A New Frontier: Lessons From Applied Intelligence North America (NA) Innovation Week 2022

It’s no stretch to say that artificial intelligence (AI) touches nearly every aspect of our lives. Whether it’s curating the music we listen to or completely reimaging the way organizations operate, the transformative power of AI cannot be understated. In our survey of over 1,600 C-suite executives from some of the world’s largest organizations, we found that nearly 75% of companies have already integrated AI into their business strategies and reworked their cloud plans to achieve AI success.

At Accenture, we believe that AI can be more than a technological marvel. Rather, AI is an opportunity—a chance to look within and find new paths toward innovation, agility and growth. We’ve partnered with tens of thousands of clients across nearly every industry, and with each collaboration, we’ve discovered new ways to combine AI with other technologies to achieve some truly incredible results.

The orchestration of AI, automation and advanced analytics that goes above and beyond clients’—and sometimes our own—expectations is what we call Applied Intelligence. From preserving names that would have been forgotten by history to making the planet greener through carbon-capturing technology, our Applied Intelligence division has seen it all.

Last week, we gathered for our annual Applied Intelligence NA Innovation Week: A digital festival where participants learn about the exciting work we’re doing with our clients and engage with some of the leading minds in AI. The week was broken up into three days, each with its own theme: Inspiration, Innovation, Immersion. Here’s a quick recap of what we discussed.

Inspiration

During our first day, we saw firsthand how AI is being put into action. I spoke with Sanjeev Vohra , Michael Lyman , and Scott Brown , about the ways in which data and AI are helping us tackle some of our organization’s greatest challenges.?

?From there, we heard from Kevin Lang, CEO of Agerpoint, about AI’s role in maintaining a sustainable food supply chain and spoke with Nobel Laureate (and dear friend) Saul Perlmutter about Accenture’s collaboration with the Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS). On top of that, we connected with Terry Hemken , and Richard Clarke , about the ways we’re making healthcare more seamless and accessible through the Living Health platform.

?Last, but certainly not least, Tracy Ring spoke with Asha Saxena , and Lan Guan , about WLDA’s mission as well as the Chief Data and Analytics Officer forum that Guan leads. All in all, it was a fascinating first day and a great way to kick off the festivities.

Case Study Highlight

One case study I want to highlight is the work we’re doing with an organization that is dedicated to identifying and remembering victims of the Holocaust. We implemented an AI solution that shortens the 15-minute process of extracting and uploading documents to 20 seconds. With 950 plus Accenture volunteers participating across 70 plus cities, we’ve committed ourselves to the idea—and the mission—that every name counts.??

Innovation

During our second day, we discussed how 埃森哲 is constantly on the cusp of AI breakthroughs. Tracy Ring kicked things off by speaking with Prithvijit Roy and Shiva Kommareddi , about the requirements to accelerate AI in the workplace as well as the value of reinventing the enterprise with AI. ?

From there, we hosted a panel with our NA leadership team composed of Kate Hogan , Dawn Anderson , James Crowley , and Dave Edmondson . Whether they were discussing how clients’ appetites for AI are changing or the ways in which AI is taking different business functions into the future, each leader left us with best practices and insights to reflect on. Afterward, we heard from Eric Wong , Elizabeth Cannon , Divya Kaur and Meera K. about our Consulting Development Program—who offered some quick tips for those curious about getting into the field.

Finally, Harsh Kar , led a conversation with one of our partners at Google and at a Global CPG Manufacturer. During the conversation, Pallab Deb , and the CPG executive, discussed the ways Accenture is working with Google to help the CPG manufacturer make the most out of its data.

Case Study Highlight:

One of the more fascinating stories to come out of our conversation was the way AI is innovating the mining industry. Whether it’s turning historical exploration data into actionable insights or architecting a global, digital laboratory where data is accessible in real time, we’re working with our partners to make operations more sustainable, responsible and efficient.

Immersion

On our final day, we explored the evolving frontier that is the Metaverse. I was honored to kick things off by having a fireside chat with Jimmy Etheredge , about the World Economic Forum’s ambitions when it comes to AI, as well as the unique culture we’ve fostered here at Accenture. Afterward, Fernando Lucini and Andy Hickl shared their thoughts on the future of AI/ML and how we can meet our clients wherever they are on their AI journey.

From there, we had a great panel discussion with our industry leaders across Applied Intelligence. Joyce Kline , Sanjay Mamidipalli , Manish Dasaur , and Joseph Fiorentino , all came together to discuss why AI is so important to our clients right now and the trends they’re seeing in their respective sectors. After that, Stuart Henderson shared his thoughts on why he thinks Accenture is uniquely positioned to address our clients’ greatest challenges in these rapid moments of change.

Participants then put on their avatars’ best and met us in the Metaverse, where we discussed the top five innovation stories happening within Applied Intelligence, as well as congratulated the 90 submissions (and winners) in our Innovation Contest. The day wrapped with our Market Unit leads sharing their perspectives on the three areas where they see AI innovation having the greatest impact. I want to thank Lee Barrett , Craig Vaughan , Krish Banerjee , and Lascelles Forrester , for all their incredible insights. Looking back, I find it incredible that we fit so much into three short days.

Looking Ahead

While we certainly learned a lot during last week’s festivities, I thought it was important that we walk away with some key insights. Here are five areas where leaders should be focusing their attention if they want to bring AI to the forefront of their operations.

Champion AI as a strategic priority: All it takes is a first step to develop bold, innovative AI strategies that spur innovation. However, this push must come from the top. The C-suite can lead the charge by fostering a culture of innovation within their organization, embracing exploration and learning across every business unit.

Invest heavily in talent: Once leaders have a clear AI strategy, their second step should be investing heavily in creating data and AI fluency across their organization. Hosting AI trainings for the entire workforce is a great way for leaders to not only amplify their people’s AI proficiency, but also scale human and AI collaborations.

Industrialize AI tools and teams: The third step for leaders is embedding AI into the core of operations. What does that mean? It means creating an operational data and AI platform that taps into companies’ talent, technology and data ecosystems. While this will touch every facet of the business, the core should be managed by a dedicated interdisciplinary team of machine learning engineers, data scientists, data-domain experts and systems engineers.

Design AI responsibility: As companies discover new opportunities with AI, the fourth step should be ensuring compliance with laws, regulations and ethical norms. This is critical to building a sound data and AI foundation as the potential for regulatory changes in many countries is constant. Leaders need to design, develop and deploy AI with the goal of empowering employees and the business while having a positive impact on their surrounding community.

Prioritize the long term and short term: The fifth step requires leaders to exercise foresight and double down on their AI investments. However, as the adage goes, it’s all about the journey rather than the destination. Transforming your organization with AI is a continuous process in which the investments are only as sound as an organization’s strategy. Leaders should seek to expand the scope of AI to deliver maximum impact while embedding AI solutions across the enterprise.