HIGHLIGHTS: Julie Sweet - CEO of Accenture

0:00Hi, everybody. Tune in to this short version of the podcast, which we do every Friday. For the long version, tune in on Wednesdays. Hi everyone, I'm Nicolai Tangen and today I'm in really good company with Judy Sweet, the CEO and chair of Accenture, which is one of the world's largest and most influential professional services companies. And under her leadership, Accenture has led the way in digital transformation, innovation and helping businesses worldwide to harness the power of technology. And we are lucky because in the fund, we own more than 1 % of the company worth more than$2 billion. So welcome, Judy.

0:35Thank you for having me today. Now, you employ more than 700 ,000 people, which is more people than in the whole of Oslo. And so how do you run a company like that? With a lot of help. So I've got a great leadership team. And we have a really good way of operating. So one of the things I first did when I became CEO was to actually change the way that we were organized so that we could be much closer to our clients and our people. Because as you scale, it's really important that your leaders are close to your people. Stupid question. What does Accenture actually do? It's a great question. So if you think about, we work for governments and for companies, but sticking with a company for a moment.

1:18So if you think about a company, we help our clients reinvent literally every part of their company using technology, data, and AI to do one of two things. To either grow more or to be more efficient. Like that's the very simple thing. So that means that we'll do everything from helping BBVA have their customers be able to join the bank in minutes instead of a week. So that's all about growth. To helping a company be able to take out major costs using technology and AI in their finance function. That's about efficiency. to helping clients who make things, so who manufacture things, digitize. So we helped Mars, for example, if you like Skittles, we helped make sure that you get the exact number of Skittles in your Skittle package, not one more or one less.

2:15And all of those things at the heart are combining technology, data, and AI with deep industry knowledge. Where do companies need the most help just now? Well, top of everyone's agenda is how do I use AI? Yeah. And what I would tell you that where they really need the most help still is that most companies today are not as digital as they need to be. No. So they haven't built the digital core that allows them to use AI. So they start with, help me with AI. And then very quickly, we are helping clients understand what does it take to actually be able to use AI. Now, I think in the past, you were more like a fast follower.

3:03And now you are a change agent. What does it take to install that type of culture in our firm? So, well, it's interesting, though. So when I joined Accenture, the CEO said two things. He said, I want to ask him about the culture. He said, we're all about change and we're fast followers. And so we then, that was in 2010. In 2013, we missed revenue for only, I think, the second time in our history. We knew that every business would be a digital business. And at that time, to be a digital business, you had to be an innovator. And so we were able to articulate that we wanted to keep the culture that embraces change.

3:39In fact, that would enable us to embrace digital. But we had to change the culture that was about being a fast follower. The most important thing I tell CEOs when they say I need a cultural change is can you articulate what you want to keep, what you need to change, and what you need to become? And so we said we need to move from fast follower to innovator. I will tell you, Nikolai, if you can just master that, you'll be able to change your culture. What are the other things you're looking for in consultants who you hire? So you mentioned the ability to learn. What are the other things? Well, just on the ability to learn, there's one question that we ask everyone, regardless of you're a consultant or you're working in technology or whatever you do, because we have a lot of different skills at Accenture.

4:25We say, what have you learned in the last six months? I share that with you because a lot of times people are asking me, well, how do I know if someone's a learner? And it's a very simple way to know. If someone can't answer that question, right? And by the way, we don't care if it's, I learned to bake a cake, right? If they can't answer that question, then we know that they're not a learner. So I wanted to share that because, you know, people are always looking for practical ways to assess whether someone's really a learner. Not unexpectedly, I'm going to ask you that question. So what have you learned the last six months?

4:58What have I learned? Well, I have so much about Gen AI. I'm spending all of my time at work learning completely about Gen AI. At home, I'm doing a lot of baking. I've never been a big baker, but I am learning to bake more. Let's change tack a bit and talk about your leadership. You mentioned that you have these programs where you map people's strength. What is your super strength? Strategy. So that's one of my super strengths. And Achiever is one of my super strengths. And Learner is one of my super strengths. So those are all in my top five. Okay. And you were a lawyer by training. I'm still a lawyer.

5:43But yes, I trained as a lawyer. What does that do to you? Does it help you or hold you back? I love being a lawyer because lawyers are trained to process an amazing amount of information in a short amount of time. And then they're asked to make a judgment. And when you think about being a CEO, for example, at any given time, I'm processing a ton of information. and I have to make a decision, right? And so the legal skills have allowed me both to be a good, just like the raw ability to process, but also to rapidly and objectively, you know, weigh the information in order to make a good decision.

6:23So I think it's one of the best trainings, especially now with so much change that anyone can have. Now, when you joined, you were the general counsel, right? Which is kind of the, what would you say? is like the head lawyer in the firm, right? How were you groomed to take over the CEO role? What kind of guidance, mentorship did you get? I think there were two pieces to that. So one was the guidance. So the CEO, about a year after I started, we had a new CEO, Pierre Nenterm, and he went out of his way to make sure that I understood why things were the way they did. And he was part of recruiting me.

7:06He's actually one of the people that interviewed me. But I think that in large part, that was a reaction to my own attitude, which is I follow something called the why rule, which is I started when I was a young lawyer, is that if I didn't understand why something was happening, why a client said something, why we gave certain advice, I would go back as a young lawyer and ask the partner. So when I joined Accenture, I did the same thing. I would sit in meetings and I would sometimes sit there and say, well, why did that person say something? Why was this decision made? And then I would go ask my colleagues.

7:37I'm very senior then, so that was different. But the premise was the same. And I think as a result of that, people would go out of their way to explain to me something. Oh, Julie, you may not understand this because you weren't here. Or you may not know this part about the business. And so one of the things I talk to a lot of people about in terms of career advice is that the why rule, it makes sense whether you're early in your career, whether you're taking on a new role or changing company. And then people respond to you being genuinely caring about why. What do you think is key to good communication?

8:17Storytelling. Yeah. So there's a great book that I recommend to everyone. I should get a cut of it. It's by a good friend of mine, Andy Craig, called Weekend Language. It's very good. I love it. That's great. I love that you read it. And it really changed my communication style because people remember stories, right? That's the way that you have impact. And at the end of the day, if they don't remember what you say, you can't have an impact. So the book is about how funny and interesting people are during the weekend when they are in dinner parties and that kind of thing. And they have anecdotes and details and all the interesting things.

8:53And people laugh. And then you come into the office on Monday and they are so boring. And there is something called the professional curse. What is that? That you just are dull, right? Because you're so professional and you use long sentences and difficult words and nobody really is hooked on what you say. When were you last nervous? I am nervous absolutely every day because we are pushing ourselves, right? We are operating at the edge of technology, right? And, you know, our clients want us to have a healthy dose of humility, which is what I think about when you're saying nervous, right? The humility to say, I need to be extra careful.

9:38I need to recognize that we're doing cutting edge work and I need to put in place, you know, and really be mindful, right, and humble that this stuff's hard.