The logo is illuminated at the Accenture booth at Mobile World Congress 2025 on March 3, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.
Xavi Torrent | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Technical consultant Accenture It plans to fire staff who are inevitably involved in artificial intelligence amid a broader restructuring strategy that prioritizes AI efforts.
In a call Thursday, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said that employees are hoping to “retrain and remodel” on a massive scale as advanced AI becomes “a part of everything we do” and as global professional services companies continue to invest heavily in the region.
“We are investing in our main strategy, Renventors’ scaring,” says Sweet. She explained that the company is “leaving out on the compression timeline.”
Sweet said Accenture has already reskilled 550,000 workers on the fundamentals of generative AI and has outlined a six-month $865 million business optimization program.
“We are expecting more than $1 billion in savings from our business optimization program, which is very important for future growth, so we look forward to reinvesting in our business and people.
In addition to the cuts, the company continues to employ, strengthening its AI talent with 77,000 AI and data experts from 40,000 in 2023. Sweet also said it expects to increase its staffing for the next fiscal year across the market, including the US and Europe.
“Given the skills needed, our No. 1 strategy is skilled. And we have a lot of experience in a very compacted timeline, and we have no viable paths for skills and we can drive people out to leave.
The company reported revenue of $69.7 billion this year, up 7% from the previous year. In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Sweet pinned this growth to large client demand to deploy artificial intelligence throughout the organization.
“The early investment in AI is really paying off,” Sweet told CNBC. “We feel very good as we enter FY26 with the momentum we see in our business.
“All CEOs, boards and C-suites recognize that advanced AI is important for the future. The challenge they face is that they are really excited about technology and are not yet ready for AI for most companies,” she added.
