Convergence and Collaboration: Ah-Ha Moments from MIT Accenture Forum

In November and December, I had an opportunity to participate in the “Partners in Possible” forum, the first collaboration from our newly formed MIT Accenture Convergence Initiative for Industry and Technology. It was an energizing and humbling experience.

The virtual event (held for a few hours per week over five weeks) brought together Accenture leaders—industry, strategy, technology and innovation experts—with distinguished MIT faculty in areas such as open learning, computer science, business management and sustainability.

Our agenda? Nothing short of exploring how the convergence of industry and technology will transform global business, what it means for the future of society, and how organizations can capture these opportunities.

The forum was a really engaging experience for me, both as a fan of emerging technologies and lifelong learner. With today’s rapid pace of change, everyone needs to have a learning mindset. In this sense, Partners in Possible was like going back to university with some of the brightest thought leaders in business and academia.

The most exciting part of our collaboration was the mind-blowing, futuristic thinking we developed to help solve some of the world’s hardest problems. I’m talking about really “out there” ideas. Examples include:

• Using AI and robotics to reduce the carbon footprint of industry and reverse the course of global warming.
• Enabling full employment for people globally through a combination of cloud computing and liquid workforce principles.
• Transitioning to a circular supply chain with the help of 5G and quantum computing so that industrial clusters can operate an order of magnitude more efficiently.

Our process to form this thinking was analogous to a chemical reaction. Each business+academic team was assigned a global issue, and the variety of experienced minds and differing perspectives was a huge strength. Using research, insights and provocative thinking from both Accenture and MIT, we explored various angles of each problem and developed ways to shape industry and technology convergence to improve the future for all people. Our innovation “catalyst” was facilitation from ?WhatIf!, which is part of Accenture.

Teams developed pitches on the most promising ideas and an action plan to take them forward. This included more clarity into Accenture’s role in bringing business value to our clients, their customers and the world. This is possible, in part, because Accenture sits at a unique juncture—providing not only a wide range of industry and technology services, but also established ecosystem partnerships and government relationships.

Unpacking my “ah-ha” moments

As for personal reflections, I gained a deeper understanding of the interconnection between the disruptive technologies we studied—such as how advances in robotics are being enabled by 5G networks and AI, and how the Workforce of the Future will be heavily impacted by changes in supply chain and 3D printing. These “ah-ha’s” surprised me. Even though I see these technologies every day, their possible combinatorial impacts weren’t apparent, which was part of the point of attending the forum, too!

We’re also seeing an extreme level of convergence in industry. High-tech companies are becoming financial services providers and products companies are morphing into healthcare ecosystem providers. As the boundaries between industries become more porous, new possibilities arise for businesses that are ready to embrace change.

Our discussion about cross-industry innovation led to another ah-ha moment for me: the interconnected, converged world needs collaboration more than ever. Governments, businesses, non-profits and people must cooperate and work together to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. This includes new incentives for competitors in both business and industry to collaborate, supporting responsible and sustainable development and growth for society. Accenture has an important role to play in stimulating this collaboration.

Expanding the learning

While I truly miss the experience of in-person learning with the open exchange of ideas, the online forum took our alliance with MIT to a whole new level, and I foresee many productive collaborations to come.

The insights from Partners in Possible will continue to influence my thinking as I begin 2021. Together, all of Accenture has some inspiring work ahead, to help bring these convergence opportunities to clients and shape these moonshot concepts into new markets, business models and ecosystems.

Being a “university” student again also reminded me just how much the learning process itself has evolved from one-size-fits-all to much more incremental and personalized experiences. At Accenture, our training programs are on demand and adaptive, meaning our people can learn in ways that suit them best. And learn we must—the pace of technology change demands it.

This is an important lesson for enterprises everywhere. Continuous learning and relevant skill building make workforces future-ready at every level—from experienced leaders to incoming recruits. The ability to create innovative and successful connections between technology and industry is a defining quality of leading businesses. And this opportunity begins with building employees’ awareness through continual investment in career-long learning, which is one of the many benefits of working at Accenture. To learn more, visit us at Accenture Careers.