Accenture announced a $3-billion investment over three years in its data and AI practice.
This investment will help clients in various industries to advance rapidly and responsibly using AI to achieve growth, efficiency, and resilience.
The company plans to have 80,000 people working on AI through hiring, acquisitions, and training.
Accenture did not specify when it will reach that number but stated that the investment will benefit companies across 19 industries.
India is expected to be a critical part of this plan, although details about the investment in India were not provided. Accenture has a significant presence in the country with over 300,000 employees.
This investment builds on Accenture’s leadership in AI, with over 1,450 patents and pending patent applications worldwide and numerous client solutions across various sectors.
Julie Sweet, Accenture’s chair and CEO, stated, “Companies that adopt and scale AI now, where the technology is mature and delivers clear value, will be better positioned to reinvent, compete, and achieve new levels of performance.”
The $3-billion investment will also be used to hire 80,000 people and establish the Generative AI and Large Language Model Centre of Excellence, bringing together 1,600 professionals dedicated to generative AI.
Accenture will create accelerators for data and AI readiness across 19 industries and develop pre-built industry and functional models that leverage generative AI capabilities.
Paul Daugherty, the group chief executive of Accenture Technology, believes that AI will be a transformative mega trend in the next decade, reshaping industries and ways of working. He stated, “Our expanded data & AI practice brings together the full power and breadth of Accenture in creating industry-specific solutions that will help our clients harness AI’s full potential.”