Accenture, Microsoft And Avanade Help Enterprises Reinvent Business Functions And Industries With Generative AI And Copilot

Accenture, Avanade, and Microsoft announced that they are launching a copilot business transformation practice and co-investing in new capabilities, solutions and training to help organizations securely and responsibly reinvent their business functions with generative and agentic AI and Copilot technologies.

“The investment we are making with Microsoft takes our long-standing partnership to the next level, helping our clients accelerate and integrate AI at scale as a catalyst for reinvention,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “The powerful combination of Microsoft Copilot, agentic and generative AI technologies, and Avanade’s and Accenture’s deep industry and functional expertise will help enable enterprises to reimagine their processes and operations, discover innovative ways of working, strengthen their security and open up new pathways to value.”

The Copilot business transformation practice will provide the technology and industry experience clients need to help accelerate and expand their 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 their data and gen AI to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and drive growth. The companies will help clients leverage Microsoft’s gen AI-powered security capabilities to elevate the efficiency of their security operations and help analysts make better, faster decisions.

The practice consists of 5,000 professionals from Accenture and Avanade, supported by Microsoft product specialists who will work closely with the Accenture Center for Advanced AI. The team will tap into more than 50,000 Microsoft Copilot-trained professionals across Accenture and Avanade to help deliver industry and functional transformation. Clients will have access to specialized engineers and early access to the latest technologies, including the Accenture AI Refinery™, to create custom models and solutions. Accenture will leverage learnings from its use and deployment of 100,000 Microsoft 365 Copilots and agents, with a commitment to expand to approximately 200,000 users.

“We are pleased to deepen our collaboration with Accenture to help our mutual customers develop AI-first business processes responsibly and securely, while helping them drive market differentiation,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft. “By bringing together Copilots and human ambition, paired with the autonomous capabilities of an agent, we can accelerate AI transformation for organizations across industries and help them realize successful business outcomes through pragmatic innovation.”

Accenture and Avanade have already developed agents to streamline workflows, boost revenue and enhance customer experience. For example, a supplier discovery and risk agent can deliver real-time market insights, agile supply chain responses and better vendor selection, which could result in up to 15% cost savings. A procure-to-pay agent could improve efficiency by up to 40% and enhance vendor relations and satisfaction by addressing urgent payment requirements and avoiding disruptions of key services. They have also invested in building functional and industry Copilot solutions that are delivering client value, including:

Udacity, part of Accenture LearnVantage, and Microsoft have co-created a new Azure Generative AI Engineer Nanodegree program to equip learners with the skills to design, build, and operationalize AI-driven applications on Azure. In this fully online program, learners will use AI models to solve real-world problems through automation, data insights, and generative AI solutions. Learners will 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 today and, for a limited time, learners can get started with the first lesson for free.

Accenture will continue to support Microsoft in the transformation of its functions – including finance, sales, marketing and HR – with Copilot, leveraging its industry, functional and generative AI consulting services. Microsoft also selected Accenture to establish four Microsoft Co-Innovation Labs to incubate blueprints for AI-led design and experimentation, with immersive showcases within Accenture offices and Microsoft Co-Innovation Labs. At the labs, the companies will build pilots, leveraging assets developed by the Copilot business transformation practice, to inspire reinvention.

Having seen the value of Microsoft Copilot in its business, Accenture will leverage the latest Copilot agentic technologies to facilitate AI enabled augmentation and help transform clients’ business processes across corporate functions and industry-specific operations.

Source: Accenture, Avanade, and Microsoft media announcement