Accenture creates Chief Information & Asset Engineering role
Global professional services company Accenture has announced that Rajendra Prasad will become its Chief Information and Asset Engineering Officer, a new role that the company says will oversee all internal technology development and support for Accenture systems for clients.
Accenture also reported that Penelope Prett, who until now had served as its CIO, would become Global Lead for Accenture’s Workday Business Group.
Accenture leadership changes integral to company’s strategic growth ambitions
“These leadership changes are integral to our strategic growth ambitions as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation and foster deeper collaboration with our partners to deliver even greater value to our clients,” said Manish Sharma, Accenture’s Chief Operating Officer. “With Rajendra’s appointment, we continue to pioneer both internal technology and asset engineering to drive new performance frontiers for Accenture and our clients.”
A respected leader with more than 28 years of industry experience, Prasad has focused on differentiating Accenture by driving automation and innovation across the IT lifecycle, bringing new solutions, and maximising leverage of Accenture's ecosystem partners and capabilities to clients.
Prett, meanwhile, succeeds Gloria Samuels in the role of global lead for Accenture’s Workday Business Group. In addition to being a dynamic and innovative CIO, Prett possesses an extensive background in technology, consulting, and outsourcing services across multiple industries. She successfully led the implementation of Workday to the company’s more than 700,000 people, one of the largest Workday deployments in the world.
Samuels will retire on August 14 after an outstanding career at Accenture during which time she was instrumental in driving Accenture’s partnership with Workday and elevating it to new heights. This includes signing a first-ever co-innovation agreement with Workday to expand industry financials offerings for clients.
“Rajendra’s deep expertise in artificial intelligence, automation, and intelligent assets makes him the perfect fit to accelerate our internal transformation,” said Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Executive – Technology and Chief Technology Officer, Accenture. “Penelope brings significant experience delivering technology and consulting services, and we are confident her leadership will enable us to unlock new innovations and new possibilities for clients. At the same time, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Gloria Samuels for her extraordinary contributions to Accenture over the years."
As recently reported by Technology Magazine, Accenture earlier this year announced that it would invest US$3bn in AI, doubling its AI talent in the process.
“There is unprecedented interest in all areas of AI, and the substantial investment we are making in our Data & AI practice will help our clients move from interest to action to value, and in a responsible way with clear business cases,” said Julie Sweet, Accenture’s Chair and CEO.
“Companies that build a strong foundation of AI by adopting and scaling it now, where the technology is mature and delivers clear value, will be better positioned to reinvent, compete and achieve new levels of performance. Our clients have complex environments, and at a time when the technology is changing rapidly, our deep understanding of ecosystem solutions allows us to help them navigate quickly and cost effectively to make smart decisions.”
