Accenture trains 500,000 staffers for boom in AI consulting work

At Accenture, the company’s consultants are now using the technology to replace rote tasks like compiling presentations

Accenture Plc has trained 500,000 employees to use generative artificial intelligence as the consulting giant sees a boom in demand for its work in that area.

Sales from generative AI have increased to $2.6 billion in the last six months, Chief Executive Officer Julie Sweet said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. That’s up from $300 million in the first six months after ChatGPT was introduced in 2022, she said.

“When you think about the scale of that transformation in the last 2.5 years - you can see that we’ve really focused on rotating all of our offerings, rotating how we deliver for our clients and, of course, using it to operate ourselves,” Sweet said, noting two-thirds of the firm’s staff in the UK have been trained to use generative AI.

Professional services firms around the world have been experimenting with generative artificial intelligence in order to eliminate repetitive, time-consuming work that was long reserved for junior staffers. At Accenture, the company’s consultants are now using the technology to replace rote tasks like compiling presentations, Sweet said.

“By being able to use some of the work that is pretty rote in terms of the presentation - we’re able to mentor our young leaders about the underlying content more,” Sweet said. “They’re actually able to focus and do more shadowing of senior leaders.”