Accenture has reportedly started tracking staff use of its AI tools and will take this into consideration when deciding on top promotions, as the consulting company tries to increase uptake of the technology by its workforce.
The company told senior managers and associate directors that being promoted to leadership roles would require “regular adoption” of artificial intelligence, according to an internal email seen by the Financial Times.
The consultancy has also begun collecting data on weekly log-ins to its AI tools by some senior staff members, the FT reports.
Accenture has previously said it has trained 550,000 of its 780,000-strong workforce in generative AI, up from only 30 people in 2022, and has announced it is rolling out training to all of its employees as part of its annual $1bn (£740m) annual spend on learning.
Among the tools whose use will reportedly be monitored is Accenture’s AI Refinery. The chief executive, Julie Sweet, has previously said this will “create opportunities for companies to reimagine their processes and operations, discover new ways of working, and scale AI solutions across the enterprise to help drive continuous change and create value”.
The company’s aggressive push into AI highlights a wider industry trend of businesses using machine learning tools to help them with speeding up certain tasks so they can focus other resources elsewhere.
Accenture reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter in December, as it was boosted by demand for its AI-driven services.
Its latest move linking use of AI tools to promotion potential comes only months after the New York-listed company began calling its employees “reinventors” in an effort to position itself as a leader in artificial intelligence. The move was criticised by some as an example of corporate jargon.
The reinventor label came amid a large reorganisation across Accenture last June, when it merged its strategy, consulting, creative, technology and operations divisions into a single unit called “Reinvention Services”.
Sweet told investors in September that the company would “exit” employees who were not getting the hang of using AI at work.
Older and more senior employees at the largest professional services companies are generally seen as more reluctant to incorporate use of AI tools into their work, while younger and more junior staff are more receptive.
The Dublin-headquartered group has previously said that employees for whom “reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable path for the skills we need” would be shown the door.
Accenture announced in December that it had signed partnerships with the ChatGPT owner, OpenAI, and its rival Anthropic, the owner of the Claude chatbot, as the consulting company has looked to capitalise on growing demand for AI services.
A spokesperson for Accenture said: “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. That requires the adoption of the latest tools and technologies to serve our clients most effectively.”
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