Accenture to invest $3 billion in AI, double employees working for the budding tech

Global information technology services and consulting firm Accenture, on Tuesday, announced an investment of $3 billion over the next three years in its data & artificial intelligence practice. The investment is expected to aid the company’s clients to “rapidly and responsibly advance and use AI to achieve greater growth, efficiency and resilience,” Accenture’s press statement said.

Accenture’s range of investments in AI technology will include acquiring a number of companies working in the space. It is also planning to double the number of employees working for the nascent technology to 80,000 through new hiring, acquisitions and training existing workers.

While the timeline for its plans remains unclear at the moment, Accenture is looking to forge multiple partnerships and invest in new assets, industry solutions and ventures to help companies across 19 industries become ready for the cutting edge technology. Notably, the development comes fresh on the heels of the consultancy trimming 19,000 employees from its payroll citing difficult macroeconomic conditions.

“There is unprecedented interest in all areas of AI, and the substantial investment we are making in our Data & AI practice will help our clients move from interest to action to value, and in a responsible way with clear business cases,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture.

The IT services firm has also launched a tool called the "AI Navigator for Enterprise" that will familiarise companies with the evolving technology and guide them on how best to leverage it. Earlier this year, Accenture had announced the establishment of an AI centre of excellence that focuses on research and development on the possible use cases of generative and other emerging AI capabilities in service delivery.

“Over the next decade, AI will be a mega-trend, transforming industries, companies, and the way we live and work, as generative AI transforms 40% of all working hours,” said Paul Daugherty, group chief executive, Accenture Technology.

Generative AI, a technology that has the potential to completely transform workspaces according to industry experts, has been making headlines for months after a number of firms expressed growing interest in the space. India’s second-largest IT services company Infosys had last month unveiled a similar offering called Topaz, an AI-first set of services, solutions and platforms using generative AI technologies.

Interestingly, India ranks fifth globally when it comes to investments that AI startups received last year, totalling at $3.24 billion, according to Stanford University’s annual AI Index report.