Accenture buys Faculty to boost AI capabilities

This follows two years of collaboration between the two companies

Global solution provider Accenture has agreed to acquire Faculty, a London-based AI native services and products company, to support clients in reinventing business processes with AI solutions.

Founded in 2014, Faculty works with public and private sector clients to deploy AI solutions in the UK and other markets.

Its services include AI strategy, AI safety and the design, build and implementation of high-performance AI systems.

The British business already collaborates with organisation such as OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as with the UK AI Security Institute and other entities to perform baseline safety assessments of general-purpose AI models.

Following the transaction, Faculty’s workforce of over 400 AI native professionals will integrate with Accenture’s teams.

The AI company’s CEO Marc Warner will also become CTO of Accenture and join its global management committee.

As part of the acquisition, Faculty Frontier, the firm’s enterprise decision intelligence product, will join the vendor’s suite of offerings.

The acquiring firm also plans to expand globally Faculty’s Fellowship programme, which trains and supports STEM PhD and master’s graduates as well as post-doctoral researchers transition from academia to industry.

Both companies have collaborated since December 2023 when Accenture was confirmed as a preferred implementation partner for Faculty Frontier.

“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 of Accenture.

“I’m pleased to welcome the Faculty team to Accenture and look forward to [Warner]'s contribution shaping our technology vision and strategy as CTO."

Warner added: “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.”

This acquisition comes as AI M&A gains traction for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2025, explained John Holland, MD at investment banking organisation Corporate Finance Associates, in an interview with CRN UK’s sister publication CRN.

“This is the first calendar quarter I’ve ever observed where there was more than one meaningful AI transaction,” he said.