At Accenture, if you want promotions, you must use AI tools, says the company: Here's why

Accenture has reportedly started monitoring its staff's use of the company's artificial intelligence (AI) tools and is planning to factor this into top promotions decisions, The Guardian reported.

The move is part of the company's broader effort to encourage its employees to use AI more actively in their daily work and increase overall uptake of the technology across its workforce.

Accenture's senior managers and associate directors have been informed that "regular adoption" of artificial intelligence would be mandatory for promotion to leadership roles, the report said, citing an internal email. Further, the consultancy firm has already started collecting data on senior staff members' weekly-log ins into AI tools.

Among the tools that will be monitored is Accenture's AI Refinery. According to the company's website, AI Refinery, with a collection of 12 industry agent solutions, aims to help organisations build quickly and deploy networks of AI agents. Further, these tools aim to augment workforces, tackle sector-specific challenges, and accelerate business value.

Previously, Accenture's Chief Executive, Julie Sweet, said that 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 consultancy firm's decision to push aggressively into AI points to a broader industry trend, with businesses increasingly using machine learning tools to speed up routine tasks and free up resources for other priorities.

Accenture trained 550,000 employees in generative AI

Reports suggest that the Dublin-headquartered group trained 550,000 of its 780,000 employees in generative AI, taking the number significantly up from 30 in 2022. Further, it rolled out training for all its employees as part of its annual $1 billion in learning spending.

The company's latest move of linking the use of AI tools to promotions comes months after it termed its employees "reinventors" in a bid to position itself as a leader in AI, The Guardian reported in December 2025. However, the move was criticised by several people who saw it as an example of corporate jargon. Elaborating further, Gonzalo Brujó, the global chief executive at Interbrand, said that unveiling such a large-scale job title change would only lead to confusion for staff, who are used to knowing the hierarchy and career progression path at Accenture. He added, "I would be careful with this type of name. I totally understand why they want to do it, but it does not apply to all 800,000 employees. At Apple, you have geniuses; they are really techy and well-versed at what they do. And Disney’s imagineers do have the call to action to ‘make you dream’."

Brujó also added that a reinventor is a title that applies to only a few people.

Employees not getting the hang of AI would be forced to leave: CEO Sweet

In September 2025, Accenture's CEO informed the investors that those who were not getting the hang of using AI at work would be asked to "exit". The report suggests that older, more senior employees at professional services companies are usually reluctant to incorporate AI tools into their work, while younger, junior staff are more receptive.

Accenture partners with OpenAI, Anthropic

Amid growing demand for AI services, Accenture, in December 2025, announced partnerships with ChatGPT's parent company, OpenAI, and its rival, Anthropic, to capitalise on that demand.

Accenture Q1 results

Accenture, which follows a fiscal year from 1 September to 31 August, reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, boosted by demand for its AI-driven services. Its CEO said, "I am very pleased with our $21 billion in new bookings, including 33 clients with quarterly bookings greater than $100 million."