As Accenture expands its AI and data workforce to nearly 110,000 from 40,000, CEO Julie Sweet says that the company is absorbing AI efficiencies in its …
Accenture has grown its AI and data workforce to nearly 110,000 from 40,000, reflecting the growing role of the technology in its operations and services. The company now aims to achieve high-single-digit revenue growth from fiscal year 2029, while using productivity gains to support expansion and improve margins. It expects growth to rise to the high-single-digit range from fiscal year 2029. The company reported revenue of $74.2 billion for the fiscal year ended August, up 6% from a year earlier. It is now looking to move closer to the $100 billion revenue mark over the next three years. Accenture also plans to improve operating margins by 10 to 30 basis points over the next three years. Its operating margin stood at 15.4% in the last fiscal year, up 70 basis points from a year earlier. The company also plans to target more mid-sized businesses from fiscal year 2027. In June, it announced Accenture Edge, a business unit aimed at companies with annual revenue of $300 million to $3 billion. Accenture is also preparing for a busy year of acquisitions, with around $8 billion budgeted for buyouts. It spent about $4.9 billion on 17 acquisitions in the previous fiscal year.
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet says the company is already absorbing AI-driven efficiencies in its business, even as clients remain cautious about spending. Speaking at the company’s investor day, Julie Sweet said: “We’re absorbing AI efficiencies in our business. “But we’re not waiting for a meaningful tailwind,” Sweet added. “The next chapter will be about scaling reinvention for our clients and for us,” Sweet said, adding “Our three-year financial ambition is to achieve at least mid-single-digit revenue growth in constant currency in fiscal year (FY27) and FY28, and then a step up in the range of growth from mid-single digit to high-single digit, starting in FY29, and taking market share throughout the entire period. ” Accenture aims to achieve at least mid-single-digit revenue growth in constant currency in fiscal years 2027 and 2028. Julie Sweet said the company was not waiting for market conditions to improve before pursuing its goals. Chief financial officer Angie Park said the company would use productivity gains to support growth and reinvest in the business. “Productivity creates capacity, capacity funds growth,” Park said.
Accenture is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) and data workforce as it prepares for the next phase of growth, but the technology is also helping the IT services giant improve productivity internally. We also have a macro that’s contributing to a challenging spending environment, and as we look forward, what we actually achieve will, of course, reflect what’s happening in the macro”. During the event, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet outlined a three-year plan focused on modernising clients’ technology systems and expanding its reach among mid-sized businesses. It will offer services involving Microsoft’s software, including cloud, AI and cybersecurity. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
Accenture is relying on its core business, which accounts for 94% of its revenue, to drive much of its growth. This includes helping clients modernise enterprise software, mainframes and cloud systems, reduce technical debt and build the technology infrastructure needed to use AI.