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Accenture has begun monitoring staff use of its AI tools as part of how it decides top-level promotions, as consultancies push reluctant employees to adopt the technology.
The Dublin-headquartered firm told associate directors and senior managers that promotion to leadership positions would require “regular adoption” of AI, according to people familiar with the matter and an internal email seen by the FT.
This month Accenture started to collect data on individual weekly log-ins to its AI tools for some senior employees.
“Use of our key tools will be a visible input to talent discussions” during this summer’s leadership-level promotion decisions, the email said. The New York-listed group says it has more than 550,000 people trained in generative AI.
The tools include AI Refinery, which Accenture said helps companies “turn raw AI technology into useful business solutions”, along with SynOps, an “innovative human-machine operating ‘engine’ that optimises the synergy of data, applied intelligence, digital technologies and talent to help organisations transform business operations”.
The push underlines the challenges consulting groups face when persuading senior employees and partners to adapt to AI.
Three executives at the Big Four accounting and consulting firms have told the FT that persuading senior managers and partners to adopt AI tools has proved more difficult than with junior staff. One described it as an exercise in “chivvying”.
Older, more senior figures are often less comfortable with technology and more wedded to established working methods, the executives said, prompting leadership teams to take what one called a “carrot and stick” approach.
One person familiar with the change at Accenture who was not directly affected said they would “quit immediately” if the change affected them. They and a second person both criticised the usefulness of the tools Accenture wants employees to use, claiming some of the tools were “broken slop generators”.
Staff in 12 European countries are exempt from the policy, along with those working in Accenture’s division that handles US federal government contracts, as well as certain joint ventures. The firm has almost 800,000 workers globally.
Accenture is racing to complete a wide-ranging reorganisation announced last June that united its strategy, consulting, creative, technology and operations units into a single division called “Reinvention Services”.
Chief executive Julie Sweet said last year that Accenture would “exit” staff who could not adapt to the AI age. The firm has since dubbed its employees “reinventors” in an effort to emphasise their ability to advise clients on AI.
Last month Accenture bought London-based AI startup Faculty to improve its ability to help clients “reinvent core and critical business processes” by adopting AI.
However, Accenture has struggled to adapt to a sector-wide slowdown for consultants. Its share price has fallen by 42 per cent over the past 12 months, reducing its market value to about $137bn. It peaked at more than $260bn as demand surged during the pandemic.
Accenture said: “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.”
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