Accenture is giving consulting a new name as it doubles down on AI: 'reinvention services'
The global consulting firm reported its earnings on Friday, highlighting a generally positive performance for the third fiscal quarter of 2025. The firm reported revenue of $17.7 billion, an 8% increase from this time last year.
While new bookings were down 6% compared to the third quarter in 2024, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet told CNBC on Friday that the firm was "really pleased" with its bookings and that demand for its services could be seen in its revenue.
Sweet said on the earnings call that AI is the firm's strongest bet for creating new demand and that to maximize AI's potential, the firm is consolidating its strategy, consulting, song, technology, and operations services into a single unit known as "reinvention services," starting September 1.
"What we're going to do now is make it even easier to bring those solutions, embed data and AI, so we can really scale across our client base and into new markets using our reinvention services," Sweet told CNBC.
What consultants do sometimes needs to be explained, and "reinvention services" is no exception.
In both her CNBC interview and the earnings call on Friday, Sweet shared several examples of the company's AI-powered reinvention work, which — following its reorganization — the firm will be able to execute more efficiently, she said.
In one example, she said Accenture is working with Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri to launch the first AI-powered ship in 2025.
Sweet told CNBC that the ship will be able to "predict its maintenance, manage its energy use on its own, and talk to the dock" before it arrives at its destination.
She said Accenture's work to modernize the manufacturing process for Bel, maker of Laughing Cow cheese, would also fall under this new department, as would its collaboration with Brazilian mining company Vale to expedite environmental licensing and permits.
She also said the firm is creating AI-generated 3D avatars of physical products for coffee brands like Nescafé, Dolce Gusto, and Nespresso to reduce the time and cost of developing marketing campaigns, which would also fall under the new reinvention services department.
Sweet told CNBC that AI can be a "tool" to help companies navigate the future, but to reap the benefits, it will also need to be "disruptive."
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