Why Accenture Is Investing $3 Billion In AI

Worldwide know-how consulting group Accenture has actually been bitten laborious by the generative AI bug. In coming years, it plans to double its headcount of information and AI consultants from 40,000 to 80,000 because it invests $3 billion into its capabilities.

All of that is with a view to enhance its potential to leverage AI in 3 ways: To do higher work for purchasers, to enhance its personal operations, and to remodel the way in which it really works for purchasers.

Not too long ago, I caught up as soon as once more with Accenture’s Paul Daugherty. 5 years after the publication of his e-book Human + Machine: Reimagining Work within the Age of AI, I took the prospect to ask him in regards to the developments we’ve seen since its publication. We additionally talked about how the arrival of generative instruments like ChatGPT will have an effect on the continued AI-driven transformation of enterprises.

Generative AI – the sport changer

“Over the course of my profession,” says Daugherty, “I’ve been actually amazed by know-how 4 instances.”

The primary was the Lisa – the early Apple pc that popularized the thought of a private pc with a graphical person interface. The second was searching the web for the primary time. The third was the arrival of the smartphone.

“The fourth was about 18 months in the past after I began to see the progress in …particularly giant language fashions (LLMs).

“The tempo of development was turning into breathtaking, and among the capabilities … to know language and the generative capabilities to create content material. Not simply diagnose and consider or predict …actually is game-changing when it comes to the influence on enterprise.”

Superb although it undoubtedly could be, Paul nonetheless sees companies struggling to work out how and the place to use it. Typically it isn’t that they’ve issues figuring out use instances – there are many them. Somewhat, obstacles are round understanding which of them are probably to assist them obtain enterprise targets and the place funding must be prioritized.

That is backed up by latest stats collated by Accenture that reveals that 98 % of executives imagine generative AI shall be important to their technique going ahead.

“In order that reveals you the extent of curiosity and the influence that executives see this having on their enterprise,” says Daugherty.

How Accenture is Utilizing AI

Potential purposes match into one of many three classes talked about in the beginning of the article. Additional to that, they’re damaged down into 5 varieties of purposes: creating, automating, advising, defending and coding.

Accenture’s digital media enterprise, Song, is a flagship for its use of artistic, generative AI. Track is concerned with innovating in content material creation by understanding the plethora of recent instruments which can be out there. Consumer use instances it’s concerned with vary from advertising and marketing and outreach to drafting regulatory paperwork for all times sciences corporations.

It has additionally assisted banking clients with automating back-office processes utilizing GPT-3.5 and applied its advisory capabilities in buyer companies operations.

The “defend” implementations are showcased by a employee security answer created for vitality corporations. This includes pulling collectively real-time info on what is going on in a facility with a view to enhance security outcomes.

And coding refers to utilizing the super-human potential of LLMs to generate pc code, which allows software program builders to turn into extra environment friendly and productive.

Altogether, Daugherty tells me, Accenture is concerned with serving to over 100 of its purchasers implement generative AI initiatives.

Investing in Capabilities

Not all the $3 billion in funding that Accenture has simply introduced it’s going to make in its AI and knowledge capabilities will go on generative AI.

“Generative AI is clearly game-changing for all the explanations I’ve talked about – however knowledge and AI broadly have super alternatives for corporations,” says Daugherty.

“It’s not even nearly AI – it’s about knowledge and the way you pull collectively the info foundations, the trendy knowledge platforms and the cloud-based platform to drive the chance.”

In addition to doubling the dimensions of the info and AI staff, Accenture has developed a device referred to as AI Navigator, designed to assist its purchasers discover their approach by the baffling and ever-expanding vary of enterprise AI alternatives open to them.

What fashions does a enterprise must work with, and the way can they be used? Is it finest to only use an current API? Does knowledge want fine-tuning or customizing? How can immediate engineering be used? “That is what the AI navigator for Enterprise will assist our purchasers with,” says Daugherty.

Accountable AI

We perceive that algorithmic bias can create societal inequalities and decision-making executed by opaque black field equipment, incomprehensible to most people, has the potential to trigger hurt.

Then there’s the potential for a breach of privateness associated to pc imaginative and prescient purposes akin to facial recognition.

These points (and plenty of extra) have made us conscious of the significance of pursuing “accountable AI.”

Daugherty tells me that – so far as he’s conscious, at the very least – Accenture was the primary group to ascertain a proper compliance program round accountable AI.

“It’s much more vital with generative AI … we’re working with a whole lot of stakeholders, regulators and governments, in addition to our purchasers, to ascertain … accountable AI capabilities.”

This “accountable AI framework” ensures that questions could be requested and answered round issues of bias, equity, privateness and safety regarding any AI initiatives.

On high of that may be a “diagnostic device” used to judge the danger degree of any AI-related work.

Daugherty says, “There are particular varieties of AI categorized as excessive danger, versus … completely different ranges of danger … and are you aware, in your group, the place are you utilizing what could be thought of high-risk AI?

“I might submit most organizations actually wouldn’t have an thought proper now.”

A part of the reply lies in having a stable and dependable stock of each utility inside a corporation that includes AI. Because of this each could be individually danger assessed and monitored for outcomes as stakeholders construct their very own understanding of what must be executed to make sure AI is used responsibly.

The Future?

The place do Daugherty and Accenture see this all main? And what different applied sciences will they be placing to work alongside AI to speed up this wave of digital transformation?

Accenture’s 2023 know-how imaginative and prescient doc – titled When Atoms Meet Bits – highlights digital id, belief and transparency, next-generation AI and what it refers to as “science know-how” as the most important traits to observe.

And whereas some imagine the idea has gone off the boil, Daugherty is completely happy to report that he believes “The metaverse is alive and nicely.”

“The thought of constructing the two-dimensional digital world three-dimensional is actual. There’s a whole lot of exercise occurring across the metaverse; witness Apple’s new headset launch.”

In addition to generative AI, next-generation AI covers a variety of frameworks and ideas, together with “frequent sense AI” and explainable AI.

Then there are next-generation computing architectures, together with quantum computing and biocomputing. The primary of which is already being applied in Accenture consumer deliveries.

And after that? Solely the ultimate frontier: “There are many attention-grabbing advances occurring in area know-how, each what occurs in area … satellite tv for pc communications … experiments in area. And likewise how you need to use info from area [like] low-Earth orbit satellites for transformative purposes again on Earth.”

You possibly can click here to observe my full interview with Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Government, Expertise and CTO for Accenture.