco-based startup, founded in 2023, that uses AI to automate tax document processing for tax and accounting professionals, including Schedule K-1 federal tax forms… Accounting and human capital solutions provider Workday announced a definitive agreement to acquire Sana, an AI company specializing in enterprise knowledge tools. This acquisition will power a new Workday experience—the new front door for work—by converging knowledge, data, action and learning. Its no-code agent builder will empower users to create AI agents that automate tasks and act proactively. Additionally, Sana Learn will complement Workday Learning with hyper-personalized skill building and AI-native content creation at scale. … Workday also announced a new partnership with Microsoft to allow customers that build AI agents using Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio to register and manage them within the Workday Agent System of Record. … Revenue recognition automation solutions provider RightRev said it has deepened its strategic Salesforce partnership by delivering an enhanced solution specifically designed for Revenue Cloud Advanced and Revenue Cloud Billing. With RightRev, companies already on Salesforce can recognize revenue for any monetization model. … Thredd, a global payments processor, announced the expansion of its partnership with Reap, a fintech company that offers stablecoin-enabled card programs, white-label stablecoin card issuance, and a cross border payments platform offering fiat payouts at scale. Thredd will be providing the infrastructure powering Reap's physical and virtual card programs, enabling the company's expansion into the US and Latin America. … Harlequins F.C. announced a major partnership with cloud accounting solutions provider AccountsIQ. Under a multi-year agreement, The AccountsIQ Group will serve as the club's Official Data & Insights Partner. Through data-driven insights, the AIQ Match Insights, Preview and Coaches' Ledger content series will serve to deepen fan engagement and understanding and showcase AccountsIQ's role in helping key decision-makers transform the way they work. … Big Four firm EY announced an alliance with Boomi, an AI-driven automation solutions provider. The EY–Boomi Alliance leverages Boomi's artificial intelligence capabilities and Boomi Enterprise Platform to automate and streamline critical processes. The alliance offers clients the opportunity to connect systems, manage data flows and orchestrate AI through a single solution. Furthermore, the alliance allows clients to benefit in areas such as data integration and management, enterprise resource planning implementation, tax and finance transformation, supply chain optimization, customer experience enhancement, risk management and more.

New hires and appointments

Financial data solutions provider AccountingSeed announced that Nasser Chanda has joined as chief executive officer. Chanda previously served as CEO of Paymerang, an AP automation provider. Chanda succeeds Steve Lorenc, who is transitioning to retirement after nearly four years of leading Accounting Seed's growth… Enterprise cloud application solutions provider Unit4 announced the appointment of Derek Kudsee as managing director, Unit4 Financials by Coda. He will report to Johan Reventberg, chief revenue officer. Kudsee has held senior executive roles in strategy, operations and GTM leadership, including time at SAP, Salesforce and Microsoft, where he led cross-functional teams through complex transformation and growth initiatives. He will be responsible for defining the future direction of the Unit4 Financials by Coda business, by outlining the strategic path forward across product, market, and enterprise customer opportunities. … Spend management platform Extend announced it is bolstering its leadership team with the addition of Francois Horikawa as chief financial officer. Previously head of finance for PayPal's Consumer business unit—which includes Venmo, P2P, cards and small business lending—Horikawa brings deep fintech expertise to Extend.

New funding

Accounting operations solutions provider uiAgent has secured $4.6 million in a seed funding round spearheaded by Marathon Management Partners, with Rerail also contributing. As a result of the investment, Chase Packard from Marathon Management Partners will join the board of directors of uiAgent. … Gelt, an AI-native tax firm serving high-net-worth individuals and scaling businesses, announced it has raised $13 million in Series A, bringing its total funding to $21.2 million. The series A funding was led by Zvi Limon of the Rimon Group, Vintage Investment Partners, and TLV Partners. The company has also appointed Yoram Tietz, former managing partner at EY and current senior advisor at General Atlantic, as chairman of the board. … Aleph, a AI-native FP&A platform, has raised a $29 million Series B round led by Khosla Ventures, with continued participation from Picus Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and Y Combinator, bringing the company's total funding to $46 million. … AI-startup Eagl has raised €825,000 in funding to expand its engineering team, scale across Europe, and accelerate development of its AI-native financial agentic platform. The funding round is led by Syndicate One and CNBB Equity Partners (ExactOnline, Yuki), with support from leading SaaS founders including Matthias Geeroms (Lighthouse), Joris Van Der Gucht (Silverfin, Ravical), Jeroen De Wit (Teamleader), Lorenz Bogaert (Rydoo, StarApps), Louis Jonckheere (Showpad), Roeland Delrue (Aikido Security), and Jorn Vanysacker, Gilles Mattelin & Wouter Van Respaille (Henchman). … Extend, a spend and expense management platform, has secured $20 million in additional capital, including new venture debt and an equity investment led by B Capital, with participation from March Capital, Point72 Ventures, FinTech Collective, and new investor, Commerce Ventures. … Numeral, an AI-powered sales tax compliance platform, announced a $35 million Series B led by Mayfield, with participation from Benchmark, Uncork Capital, Y Combinator and Mantis. The Series B builds on earlier financing rounds, including a $4 million seed from Y Combinator and Uncork Capital and an $18 million Series A led by Benchmark Capital in March of this year. Together, these bring total funding to $57 million. Funding will fuel continued product innovation, global expansion, and AI-driven automation capabilities.

Other news

Stampli, a procure-to-pay platform, has achieved compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and will now offer Business Associate Agreements to HIPAA-covered entities, business associates and other applicable customers. With this announcement, Stampli removes this roadblock: even when invoices or supporting files contain personal health information, Stampli processes them through the same secure, automated workflows as any other invoice.