Dr. Marc Warner assumes role as Accenture’s Chief Technology Officer

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Accenture ( ACN ) has completed the acquisition of Faculty, a leading UK‑based AI company known for its deep technical expertise and pedigree in applying AI safely across public and private sectors to help clients improve services and deliver growth.

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With the acquisition completed, Faculty CEO and co-founder Dr. Marc Warner expands his role to also become chief technology officer of Accenture ( ACN ) and joins the company’s Global Management Committee.

“Now that Faculty is part of Accenture ( ACN ), we will further advance our strategy to be our clients’ reinvention partner of choice and lead in the safe, widespread adoption of AI," said Julie Sweet, Accenture Chair and CEO. “I look forward to working with our new CTO Marc Warner to shape our technology strategy and execution and attract the best talent in the world to meet our clients’ needs.”

The acquisition expands Accenture’s capabilities to help clients reinvent core and critical business processes with safe, secure and outcome-driven AI solutions. As a result of the acquisition, more than 400 AI native professionals from Faculty—including highly qualified data scientists and AI engineers—join Accenture ( ACN ) to help scale world‑class AI capabilities for clients.

"As AI advances rapidly, the next few years will be hugely consequential for the world,” said Dr. Warner. “For any company that isn't AI-native, thriving will mean a difficult process of adaptation. To succeed, they need partners with an unusual set of capabilities: deep technical expertise, plus the ability to deliver transformation at scale. Together with Accenture ( ACN ), we have created one of the few organizations in the world equipped to lead this historical transition."

Founded in 2014, Faculty is one of Europe’s leading and longest standing applied AI companies. Its services—which include AI strategy, AI safety and the design, build and implementation of high performance AI systems—support the scaled and safe adoption of AI by client organizations.

Their PhD-heavy team of technical experts has delivered innovative AI systems for public and private sector organizations in the U.K. and globally. For example, Faculty built the UK National Health Service’s (NHS) Early Warning System during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Faculty’s enterprise decision intelligence product, FrontierTM, joins Accenture’s suite of products that help organizations make better, faster decisions by connecting data, AI models and business processes into a unified system. Accenture ( ACN ) and Faculty are already working together to support life sciences companies, such as Novartis, to transform the economics of clinical trial planning and execution.

Accenture’s Chief Strategy and Services Officer Manish Sharma added, “By combining our AI capabilities with Faculty’s highly skilled AI talent and products like FrontierTM, we will help clients safely apply and scale AI to reinvent their operations—connecting data, processes, and people to drive faster value and increase competitiveness.”

Terms of the transaction, which Accenture ( ACN ) announced on Jan. 6, were not disclosed.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “aspires,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook,” “goal,” “target” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance nor promises that goals or targets will be met, and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These risks include, without limitation, risks that: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture ( ACN ); Accenture’s results of operations have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining client demand for the company’s solutions and services including through the adaptation and expansion of its solutions and services in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; risks and uncertainties related to the development and use of AI, including advanced AI, could harm the company’s business, damage its reputation or give rise to legal or regulatory action; if Accenture ( ACN ) is unable to match people and their skills with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; Accenture ( ACN ) faces legal, reputational and financial risks from any failure to protect client and/or company data from security incidents or cyberattacks; the markets in which Accenture ( ACN ) operates are highly competitive, and Accenture ( ACN ) might not be able to compete effectively; if Accenture ( ACN ) does not successfully manage and develop its relationships with its ecosystem partners or fails to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected; Accenture’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; Accenture’s profitability could materially suffer due to pricing pressure, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies or fail to satisfy certain agreed-upon targets or specific service levels; changes in Accenture’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; Accenture’s debt obligations could adversely affect its business and financial condition; as a result of Accenture’s geographically diverse operations and strategy to continue to grow in key markets around the world, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; if Accenture ( ACN ) is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; Accenture ( ACN ) might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; Accenture’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; Accenture’s global operations expose the company to numerous and sometimes conflicting legal and regulatory requirements; if Accenture ( ACN ) is unable to protect or enforce its intellectual property rights or if Accenture’s solutions or services infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company loses its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, its business could be adversely affected; Accenture ( ACN ) may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” heading in Accenture ( ACN ) plc’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture ( ACN ) undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s expectations.

About Accenture ( ACN )

Accenture ( ACN ) is a leading solutions and services company that helps the world’s leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise, bringing together the talent of our approximately 784,000 people, our proprietary assets and platforms, and deep ecosystem relationships. Our 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 in the world. Through our Reinvention Services we bring together our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X with our deep industry expertise to create and deliver solutions and services for our clients. Our purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity, and we measure our success by the 360° value we create for all our stakeholders. Visit us at accenture.com.

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Source: Accenture ( ACN )