NEW YORK and SUNNYVALE, Calif.; June 21, 2023 – Through a strategic expansion of their relationship, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Google Cloud will help organizations reinvent their businesses with generative AI to unlock new growth opportunities, supported by substantial new investments by Accenture.
Today’s expansion builds on Accenture’s recently announced $3 billion investment in AI. Together, Accenture and Google Cloud will help organizations use generative AI to create new opportunities to drive next-level innovation, optimization and reinvention. Building on the combination of capabilities and talent within the Accenture Google Business Group and Google Cloud’s leading AI products (including Vertex AI, Generative AI App Builder and more), the companies will guide organizations on the optimal use of generative AI to address specific business needs securely, responsibly, and at scale.
“Generative AI is already transforming how people work and access information and will dramatically amplify what humans can achieve,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “Our expanded partnership with Google Cloud will help our clients across industries responsibly accelerate adoption of generative AI throughout their enterprises to maximize efficiency, drive competitive advantage, and reach new levels of performance.”
“Generative AI has the ability to help businesses fundamentally improve how they operate, whether it is optimizing supply chains to be more sustainable or mitigating cybersecurity threats based on information from billions of security events,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. “Together with Accenture, we will provide businesses with the advanced technology and expertise they need to help transform their organizations and realize value from their generative AI deployments.”
Under the expanded partnership, the companies will co-develop new solutions leveraging Accenture’s industry and functional experience and Google Cloud’s suite of generative AI technologies. The companies will focus on improving business processes across 19 industries and six business functions, with a strategic focus on sales and marketing, supply chain, healthcare, retail and consumer packaged goods, financial services, sustainability, security, and operational services. Examples include:
- Tailored marketing and customer experiences: The two companies will use generative AI to help businesses create hyper-personalized advertisements and digital content, deliver customized dynamic pricing, and reinvent their interactions with their end consumers.
- Supply chain optimization: Accenture and Google Cloud will use generative AI to help customers predict optimal inventory levels to minimize storage costs, improve shipping routes to reduce gas consumption, and anticipate delivery dates and delays to increase customer satisfaction. Additionally, Accenture will expand the supply chain functionality in its retail solution, which is now using Google Cloud’s large language models (LLMs) to help businesses optimize their customer, workforce, and storefront experiences.
- Healthcare process improvement: Accenture will use a variety of Google’s LLMs, tuned to health care, to develop solutions to help improve operational efficiency, caregiver support, patient engagement, and research and development. Accenture is also addressing critical healthcare challenges with Google Cloud’s technologies and using the AI-enabled Claims Acceleration Suite to streamline health insurance and prior authorization claims processing by transforming data, enabling clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions.
- Security risk mitigation: The Accenture Adaptive Detection and Response Service was the first to use Google Cloud’s specialized security LLM, Sec-PaLM, which is trained on billions of cybersecurity data signals and helps customers protect critical assets and stay ahead of cyber threats. The service also includes Google Cloud’s Chronicle Security Operations technology, enabling businesses to mitigate cybersecurity incidents in real-time, such as malware, phishing, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and trends that may indicate a security breach.
- Software code generation: Accenture is working with Google Cloud's Foundational Model for code, Codey, to complement Accenture’s existing software engineering capabilities. Codey helps accelerate software development for code generation, code chat, and code completion.
To further extend its cybersecurity position, Lendlease, a global real estate group with core expertise in shaping cities and creating thriving communities, is using Accenture’s Adaptive Detection and Response service, built on Google Cloud technologies, to increase agility and allow it to simplify its security operations through greater transparency, flexibility and scale.
“Having next-generation cybersecurity detection and response capabilities is critical for Lendlease to create connected communities and deliver workplaces of the future around the world,” said William Ruh, CEO, Lendlease Digital. “The Google Cloud generative AI technology within the Accenture service will allow us to optimize our security operations and infuse cyber resilience into the core of our business.”
As part of the expanded partnership, a dedicated team of generative AI engineering experts from both companies will be aligned to Accenture Innovation Hubs in key locations around the world, including Bangalore, Dubai, Dublin, London, Melbourne, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, San Francisco, São Paulo, Singapore, and Sydney. Leveraging the Accenture Center for Advanced AI, the hubs will host rapid experimentation and prototyping sessions to help clients unlock value from generative AI in days, rather than weeks or months.
Accenture and Google Cloud are investing in a new integrated training curriculum to accelerate generative AI expertise within Accenture, scaling the resources available to businesses on their digital transformation journeys. The companies are also launching a joint AI Ambassador certification program that will provide specialized training in LLMs and building disruptive solutions. Accenture and Google Cloud's responsible AI practices will be at the core of this collaboration to help address bias, data protection and appropriate data use in order to create a foundation for trust.
Beyond the partnership, Accenture is also using Google Cloud in its own enterprise architecture to enable its data-driven business. Accenture’s global IT organization partnered with Google Cloud to deploy a modern data platform for faster, more secure and scalable capabilities positioning Accenture for generative AI expansion.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent and innovation led company with 738,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Accenture Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients succeed and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com/us-en.
About Google Cloud
Google Cloud accelerates every organization’s ability to digitally transform its business and industry. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google’s cutting-edge technology, and tools that help developers build more sustainably. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.
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Accenture
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