Expanded technical capabilities will help
clients scale AI with purpose that meets increasing cross-industry
demands
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has announced that it has entered into an
agreement to acquire Clarity Insights, a U.S.-based data
consultancy with deep data science, artificial intelligence (AI)
and machine learning (ML) expertise. The acquisition will add
nearly 350 employees, along with a strong portfolio of
accelerators, which can help organizations more quickly realize
value from their data, to Accenture's Applied Intelligence
business. These additions will further equip clients with leading
capabilities to meet the growing demand for enterprise-scale AI,
analytics and automation solutions.
Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Chicago, with additional
locations throughout the United States, Clarity Insights is a
leading provider of data science and AI/ML engineering capabilities
for large enterprises, and a strategic partner to clients across a
range of industries, particularly healthcare, financial services
and insurance. Recognized as one of the Chicago Tribune’s Top
Workplaces 2019, their focus on serving clients’ needs end to end –
from building the right data and AI-enabled strategy, to
implementing that technical strategy in meeting business goals –
creates a strong foundation to transform business processes to
embed and scale AI with deeper insights from data.
“Clarity Insights’s combination of strong technical talent,
combined with deep industry expertise, will fortify and broaden our
ability to help our clients scale AI across their businesses,” said
Athina Kanioura, chief analytics officer and global lead for
Applied Intelligence at Accenture. “Their focus on insight-driven
transformation for healthcare bolsters Accenture’s capabilities and
is particularly critical now, when our research shows that 87% of
healthcare executives surveyed report that they know how to pilot,
but struggle to scale AI across their business.”
“We were drawn to Accenture, in large part, because of the
synergies in how we approach clients,” said Neil Huse, president
and CEO, Clarity Insights. “Fully understanding clients’ business
goals and objectives is the first step to a successful AI
deployment. From there our team can pull together the right data
foundation, tools and accelerators that will smooth their path to
adoption. With Accenture, we’ll be able to accelerate this shared
vision for success and help more clients get there, more
quickly.”
In addition to organically growing talent, Accenture’s strategic
approach to acquisitions is designed to ensure the right
capabilities are in place to meet existing, as well as emerging,
client needs with speed and scale. Clarity Insights’s bench of deep
industry, technical, and business experts builds upon the 2018 U.S.
acquisitions of Knowledgent and Kogentix, and will play a pivotal
role in strengthening Accenture’s growing analytics, AI and ML/data
engineering business in North America. Global growth in AI client
engagements has also served as a driver for recent Applied
Intelligence acquisitions of Pragsis Bidoop in Spain and Analytics8
in Australia. In its 2019 fiscal year, Accenture invested nearly
US$1.2 billion globally on 33 acquisitions to acquire critical
skills and capabilities in strategic, high-growth areas of the
market.
Accenture Applied Intelligence employs more than 20,000
professionals, working to help clients scale AI, including 6,000
data scientists, data engineers and AI professionals worldwide. It
has received several recognitions from leading industry analyst
firms in 2019, including being named a worldwide leader in AI
vendor services by IDC.
Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing
conditions, including antitrust clearance. Financial terms of the
acquisition were not disclosed.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions — underpinned by the world’s largest
delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 492,000 people
serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
Applied Intelligence is Accenture’s approach to scaling AI for
our clients. We embed AI-powered data, analytics and automation
capabilities into business workflows to accelerate time to value.
Our expertise in defining end-to-end strategy, combined with deep
data infrastructure capabilities, cognitive services and
industrialized accelerators help smooth clients’ path to AI
adoption, extending human capabilities and supporting clients in
scaling AI responsibly. Recognized as a leader by industry
analysts, we collaborate with a powerful global alliance,
innovation and delivery network to help clients deploy and scale AI
within any market and industry. Follow @AccentureAI and visit
www.accenture.com/appliedintelligence.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained
herein, statements in this news release may constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,”
“will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,”
“plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,”
“outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these
forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of
risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These
include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and Clarity
Insights will not be able to close the transaction in the time
period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties’
ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction
might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture;
Accenture’s results of operations could be adversely affected by
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and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’
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if Accenture is unable to protect its intellectual property rights
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accounting standards or in the estimates and assumptions Accenture
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Accenture may be subject to criticism and negative publicity
related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks,
uncertainties and other factors discussed under the “Risk Factors”
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and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and
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of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to
update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or
to conform such statements to actual results or changes in
Accenture’s expectations.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191213005033/en/
Katy Rosati Accenture +1 917 452 6662
kathryn.rosati@accenture.com
Tina Janczura Accenture +1 312 693 0188
tina.janczura@accenture.com
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