Accenture has reportedly begun tracking its staff’s use of AI tools and taking this into account when deciding on top promotions, as the consulting company seeks to infuse technology through its workforce.
According to an internal email seen by the Financial Times, the company has told senior managers and associate directors that promotion to leadership roles will require “regular adoption” of artificial intelligence.
The consultancy began collecting data on weekly logins to its AI tools by some senior staff members, the FT reports.
Accenture has announced that it will train 550,000 of its 780,000-strong workforce in productive AI by 2022, up from just 30 in 2022, and is training all of its employees as part of its $1bn (£740m) annual spend.
Among the tools whose use is reportedly being monitored is Accenture’s AI Refinery. Chief executive, Julie Sweet, previously said it will “create opportunities for companies to reinvent their processes and operations, discover new ways of working and scale AI solutions across the organization to create continuous change and value”.
The company’s aggressive push into AI highlights a broader industry trend of companies using machine learning tools to help them speed up certain tasks so they can focus other resources elsewhere.
Accenture reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter in December, as demand for its AI-based services picked up.
Its latest move to link the use of AI tools to promotion potential comes months after the New York-listed company began calling some 800,000 employees “reinventors” in an effort to become a leader in artificial intelligence. Some criticized the move as an example of corporate jargon.
The Reinventor label came amid a major reorganization across Accenture last June, when it merged its strategy, consulting, creative, technology and operations divisions into a single unit called “Reinvention Services.”
Sweet told investors in September that the company will “quit” employees who aren’t bothered by using AI at work.
Older and more senior employees at the largest professional services companies are generally more reluctant to use AI tools in their work, while younger and more junior staff are more receptive.
The Dublin-headquartered group previously said employees would be shown the door because “reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable route for the skills we need”.
Accenture announced in December that it had signed partnerships with ChatGPT owner OpenAI and Anthropic, owner of its rival Cloud Chatbot, as the consulting company looks to capitalize on growing demand for AI services.
Accenture has been contacted for comment.
