{"id":346681,"date":"2026-02-20T05:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/346681\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T05:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:55:18","slug":"accenture-links-top-level-promotions-to-use-of-its-ai-tools-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/346681\/","title":{"rendered":"Accenture links top-level promotions to use of its AI tools \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Accenture<\/a> has begun monitoring staff use of its artificial intelligence (AI<\/a>) tools as part of how it decides top-level promotions, as consultancies push reluctant employees to adopt the technology. <\/p>\n

The Dublin-headquartered firm told associate directors and senior managers that promotion to leadership positions would require \u201cregular adoption\u201d of AI, according to people familiar with the matter and an internal email seen by the Financial Times.<\/p>\n

This month Accenture started to collect data on individual weekly log-ins to its AI tools for some senior employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cUse of our key tools will be a visible input to talent discussions\u201d during this summer\u2019s leadership-level promotion decisions, the email said. The New York-listed group says it has more than 550,000 people trained in generative AI.<\/p>\n

The tools include AI Refinery, which Accenture said helps companies \u201cturn raw AI technology into useful business solutions\u201d, along with SynOps, an \u201cinnovative human-machine operating \u2018engine\u2019 that optimises the synergy of data, applied intelligence, digital technologies and talent to help organisations transform business operations\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Accenture to \u2018exit\u2019 staff who cannot be retrained for age of AIOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The push underlines the challenges consulting groups face when persuading senior employees and partners to adapt to AI.<\/p>\n

Three executives at the Big Four accounting and consulting firms said that persuading senior managers and partners to adopt AI tools has proved more difficult than with junior staff. One described it as an exercise in \u201cchivvying\u201d. <\/p>\n

Older, more senior figures are often less comfortable with technology and more wedded to established working methods, the executives said, prompting leadership teams to take what one called a \u201ccarrot and stick\u201d approach.<\/p>\n

One person familiar with the change at Accenture who was not directly affected said they would \u201cquit immediately\u201d if the change affected them. They and a second person both criticised the usefulness of the tools Accenture wants employees to use, claiming some of the tools were \u201cbroken slop generators\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Pay rises stall as employers trim costsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Staff in 12 European countries are exempt from the policy, along with those working in Accenture\u2019s division that handles US federal government contracts, as well as certain joint ventures. The firm has almost 800,000 workers globally.<\/p>\n

Accenture is racing to complete a wide-ranging reorganisation announced last June that united its strategy, consulting, creative, technology and operations units into a single division called \u201cReinvention Services\u201d.<\/p>\n

Chief executive Julie Sweet said last year that Accenture would \u201cexit\u201d staff who could not adapt to the AI age. The firm has since dubbed its employees \u201creinventors\u201d in an effort to emphasise their ability to advise clients on AI.<\/p>\n

Last month, Accenture bought London-based AI start-up Faculty to improve its ability to help clients \u201creinvent core and critical business processes\u201d by adopting AI. <\/p>\n

However, Accenture has struggled to adapt to a sector-wide slowdown for consultants. Its share price has fallen by 42 per cent over the past 12 months, reducing its market value to about $137 billion (\u20ac116 billion). It peaked at more than $260 billion as demand surged during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Accenture said: \u201cOur strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat requires the adoption of the latest tools and technologies to serve our clients most effectively.\u201d \u2013 Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Accenture has begun monitoring staff use of its artificial intelligence (AI) tools as part of how it decides…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[26294,289,79,18,19,17],"class_list":["post-346681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-accenture","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-business","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116101416487034948","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}