Accenture signage at the CES 2026 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, Wednesday, January 7, 2026.
Brigitte Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Accenture told senior executives that they must use its AI tools regularly to be considered for promotions to management positions.
Associate directors and senior executives at the consultancy giant have been told that “steady adoption” of AI will be required to advance to senior roles, according to an FT report.
An Accenture spokesperson told CNBC the report was correct. They added: “Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our customers and to be the place where it does the best work, is most customer-focused and powered by artificial intelligence.
“This requires adopting the latest tools and technologies to serve our customers most efficiently.”
The spokesperson also confirmed that, as reported by the FT, the policy had been outlined in an internal email.
“Using our key tools will be a visible contribution to talent discussions,” the email said, according to the FT.
The FT reported that Accenture staff in 12 European countries were unaffected by the policy, as were staff working in the division that manages US government contracts.
In September, Accenture presents restructuring strategy in which he stated that staff unable to retrain in AI would ultimately be made redundant.
During an earnings conference call, CEO Julie Sweet said all employees would have to “reskill and retool” at scale, adding that 550,000 workers had already been reskilled on the fundamentals of generative AI. Accenture employs a total of 780,000 people worldwide.
“Our No. 1 strategy is upskilling, given the skills that we need, and we have a lot of experience in upskilling, we’re trying, in a very tight time frame, where we don’t have a viable pathway for skills, to get people out so we can get more of the skills that we need,” Sweet added.
Sweet told CNBC at the time: “Our early investments in AI are really paying off. »
“All CEOs, boards and senior executives recognize that advanced AI is essential for the future. The challenge they face right now is that they are really excited about the technology and they are not yet ready for AI for most companies,” she told CNBC.Screamed in the street”.
Accenture has announced a series of partnerships and tools in recent months. Accenture partners with OpenAI in December to enable tens of thousands of its employees to access ChatGPT Enterprise and continue their AI skills.
Accenture has also partnered with Anthropic training 30,000 employees in Claude AI tools, and tens of thousands of Accenture developers to use Claude Code for coding and AI-assisted work.
Other companies include in partnership with Palantir so that more than 2,000 Accenture employees can receive AI training using the software company’s platforms.