Accenture Urges Employees To Upskill In AI, Data Science, Blockchain

In a world where the technology is constantly changing and evolving Mohan Sekhar, senior managing director and lead at Accenture Advanced Technology Centres in India has said that it was time to move on from generals qualifications to expertise in niche subjects. Speaking to a leading daily, Sekhar emphasised how things in the tech sector are constantly changing and how Accenture was asking their employees to learn more about new sectors like artificial intelligence, analytics, data science, internet of things and blockchain, among others. Sekhar said:

"The generalist management cadre has got wiped out in Accenture in the last few years. We needed an innovation culture, subject matter experts. We told our people that they have to be closer to the tech and the industry domain."

Case in point is their 4,00,000 sq ft innovation lab in Bengaluru, which has now begun to generate millions of dollars. The one-year-old facility reportedly saw over 120 workshops and other innovative vehicles for solutions. Sekhar also said that Accenture was also seeing significant growth from the innovations contests run in the company throughout the country. In the first year, the contest received about 2,000 ideas from about 4,000 employees. In the current fourth season of the contest, the company has reportedly received over 40,000 ideas from 60,000 employees. “About 1,000 ideas will get deployed in client locations. The idea is to move to innovation-at-scale,” he added. Sekhar proudly explains how Accenture had to almost change the DNA of the company. He told a leading daily that till about five years ago they were known as India's "development centre". Now he says that Accenture has become an innovation-led organisation.