Accenture has agreed to acquire Faculty, a U.K.-based AI-native services and products company, in a move designed to deepen Accenture’s applied AI bench and expand its ability to help clients redesign critical business processes with “safe and secure” AI. Accenture said the transaction will strengthen its capacity to deliver AI systems that produce tangible outcomes, particularly in high-stakes environments. In these mission-critical environments, reliability, governance, and accountability are central requirements.
Founded in 2014, Faculty has built a reputation in the U.K. and other markets for deploying applied AI across both public- and private-sector organizations. The company’s work spans AI strategy, AI safety, and the design, build and implementation of high-performance AI systems. Accenture framed the acquisition as a capability and talent expansion that supports enterprise-scale adoption of AI, with safety and ethics embedded throughout development rather than treated as a late-stage compliance step.
A central pillar of Faculty’s offering is its commitment to AI safety, which it describes as being incorporated across the AI lifecycle—from development and validation through predictions and ongoing monitoring. Accenture highlighted that Faculty’s approach is intended to address risks such as bias, privacy concerns and “unexplainable outcomes,” reflecting the growing pressure on enterprises and governments to deploy AI systems that are transparent, auditable and resilient. Faculty also works with leading AI labs, including OpenAI and Anthropic, and engages with the UK AI Security Institute and other organizations on baseline safety assessments for general-purpose models.
Upon closing, Faculty’s team of more than 400 AI professionals—data scientists and AI engineers among them—will integrate into Accenture to help scale what Accenture called “world-class” AI capabilities for clients. The deal also includes a notable leadership change: Faculty CEO Marc Warner will become Accenture’s chief technology officer and join the company’s Global Management Committee, while continuing to serve as CEO of Faculty. Accenture positioned Warner’s appointment as part of a broader technology vision and strategy push as clients move from experimentation to large-scale transformation.
The acquisition also brings Faculty Frontier, Faculty’s enterprise decision intelligence product, into Accenture’s product portfolio. Accenture said Frontier connects data, AI models and business processes into a unified decision system, using advanced simulation and optimization to help organizations make faster and higher-quality decisions. Accenture and Faculty pointed to existing collaboration in life sciences, including work supporting Novartis, where Frontier is being applied to improve the economics of clinical trial planning and execution—an area where time, cost and operational complexity can materially affect product timelines and outcomes.
Accenture also said it intends to build on Faculty’s Fellowship Program, an early-career training and placement pathway designed to help STEM PhD and master’s graduates and post-doctoral researchers transition from academia to industry. Accenture plans to extend the program beyond the U.K., positioning it as a talent development lever not only for Accenture’s workforce but also, potentially, for client organizations seeking scarce AI expertise.
Faculty’s track record in mission-critical settings was underscored by its work during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it built an Early Warning System for the UK National Health Service. According to the announcement, the system was used daily by NHS leadership to forecast patient demand and to help allocate critical care resources across the country—an example Accenture cited to illustrate Faculty’s experience applying AI in operational environments where failure carries real-world consequences.
The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. Financial terms were not disclosed. Accenture noted that the companies have worked together since December 2023, when Accenture was named a preferred implementation partner for Faculty Frontier—an existing relationship that Accenture now plans to deepen through full integration.
KEY QUOTES:
“With Faculty, we will further accelerate our strategy to bring trusted, advanced AI to the heart of our clients’ businesses. I’m pleased to welcome the Faculty team to Accenture and look forward to Marc’s contribution shaping our technology vision and strategy as Chief Technology Officer.”
Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO, Accenture
“Our vision has always been a world in which safe AI delivers widespread benefits to humanity. We have spent the last ten years supporting our clients to bring this world about, step by step. As AI advances rapidly, the ambition of our clients is now, rightly, no less than the reinvention of their business. I am delighted that by teaming up with Accenture, we have everything in place to support AI transformation from start to finish.”
Marc Warner, CEO, Faculty (incoming CTO, Accenture)
“Accenture bridges the best of technology and human ingenuity to maximize returns on AI investments. Together with Faculty we will assemble a powerhouse of talent helping clients make AI work in the real world—linking data, processes, and people so value shows up faster, orchestrated through multiple combinations of bespoke client specific solutions, partner solutions and Faculty FrontierTM. This will help our clients stay competitive, pursue sovereign solutions, and reinvent their operations with transparency and resilience at a critical time.”
Manish Sharma, Chief Strategy and Services Officer, Accenture
