December 13, 2019

Accenture Agrees to Acquire Clarity Insights, Boosting Artificial Intelligence Impact for Clients in North America

Expanded technical capabilities will help clients scale AI with purpose that meets increasing cross-industry demands

CHICAGO; Dec., 13 2019 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Clarity Insights, a U.S.-based data consultancy with deep data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) expertise. The acquisition will add nearly 350 employees, along with a strong portfolio of accelerators, which can help organizations more quickly realize value from their data, to Accenture’s Applied Intelligence business. These additions will further equip clients with leading capabilities to meet the growing demand for enterprise-scale AI, analytics and automation solutions.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Chicago, with additional locations throughout the United States, Clarity Insights is a leading provider of data science and AI/ML engineering capabilities for large enterprises, and a strategic partner to clients across a range of industries, particularly healthcare, financial services and insurance. Recognized as one of the Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces 2019, their focus on serving clients’ needs end to end – from building the right data and AI-enabled strategy, to implementing that technical strategy in meeting business goals – creates a strong foundation to transform business processes to embed and scale AI with deeper insights from data.

“Clarity Insights’s combination of strong technical talent, combined with deep industry expertise, will fortify and broaden our ability to help our clients scale AI across their businesses,” said Athina Kanioura, chief analytics officer and global lead for Applied Intelligence at Accenture. “Their focus on insight-driven transformation for healthcare bolsters Accenture’s capabilities and is particularly critical now, when our research shows that 87% of healthcare executives surveyed report that they know how to pilot, but struggle to scale AI across their business.”

“We were drawn to Accenture, in large part, because of the synergies in how we approach clients,” said Neil Huse, president and CEO, Clarity Insights. “Fully understanding clients’ business goals and objectives is the first step to a successful AI deployment. From there our team can pull together the right data foundation, tools and accelerators that will smooth their path to adoption. With Accenture, we’ll be able to accelerate this shared vision for success and help more clients get there, more quickly.”

In addition to organically growing talent, Accenture’s strategic approach to acquisitions is designed to ensure the right capabilities are in place to meet existing, as well as emerging, client needs with speed and scale. Clarity Insights’s bench of deep industry, technical, and business experts builds upon the 2018 U.S. acquisitions of Knowledgent and Kogentix, and will play a pivotal role in strengthening Accenture’s growing analytics, AI and ML/data engineering business in North America. Global growth in AI client engagements has also served as a driver for recent Applied Intelligence acquisitions of Pragsis Bidoop in Spain and Analytics8 in Australia. In its 2019 fiscal year, Accenture invested nearly US$1.2 billion globally on 33 acquisitions to acquire critical skills and capabilities in strategic, high-growth areas of the market.

Accenture Applied Intelligence employs more than 20,000 professionals, working to help clients scale AI, including 6,000 data scientists, data engineers and AI professionals worldwide. It has received several recognitions from leading industry analyst firms in 2019, including being named a worldwide leader in AI vendor services by IDC.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including antitrust clearance. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions — underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 492,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Applied Intelligence is Accenture’s approach to scaling AI for our clients. We embed AI-powered data, analytics and automation capabilities into business workflows to accelerate time to value. Our expertise in defining end-to-end strategy, combined with deep data infrastructure capabilities, cognitive services and industrialized accelerators help smooth clients’ path to AI adoption, extending human capabilities and supporting clients in scaling AI responsibly. Recognized as a leader by industry analysts, we collaborate with a powerful global alliance, innovation and delivery network to help clients deploy and scale AI within any market and industry. Follow @AccentureAI and visit www.accenture.com/appliedintelligence.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and Clarity Insights will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties’ ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture; Accenture’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and political conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the changing technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if Accenture is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; Accenture could face legal, reputational and financial risks if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; the markets in which Accenture operates are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; changes in Accenture’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture’s profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; Accenture’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; as a result of Accenture’s geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue to expand in its key markets around the world, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; Accenture’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; Accenture’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture does not successfully manage and develop its relationships with key alliance partners or fails to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected; Accenture might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; if Accenture is unable to protect its intellectual property rights or if Accenture’s services or solutions infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company loses its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, its business could be adversely affected; Accenture’s results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; changes to accounting standards or in the estimates and assumptions Accenture makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of Accenture’s contracts include fees subject to the attainment of targets or specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company’s revenues and impact its margins; Accenture might be unable to access additional capital on favorable terms or at all and if the company raises equity capital, it may dilute its shareholders’ ownership interest in the company; Accenture may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” heading in Accenture plc’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s expectations.

# # #

Contacts:

Katy Rosati
Accenture
+1 917 452 6662
kathryn.rosati@accenture.com

Tina Janczura
Accenture
+1 312 693 0188
tina.janczura@accenture.com

Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and its logo are trademarks of Accenture.