Ernst & Young LLP and 8090 launch AI-native EY.ai Product Development Lifecycle (PDLC) to help enterprises break free from slow, costly and failure-prone software development

• EY.ai PDLC, powered by 8090's Software Factory, introduces an AI-native approach to reinvent software delivery, integrating advanced automation to address traditional challenges and budget overruns.
• EY.ai PDLC will methodically be deployed to tens of thousands of consultants at EY US focused on delivering results on behalf of their customers.

NEW YORK, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) unveiled EY.ai PDLC, powered by 8090's Software Factory. The EY.ai PDLC is a new artificial intelligence (AI)-native approach to software delivery designed to address the challenges of traditional software development. Using 8090's Software Factory platform, EY.ai PDLC replaces outdated, linear software development with a dynamic, AI-driven model that helps organizations move from idea to production-ready software in days or weeks instead of months. Unlike traditional development processes that rely on rigid handoffs between siloed teams, EY.ai PDLC orchestrates a "collaborative mesh" of AI agents with human oversight across the full software lifecycle — from requirements and architecture through code, testing, infrastructure and ongoing operations — enabling faster innovation without sacrificing quality or security.

EY.ai PDLC is designed to enable faster innovation and overcome traditional development challenges such as project failures, budget overruns and slow feedback. In fact, an EY US use case finds that EY.ai PDLC drives a 70% increase in software development productivity and cost efficiency while speeding up delivery by 80 times. At the same time, the framework delivers superior quality through 95%+ automated test coverage and continuous validation.

8090's Software Factory is an enabler of EY.ai PDLC for clients as well as for digital engineering teams within EY US, delivering meaningfully faster and more cost-efficient outcomes and unlocking remaining performance obligations for software vendors.

"EY.ai PDLC is compressing months-long roadmaps into a few days with greater accuracy, empowering technology teams to offload manual tasks and focus on high-level strategy," says Colm Sparks-Austin, EY Americas Technology Consulting Leader. "Leveraging 8090's platform, we are moving beyond just code and prototypes to deliver complete, commercial-grade products at pace. This approach is not just about raising efficiency; it's about raising the ceiling of what's possible."

"For 50 years, we've watched the same cycle repeat," says Chamath Palihapitiya, Cofounder and CEO of 8090. "A company initially writes their own software, then outsources it to a commercial vendor, then offshores the maintenance of that system, all while costs keep rising and quality keeps falling. We built Software Factory to solve this problem, and we're excited to scale its impact globally with the EY organization's deep customer relationships and business experience."

Working with 8090's Software Factory, EY teams help clients address two critical enterprise needs:

• Legacy modernization and decommissioning: helping enterprises systematically retire technical debt, modernize aging systems and reduce the operational burden of maintaining decades-old code
  
  
• New product development: enabling enterprises to build new software products with the consistency, governance and quality that AI-assisted development alone cannot deliver

EY.ai PDLC is designed as an open ecosystem, with 8090 as a founding partner. The EY organization expects to add additional technology partners over time, expanding the capabilities and reach of the program.

This announcement follows the recent launch of EY.ai Value Blueprints, further expanding EY's suite of tools for the AI-native enterprise.

For more information, visit ey.com.

About EY

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multidisciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.

All in to shape the future with confidence.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.

About 8090

8090 is rebuilding the economics of enterprise software. For decades, the same cycle has repeated: companies write software, outsource it, offshore the maintenance, and watch costs rise while quality falls. 8090 was built to break that cycle.

8090's flagship product, Software Factory, is an AI-native development platform built for the complexity of real enterprise environments. It enables organizations to build, modernize, and maintain software with the quality, control, and consistency that traditional development and off-the-shelf AI coding tools cannot deliver.

Unlike single-model AI tools that generate inconsistent, poorly maintained code, Software Factory orchestrates across multiple AI models, ensuring every line of code is documented, governed, and built to last.

Quality. Control. Consistency. The new standard for AI-built software.

8090 is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. For more information, visit 8090.ai.

SOURCE EY