Accenture announced that it has agreed to acquire Faculty, a London-based AI company known for building real-world AI systems, reportedly for $1B.
The deal still needs regulatory approval, and financial details were not shared.
The acquisition is part of Accenture’s push to help large organisations utilise artificial intelligence more safely and practically across their core operations.
Once the deal closes, the Faculty’s team of more than 400 AI specialists will join Accenture. This includes experienced data scientists and AI engineers.
Faculty’s CEO, Marc Warner, will also take on a new role as Accenture’s Chief Technology Officer and join its Global Management Committee.
Before founding Faculty, Warner worked as a quantum physics researcher at Harvard and has advised the UK government on AI policy.
“With Faculty, we will further accelerate our strategy to bring trusted, advanced AI to the heart of our clients’ businesses,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “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.”
Design and deploy AI systems
Founded in 2014, Faculty has worked closely with public sector bodies and major enterprises to design and deploy AI systems that operate in high-stakes environments.
The company is best known for combining deep technical skills with a strong focus on AI safety and decision intelligence.
The UK company’s main product, Frontier, will also become part of Accenture’s AI product lineup. Frontier is a decision intelligence platform that connects data, AI models, and business processes to help organisations make faster and better decisions.
Accenture and Faculty are already using the product with companies like Novartis to improve how clinical trials are planned and run.
Faculty has built AI systems used in some of the UK’s most critical situations.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company developed an early warning system for the National Health Service.
The tool was used daily by senior NHS leaders to forecast patient demand and decide how to allocate intensive care resources across the country.
Manish Sharma, chief strategy and services officer at Accenture, added, “Accenture bridges the best of technology and human ingenuity to maximise 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.”
Accenture also plans to expand Faculty’s Fellowship Program, which helps PhD students and researchers move from academia into industry roles.
The programme has been successful in the UK and will now be rolled out more widely across Accenture and its client base.
The two companies have already been working together since late 2023, when Accenture became a preferred partner for the Frontier platform.
