Accenture bets big on OpenAI to speed up corporate AI makeovers

Accenture has signed a deep partnership with OpenAI aimed at pushing large companies further into the AI era. The consulting giant plans to weave OpenAI’s technology into core business functions while training tens of thousands of its own staff on ChatGPT Enterprise.

The company says the move will help it use AI across consulting, operations and delivery work. Julie Sweet, Accenture’s chair and chief executive, frames the effort as a way to merge “OpenAI’s breakthrough technologies” with Accenture’s industry knowledge to “accelerate enterprise reinvention and business outcomes for our clients.”

OpenAI is getting something substantial out of this too. It now becomes one of Accenture’s primary AI partners and gains a powerful channel to large enterprises. Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s chief executive of Applications, says Accenture “plays an important role in helping companies adopt the technologies that define each new era” and describes the collaboration as a way to speed up AI transformation inside the world’s biggest organisations.

A new flagship AI client programme sits at the centre of the deal. The idea is to pair OpenAI’s enterprise tools with Accenture’s playbooks, industry use cases and deployment guidance so that clients can adopt AI with fewer delays and fewer failures. It is part implementation kit and part reassurance for executives who are still unsure where to start.

Both companies say they will focus on areas where AI can support heavy operational work, including customer service, supply chain, finance and human resources. The pitch is simple. If Accenture can get its own house using AI at scale, it can offer a clearer blueprint to its clients. And if OpenAI can prove its models work in those environments, it gains something as valuable as revenue: credibility.