Accenture will partner with tech giant Microsoft to establish a forward-deployed engineering (FDE) practice to enable enterprise organisations to design, build, and operationalise artificial intelligence (AI) faster.
Most enterprise AI initiatives fail not because of a lack of technology, but due to the fact that the right engineering expertise doesn’t get applied in the right place. The new practice, which will include thousands of AI-skilled engineers from both organisations, will work directly with clients to pair Microsoft’s leading-edge AI capabilities with Accenture’s industry and workflow experience to overcome barriers and deliver outcomes at scale.
“Artificial intelligence value does not come from technology access but from the ability to convert it into sustained business impact. Enterprise AI succeeds when strategy and engineering operate as one. This collaboration with Microsoft establishes a new model that puts engineers at the centre of AI transformation, one that moves from ambition to measurable outcomes at enterprise scale,” said Manish Sharma, chief strategy and services officer at Accenture.
“What customers are asking us for is a clear path to business outcomes powered by artificial intelligence. Microsoft’s end-to-end AI platform for both intelligence and trust, combined with Accenture’s industry expertise, will enable the FDE crews to quickly create the highest quality outcomes for customers,” remarked Nick Parker, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer.
The companies will collaborate side-by-side with clients to translate AI ideas into production within days, combining Microsoft’s platform and technology innovation with Accenture’s change management, process redesign, industry workflows and global deployment at scale, co-innovating directly with clients, using the Satya Nadella-led tech giant’s Frontier Suite of products and proven accelerators to deliver and scale measurable AI impact.
This builds on Accenture and Microsoft’s long-standing strategic partnership. The new FDE practice will be the entry point for enterprise AI transformation, enabling thousands of clients to reimagine end-to-end through the application of artificial intelligence.