Who needs Accenture in the age of AI?

The self-styled reinvention powerhouse faces its toughest job yet—remaking itself

WHO IS consulting good for? Consultants, obviously. Chief executives, who can blame failure on bad outside advice and take credit for successful counsel. Also, for the industry’s one listed behemoth, its shareholders. Between the start of 2015 and the end of 2024 Accenture, which split off from its accounting sibling in 2000 and went public a year later, generated a total return (including dividends) of around 370%, handily outdoing not just the S&P 500 index but also Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, rival redoubts of advisory smugness. As America’s stockmarket climbed to an all-time high in February, the firm was worth $250bn, more than either investment bank.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Will AI take out Accenture?”

From the June 28th 2025 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

The world’s top condom-maker is getting squeezed

Will Karex break under pressure?

Franchising has quietly made countless Americans rich

In the age of AI, running a McDonald’s may soon look a lot more appealing

Why you should (almost) always look on the bright side of life

The benefits—and dangers—of optimism

Can an Italian company disrupt Germany’s broken railway industry?

Deutsche Bahn could soon have a rival

A new mega-deal shows how AI has turned utilities into hot property

NextEra and Dominion must now win over regulators

How Star Wars went from space opera to soap opera

Disney turned its flagship film franchise into TV fodder. Can it go back to the big screen?