Accenture has named Julie Sweet as CEO, effective September 1, 2019. Sweet will succeed interim CEO David Rowland, who will shift to executive chairman. Marge Magner, currently non-executive chair of the board, will resume her role as lead independent director.
Former Accenture CEO Pierre Nanterme stepped down from the global IT consulting and professional services firm in January 2019 and died later that month from cancer. Rowland has been running the company since that time.
Accenture has been growing through a mix of organic business expansion and acquisitions -- many of which focus on cloud, security and digital transformation opportunities. The company's overall acquisition budget for fiscal 2019 is $1.5 billion.
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet's Background
Sweet is a familiar name within Accenture and across the company's customer and strategic alliance ecosystem. Here are five factoids for partners to know:
1. Experience: Sweet is currently CEO of Accenture’s North America business -- the company’s largest geographic market. The North American business generated roughly $18 billion in revenue for fiscal 2018, while serving more than 70 percent of the Fortune 500, the company says.
2. Earlier Roles: Her previous roles at the company included Accenture’s general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer. She has been a member of Accenture’s senior leadership team for nearly a decade -- involved in such strategic areas as mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Accenture, Sweet was a partner for 10 years in the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.
3. Talent and Diversity: Sweet is working with leaders in business, education and government to create a national professional apprenticeship movement, Accenture says. Her goal: Address America's skills gap and create an inclusive innovation economy.
4. Accenture's Business Performance: Accenture confirmed that there is no change to the business outlook for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2019 that the company provided as part of its third-quarter fiscal 2019 earnings announcement on June 27, 2019. In other words, the company continues to execute against its stated business plan.
5. Accenture Acquisitions: Here's a detailed list of recent Accenture acquisitions along with their market focus. No doubt, Sweet will look to leverage those deals as the company seeks to scale its digital, cloud and cybersecurity efforts. Side note: Accenture also is a Top 100 MSSP, according to MSSP Alert.
