Accenture will invest $3bn over three years in its data and AI practice, which will include adding 40000 AI experts to the workforce, making acquisitions and training existing staff. Accenture stated that the AI-skilled staff would be added through hiring, training and acquisition. 

The IT services giant said it would use the data and AI practice to develop services for 19 specific industry sectors based on AI, taking advantage of what it described as the generative AI "megatrend" in its recent technology vision report.  

Following the $3bn investment Paul Daugherty, group chief executive at Accenture Technology, stated that over the next decade, AI would be a megatrend, transforming industries, companies, and the way we live and work, as generative AI transforms 40% of all working hours. Their expanded data and AI practice brings together the full power and breadth of Accenture in creating industry-specific solutions that will help clients harness AI's full potential to reshape their strategy, technology and ways of working, driving innovation and value responsibly and faster than ever before. 

According to Accenture, the investment would double its AI talent pool to 80,000. Accenture CEO Julie Sweet stated that Companies that build a strong foundation of AI by adopting and scaling it now, where the technology is mature and delivers clear value, will be better positioned to reinvent, compete and achieve new levels of performance. Their clients have complex environments, and when technology is changing rapidly, their deep understanding of ecosystem solutions allows Accenture to navigate quickly and cost-effectively to make smart decisions. 

Accenture has established a company-wide tram, the generative and LLM centre of excellence. It has also published A new era of generative AI for Every Study of generative AI/LLM, advising businesses on using the technology. In March, when announcing its annual tech vision, Accenture said the distance between digital and physical worlds would "collapse" over the next ten years, with the adoption of generative AI accelerating change.