Accenture’s new chief AI officer to double AI workforce

DUBLIN, IRELAND — Global consulting giant Accenture has announced Lan Guan as its first-ever Chief AI Officer, in tandem with revealing a robust three-year, $3 billion investment strategy aimed at amplifying its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
Guan is charting a course for the firm that includes doubling its AI workforce to 80,000 employees.
This ambitious scale-up will take place through extensive employee training programs, university recruitment, and strategic corporate acquisitions.
To achieve this, Guan told Fortune that the firm is “bringing in venture and acquisition firms to help us beef up the talent agenda and add niche capabilities.”
Accenture’s multi-tiered training scheme features a grassroots Technology Quotient (TQ) program and a Gen AI Academy focused on role-based learning.
The company is also forming educational collaborations with esteemed academic institutions like Stanford, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon University.
The new initiatives under Guan’s leadership aim to fortify Accenture’s talent pool and deepen its AI expertise.
“Companies should… dramatically ramp up investment in talent to address two distinct challenges: creating AI and using AI,” Guan emphasized.
This move by Accenture comes at a time when the industry is increasingly focusing on AI capabilities, and it sets the stage for the company to strengthen its competitive edge further.
With operations in over 120 countries and revenues of $44.33 billion in 2020, Accenture is a key player in professional services, offering a range of services in strategy, consulting, digital, technology, and operations.
Accenture is currently ranked #1 in the Time Doctor OA500, an index of the world’s top 500 outsourcing firms and a vital tool in assisting the BPO decision-making community.