In the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the corporate world is moving towards rapid change. In this series, IT and consulting giant Accenture has given a clear message to its senior employees that if AI tools are not used regularly in work, then the path to promotion can be difficult.
According to the report, the company has informed associate directors and senior managers via email that regular use of AI tools will be required for promotion to leadership roles. That is, in performance appraisal it will now also be seen how much and how the employees are using AI in their work.
This step has been taken at a time when the company has already laid off 11,000 employees. The company believed that it was not possible to “reskill” these employees in accordance with AI. In the last three years, the company has spent about $ 2 billion as severance package.
Speaking at the recently held India AI Impact Summit, the company’s CEO Julie Sweet said, “Companies must be prepared to change the way they run their processes, from how they have been working for the last few decades. Companies need to invest in reshaping their workforce.”
The company is making AI the center of its future strategy. Accenture has teamed up with NVIDIA to develop the “AI Refinery” platform, which Julie Sweet previously said “provides companies with opportunities to reimagine their processes and operations.”
Accenture isn’t the only company pushing employees to adopt AI.
Microsoft told employees in June 2025 that “the use of AI is no longer an option.” Microsoft executive Julia Lewis had asked managers to include AI use in performance reviews. CEO Satya Nadella has also reportedly indicated to senior executives that if they do not have confidence in the company’s AI strategy, they should consider other options.
Similarly, Meta started tracking employees’ AI usage from October last year. Google CEO Sundar Pichai had also said that employees who do not use AI will be left behind.
According to the report, Accenture will track employee log-in and usage data across its in-house AI platforms such as AI Refinery. This will give the company a clear picture of which employees are actively using AI tools.
However, this policy will not be applicable to all employees. Employees in 12 European countries and divisions that handle U.S. government contracts are currently exempt from this requirement due to regulatory or contractual restrictions. It is also not clear whether such a condition will be applicable to entry-level employees also in future.
More than one lakh IT employees have been laid off in the last one year, including from companies like Amazon, TCS, Infosys and Accenture. Companies are believing that productivity can be increased and headcount can be reduced through AI.
It is clear that the tech industry is now moving rapidly towards an AI-driven future. In such a situation, the message for employees is clear—adoption of AI is no longer an option, but is becoming a condition for career progress.
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