In this exclusive interview on location at the ServiceNow Knowledge24 conference, Dave Kanter of Accenture talks with Acceleration Economy’s Tom Smith about customers’ GenAI aspirations and use cases, AI’s impact on employees, reinvention opportunities, and the firm’s relationship with ServiceNow.
Highlights
Customers and ServiceNow Engagement (01:05)
Kanter manages the Accenture team that advises customers and implements the ServiceNow platform. As one of ServiceNow’s largest customers (Accenture has 730,000 employees), his team provides services back to Accenture for implementation of the platform; it also leads certification and training on ServiceNow across all the 49 countries where it operates; certifications have increased 10% to 20% from more than 30,000.
Accenture at Knowledge24 (03:27)
The company had a new presence at Knowledge24: the Accenture Reinvention lounge with a big focus on GenAI. It’s part of the AI Lighthouse program with ServiceNow and NVIDIA; the program’s goal is to fast-track design and development of GenAI capabilities for ServiceNow. Accenture believes every organization has the power to use technology — data and AI — to reinvent every part of their business. The lounge features the company’s latest GenAI accelerators built on ServiceNow.
ServiceNow Products and Microsoft Partnership (05:45)
Kanter’s had 50 to 60 customer conversations through the Lighthouse program. ServiceNow customers regularly ask about Microsoft and how the companies’ respective AI platforms (Copilot from Microsoft and Now Assist from ServiceNow) are going to work together. “This is really responding to all the customer feedback over the last couple of months, so I love the speed that ServiceNow and Microsoft have moved.” While customers will have questions, “I think that’s going to be hugely beneficial for everybody.”
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GenAI Early Use Cases and Lessons (08:13)
There are 10 customers in the program and they’re in the 100- to 200-day range of their deployment. There are two main categories of lessons: Companies are trying to figure out how to get employees to embrace the technology and drive adoption. Accenture research finds over 95% of employees believe GenAI will help them do their work better, while most of them are concerned whether everyone in the organization will be better off. It’s important to “skill up” employees and create new roles.
From a technology standpoint, customers are seeing 50% to 70% of IT incidents being closed with an “assist.” Tests with software developers are showing 50% speed improvements. That frees up capacity for higher-value work.
Future AI Outlook (14:11)
Kanter’s especially excited about opportunities within industries. The conference showcased government services and how the public sector can capitalize on AI. There’s great innovation in improving citizen and employee services. That’s true in the US (state and federal government) and in other countries.
