Eduardo Villa, New Jersey Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
In an interview with Invest, Eduardo Villa, New Jersey office managing partner of Ernst & Young LLP in Iselin, New Jersey, discussed how the firm incorporates technological tools in building exceptional client service. “We’re helping our clients to invest back into the state’s economy, which will help more people to rise, thus the circle of life in New Jersey continues,” Villa said.
What recent changes have shaped the firm’s operations in New Jersey?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has impacted every company. Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) has the experience and deep knowledge to figure out how to adopt and adapt to AI internally and how to advise and guide our clients to adopt AI through our capacity as a professional services firm. Our firm has four key service lines: Assurance, Tax, Consulting and EY-Parthenon. Through those service lines, we help our clients in all aspects of responsible AI implementation, from identifying the right stakeholders, figuring out appropriate governance and guardrails, designing an AI plan and helping companies execute that implementation plan.
Internally, we are also figuring out how we want to deploy AI responsibly. We’ve unified our AI insights and information into an internal platform that has helped our team use AI with validated information. It’s a tool that enables us to get a head start in doing our job more efficiently.
Many companies want to get into AI, and to be responsible, they need to start by talking to their internal legal counsel. Our recent surveys show that 80% of our clients are working on proof of concepts around AI, and about 20% are actually running pilot projects using AI.
What are the firm’s recent major milestones?
The Iselin, New Jersey, office I lead has around 1,400 employees serving four service lines, with a significant number of Audit Assurance Services. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) annually reviews all the firms providing audit services to public companies. In advance of the PCAOB’s 2025 inspection results, we published our Audit Quality Report outlining how investments in talent and technology are strengthening our audits. The PCAOB’s findings confirm that progress, with our firm expecting to achieve its lowest inspection rate in more than 15 years: below 10%.
We reached this milestone through three areas — our people, processes and technology — all working in concert to transform and strengthen audit quality. With a technology-enabled audit built in-house, our teams can analyze entire populations of data, sharpen the risk assessment and focus procedures on the areas that matter most. This disciplined, risk-based approach enhances consistency, quality and audit execution. For companies seeking an audit firm in New Jersey, our inspection results highlight a meaningful transformation of our audit process to support high-quality outcomes for clients.
We are also the number one auditor over the last 10 years of companies on the Fortune 1000 list and the Russell 3000 index. It’s important for us to lead with success on the audit side, especially in New Jersey, as we help bring numerous private companies public.
What is your overview of mergers and acquisitions trends in New Jersey?
For several years, there has been a lot of talk about capital markets being ready to take off. We’re seeing an uptick in activity for private equity and the IPO market this quarter. We haven’t seen this much activity in a single quarter since 2021. We’re seeing PE firms starting to exit investments, with around 215 exits in the first half of 2025. That is the biggest amount of activity we’ve seen since 2022. The private equity market is as active as the public market now, and we see a similar level of activity in New Jersey.
With our Entrepreneur Of The Year® program, we recognize company founders or CEOs who are leading successful, dynamic businesses. Some are private family-held, some are private equity-backed, and some are public, from various industries. In New Jersey, there has been a shift in the marketplace. Life sciences and pharmaceuticals have a strong presence, but we’re seeing a lot of other industries taking off here, notably in media and technology. The winners from our region are advancing to compete at the national level. The upcoming national award ceremony is scheduled to take place at our Strategic Growth Forum® in Palm Springs this November. Last year, we had two national winners — CoreWeave and SageSure — from New Jersey that represented the AI cloud computing and insurance industries, showcasing how New Jersey is becoming a more diverse marketplace. The state’s geographical position also plays a part in its growth as a hub for innovation.
What are your priorities for the firm in the next few years?
Being the managing partner for our Iselin office means so much to me, especially since my family built a home in New Jersey after immigrating from Cuba and losing everything. I am also involved with the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey and passionate about helping this state continue growing and succeeding in the future. It is a state that has had a lot of impressive success and has produced some of the biggest companies in the world.
That said, I have two directives. The first is to continue doing my part as a citizen of New Jersey to bring the best I can for this entire ecosystem as the Iselin, New Jersey, office managing partner at EY US, but also as a board member on Choose New Jersey. I try to continue fostering growth for our clients and for the business community. Growth leads to opportunities for everyone in this state. The second is for EY US: I want to make this office attractive so that we recruit and retain the best talent, and for our employees to recommend EY US as a great place to work. I also want to enable our teams to continue delivering exceptional client service to all of our New Jersey clients. We’re helping our clients invest back into the state’s economy, which will help more people to rise, thus the circle of life in New Jersey continues.
