Accenture CEO Julie Sweet Says Rapid AI Development Impacts Traditional Consulting Business
Accenture's stock fell 18% on Thursday, hitting a new low since 2017, after the company lowered its full-year revenue growth guidance to no more than 4%.
As of the end of May, new orders for the quarter were $19.3 billion, a 3% year-on-year decline, with market value shrinking from a post-pandemic peak of over $200 billion to less than $80 billion; CEO Julie Sweet acknowledged that AI is reducing clients' reliance on consultants, and external factors such as the Middle East conflict led to a $100 million revenue shortfall.
This event drove investors to sell traditional IT service stocks, shifting funds to pure AI startups and infrastructure companies. Established players like Accenture are under pressure but are accelerating their cybersecurity strategy through a $9 billion acquisition budget, benefiting AI technology suppliers rather than traditional outsourcing models.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Accenture's market value surged during the post-pandemic consulting boom, but it has repeatedly expanded its digital and cloud services through acquisitions in recent years. Under Julie Sweet's leadership, the focus on AI consulting still struggles to alleviate investor concerns about business model disruption.
In terms of capital strategy, the company significantly increased its acquisition budget to $9 billion, spending $4.2 billion this quarter to acquire majority stakes in runZero, NetRise, and Dragos, aiming to tap into new growth points in AI defense through cybersecurity to hedge against traditional business decline.
Similar to traditional consulting giants like IBM or Deloitte during their cloud transformation struggles, Accenture is currently in the early stages of transitioning to AI technology replacing traditional services. While acquisitions are accelerating, core revenue pressures highlight industry reshuffling.
Essentially, this is a technological replacement: the rapid development of AI is restructuring corporate IT spending, weakening reliance on traditional consulting while shifting towards automation tools and startup solutions, driving capital from established service providers to AI-native companies.
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