KEY POINTS:
Accenture has told senior staff they must regularly use its AI tools to be considered for promotions for leadership roles.
Associate directors and senior managers at the consultancy giant were informed that “regular adoption” of AI would be required to progress to leadership positions, according to an FT report.
An Accenture spokesperson told CNBC the report was correct. They added: “Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work.
“That requires the adoption of the latest tools and technologies to serve our clients most effectively.”
The spokesperson also confirmed that, as the FT reported, the policy had been set out in an internal email.
“Use of our key tools will be a visible input to talent discussions,” the email said, according to the FT.
The FT reported that Accenture staff in 12 European countries were unaffected by the policy, as well as staff working in the division that handles U.S. government contracts.
In September, Accenture outlined a restructuring strategy in which it said staff who are unable to reskill on AI would eventually be laid off.
On an earnings call, CEO Julie Sweet said all employees would be expected to “retrain and retool” at scale, adding that 550,000 workers had already been reskilled on the fundamentals of generative AI. Accenture employs a total of 780,000 people globally.
“Our No. 1 strategy is upskilling, given the skills we need, and we’ve had a lot of experience in upskilling, we’re trying to, in a very compressed timeline, where we don’t have a viable path for skilling, sort of exiting people so we can get more of the skills in we need,” Sweet added.
Sweet told CNBC at the time: “Our early investment in AI is really paying off.”
“Every CEO, board and the C-suite recognize that advanced AI is critical to the future. The challenge right now they’re facing is that they’re really excited about the technology and they’re not yet AI ready for most companies,” she told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
Accenture announced a string of partnerships and tools in recent months. Accenture partnered with OpenAI in December to give tens of thousands of its employees access to ChatGPT Enterprise and continue to upskill on AI.
Accenture also partnered with Anthropic to train 30,000 employees on Claude AI tools, with tens of thousands of Accenture developers to use Claude Code for coding and AI-assisted work.
Other ventures include partnering with Palantir so that over 2,000 Accenture staff can get AI training using the software company’s platforms.
