Companies are investing in the launch of Copilot’s business transformation practices, new capabilities, and client training to accelerate and scale Gen AI adoption.
Copilot enables transformation for clients like Repsol and Bricorama
Editor’s note — November 14, 2024 — The following press release has been updated to include a link to Accenture AI Refinery.
NEW YORK and REDMOND, Wash. — November 14, 2024 — A joint venture between Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) in a strategic effort to meet unprecedented demand for AI transformation. Avanade will launch Business Transformation Co-Pilot with support from Microsoft to co-invest in new capabilities, solutions, and training to help organizations safely and responsibly reimagine business capabilities. Generative and agentic AI and Copilot technologies.
“Our investment with Microsoft takes our long-standing partnership to the next level, helping our clients accelerate AI and serve as a catalyst for reinvention at scale,” said Julie Sweet, Accenture Chairman and CEO. We will help them integrate.” “The powerful combination of Microsoft Copilot, agent and generative AI technologies, and Avanade and Accenture’s deep industry and functional expertise enables enterprises to reimagine processes and operations, discover innovative ways of working, and strengthen security. and open up new avenues for creating value.”
Copilot’s Business Transformation practice provides clients with the technology and industry experience needed to accelerate and expand the use of Copilot and agents across the enterprise. The companies will collaborate on AI and Copilot agent templates, extensions, plugins, and connectors to help organizations leverage data and AI to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and drive growth. The companies will help customers leverage Microsoft’s artificial intelligence-powered security capabilities to increase the efficiency of security operations and help analysts make better and faster decisions.
The practice is comprised of 5,000 experts from Accenture and Avanade, supported by Microsoft product specialists who work closely with the Accenture Center for Advanced AI. The team leverages more than 50,000 Microsoft Copilot-trained professionals across Accenture and Avanade to help transform industries and functions. Clients will have access to expert engineers and early access to the latest technology, such as Accenture AI Refinery™, to create custom models and solutions. Accenture is leveraging the lessons learned from using and deploying Microsoft 365 Copilots and agents for 100,000 people and is working to scale to approximately 200,000 users.
“We are deepening our collaboration with Accenture to help our mutual customers responsibly and securely develop AI-first business processes, and to accelerate their efforts in the marketplace,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft. We are pleased to be able to drive differentiation.” “By bringing together human ambition with CoPilot and combining it with the autonomous capabilities of agents, we are accelerating the AI transformation of organizations across industries and helping companies realize successful business outcomes through practical innovation. can.”
Accenture and Avanade have already developed agents to streamline workflows, increase revenue, and improve the customer experience. For example, supplier discovery and risk agents can provide real-time market insights, supply chain agility, and better vendor selection, which can lead to cost savings of up to 15%. Procure-to-pay agents can increase efficiency by up to 40% and improve vendor relationships and satisfaction by addressing urgent payment requirements and avoiding major service disruptions. We have also invested in building functional and industry-grade Copilot solutions that deliver customer value, including:
Microsoft 365 Copilot – The companies work together to help clients effectively implement and scale technology to realize maximum value, including readiness assessments and value accelerators, among others. Developed the Microsoft 365 Copilot solution. They helped Repsol, a global multi-energy company, deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot, and a four-month study showed great results. Employees save an average of 121 minutes per week and increase productivity and product quality by 16%. Additionally, 61% favor AI-enhanced workflows, saying they feel more confident and motivated. Productivity gains were most significant in technical and professional occupations, with engineering occupations saving nearly 97 hours per employee per year. Maintenance roles saw even greater benefits, saving approximately 225 minutes each week and significantly increasing the accuracy and consistency required for their tasks. These results highlight the transformative potential of generative AI to optimize business operations and improve overall employee satisfaction. Industry and Functional CoPilots – Together, the companies have developed CoPilots for a variety of industries and functions, including finance, manufacturing, supply chain, retail and consumer products, and healthcare. For example, Fabric developed a manufacturing copilot powered by Microsoft Manufacturing Data Solutions to transform the way shop floors and factory workers work. Custom Copilots and Agents – Enterprises can use Microsoft Copilot Studio to extend basic Copilots, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and industry and role-based Copilots, to leverage enterprise knowledge to create specific triggers or agents. We are creating an autonomous agent that behaves according to the intentions of the implementing user. Responsible and efficient workflows powered by AI. Avanade and Accenture helped French home improvement retailer Bricorama develop a custom home improvement Copilot called ‘paInt’. The pAInt app uses Azure OpenAI to guide customers through their projects.
Udacity and Microsoft, part of Accenture LearnVantage, have co-created a new Azure Generative AI Engineer Nanodegree program that provides learners with the skills to design, build, and operate AI-driven applications on Azure. In this fully online program, learners use AI models to solve real-world problems through automation, data insights, and generative AI solutions. Learners develop custom Microsoft 365 Copilot applications and implement models through hands-on projects with personalized support from industry advisors. Udacity’s Nanodegree program is available now, and for a limited time, learners can start their first lesson for free.
deeper collaboration
Accenture will continue to leverage Microsoft’s industry, functional, and generative AI consulting services to help Copilot transform functions such as finance, sales, marketing, and human resources. Microsoft also hired Accenture to establish four Microsoft Co-Innovation Labs that will foster blueprints for AI-driven design and experimentation, with immersive showcases within Accenture offices and Microsoft Co-Innovation Labs. Selected. In the lab, the companies will leverage assets developed by Copilot’s business transformation practice to build pilots and fuel reinvention.
Recognizing the value of Microsoft Copilot for business, Accenture leverages the latest Copilot agent technology to accelerate AI-enabled expansion and help clients transform business processes across enterprise functions and industry-specific operations.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading organizations build their digital cores, optimize operations, accelerate revenue growth, and strengthen their businesses. Service—Create Delivering tangible value through speed and scale. We are a people and innovation company with approximately 774,000 employees serving customers in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of today’s change, and our strong ecosystem relationships make us one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data, and AI with unparalleled industry experience, functional expertise, and global distribution capabilities. Our wide range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry This enables support for construction. relationship. Our success is measured by the 360-degree value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit www.accenture.com.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) creates AI-powered platforms and tools to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers. With a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, the technology company is committed to making AI widely available and doing so responsibly. I’m here.
About Avanade
Avanade is the world’s leading expert on Microsoft. Trusted by more than 5,000 clients around the world, we deliver trusted, AI-driven solutions that solve business challenges of all sizes and unleash the full potential of people and technology. We help organizations use Microsoft technologies to optimize their operations, drive growth, accelerate innovation, and deliver great customer experiences.
Together with Accenture, we combine global and local expertise in AI, cloud, data analytics, cybersecurity, and ERP to create human-centered experiences. We are committed to doing what matters to our clients, their customers, employees and partners by putting people first and designing solutions that have meaningful impact.
Since 2000, Avanade has leveraged its close partnership with Microsoft to bring the latest technology to market, serving as Microsoft’s “Client Zero” and winning Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of the Year award a record 19 times with Accenture. obtained.
As a purpose-driven and responsible organization, Avanade champions diversity, inclusion and sustainability, ensuring that our work not only benefits society but also drives business success.
Avanade. Let’s do something important. Learn more at www.avanade.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Forward-looking statements
Except for the historical information and discussion contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “may”, “would”, “should”, “probably”, “anticipate”, “aspire”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “plan” “will”, “believes”, “estimates”, “positions”, “outlooks”, “goals”, “targets” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or promises that any goals or objectives will be achieved. They also involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from any expressed or implied results. These risks include the possibility that the partnership may not achieve the expected benefits, and the risks and uncertainties associated with the development and use of AI that could harm our business, damage our reputation, or lead to legal consequences. including, but not limited to, potentially giving rise to legal or regulatory action. , uncertainties and other factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Accenture plc’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. . The statements in this news release speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Accenture does not intend to update the forward-looking statements in this news release or to make such statements We do not undertake any obligation to adapt to changes in expectations.
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Avanade
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