Accenture and Google Cloud Launch Joint Generative AI Center of Excellence 

NEW YORK and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2023 -- Accenture and Google Cloud have announced a new initiative to help businesses adopt generative AI to improve operations, create new lines of businesses, and build unique customer experiences.

Accenture and Google Cloud will create a global, joint generative AI Center of Excellence (CoE) that will provide businesses with the industry expertise, technical knowledge, and product resources to build and scale applications using Google Cloud's generative AI portfolio and accelerate time-to-value.

This is the latest step in Accenture and Google Cloud's work to help organizations reinvent their businesses with generative AI and unlock new growth opportunities. The new CoE will help enterprises determine the optimal large language model–including Google's latest model, Gemini–to use based on their business objectives. With improved performance, efficiency, and state-of-the-art capabilities, Gemini can significantly enhance how large enterprises build and scale with AI to complete highly complex and common tasks. The Gemini Pro API is available in public preview now, with Gemini Ultra coming early next year.

The new CoE will combine Accenture's deep model customization services and full-stack engineering services with Google Cloud's advanced generative AI technology, providing clients with:

• Specialized access to Accenture data and AI architects and engineers to develop advanced prompt engineering strategies for AI model optimization, fine-tuning, and foundation model customization—giving clients the unique resources needed to achieve business outcomes faster with generative AI. This will include access to Accenture's AI Navigator platform, curated industry datasets, and support for Google Cloud's Model Garden collection, with responsible AI controls embedded throughout to help meet ethical and governance requirements.
• Gemini and a wide selection of large language models (LLMs), including more than 130 models through Model Garden on Vertex AI. Vertex AI offers a full stack of AI and machine learning (ML) development tooling that helps enterprises quickly adopt and deploy generative AI capabilities within their organizations, with APIs, MLOps tools, and native integrations with BigQuery that enable them to easily train, test, and tune models on a single platform. The CoE will also help enterprises adopt Gemini, Google's most capable and flexible model, to transform business operations with its sophisticated reasoning capabilities.
• New rapid prototyping services on Google Cloud to accelerate development and deployment of generative AI applications in order to jumpstart new business capabilities across enterprise operations and industries. This will include powerful use cases that apply generative AI to improve enterprise search, enhance customer contact center experiences, automate unstructured document management and summarization, and more.
• The use of Duet AI for Developers to support code generation and completion for customers—bringing generative AI to software engineering teams to enhance every stage of the development lifecycle.
• Access to Google Cloud's differentiated, AI-optimized infrastructure, including Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and Google AI Hypercomputer for quick training, tuning, and serving of AI models.
• Industry-tested AI managed services and best practices, based on learnings from Accenture's more than 300 scaled generative AI projects and AI solutions, and 1,450+ AI patents and patent-pending applications.

The Accenture and Google Cloud CoE arrives at a critical juncture as organizations across diverse industries seek to scale the power of generative AI across their enterprise operations. For example, health insurance provider Independence Blue Cross has a long history of using emerging technologies to drive business value.

"At Independence Blue Cross, we've harnessed the power of AI to better manage massive amounts of data and show opportunities to improve member experiences and introduce new services," said Michael R. Vennera, executive vice president and chief strategy, corporate development and information officer, Independence Health Group. "We are looking forward to working with Accenture and Google Cloud through their new Center of Excellence to explore new ways generative AI can help proactively manage our members' health."

"As a catalyst for business reinvention, generative AI will transform how people work and access information," said Karthik Narain, group chief executive–Technology at Accenture. "Organizations want to move from experimentation with generative AI to scaled implementations faster. Accenture's deep expertise in managing and scaling large language models tailored for business needs, paired with tools like Accenture's model switchboard, can help accelerate adoption. Our latest joint investment with Google Cloud can help clients drive quicker business results, as well as long-term value from their generative AI applications."

"Accenture is a leader in providing AI services that help enterprises successfully implement generative AI and accelerate business transformation," said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. "Through our joint center of excellence, enterprises across industries have access to leading technical experts and engineers that can address their most complex business challenges and quickly begin creating value from Google Cloud's advanced generative AI technology."

Additionally, Accenture will also expand its own internal use of Google Cloud technology by making Duet AI for Developers accessible to thousands of its software engineers—enabling new and expert developers with sequential and context-sensitive coding suggestions to accelerate software development.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world's leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 733,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world's leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities.

About Google Cloud

Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business and industry. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology, and tools that help developers build more sustainably. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

Source: Google Cloud