Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is joining forces with Unilever, the consumer goods multinational —whose 400+ brands are used by 3.4 billion people every day— as part of a strategic initiative to leverage Unilever’s AI research and implementation of technologies that enhance productivity, drive efficiencies, and accelerate disruptive and AI-powered innovations at scale.
The work will kick-off from Unilever’s global AI Lab “Horizon3 Labs”, recently opened in Toronto — a city recognized for its concentration of AI expertise and home to one of Accenture’s six Gen AI studios in North America.
The two companies will explore new applications to scale generative AI; for example, assets from Accenture’s AI Navigator or its proprietary “switchboard,” which allows a user to select a combination of models to address the unique business context.
“This collaboration builds on our relationship of more than three decades with Unilever, which continues to raise the bar as a digital powerhouse and industry leader,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “The combination of Horizon3Labs’ disruptive innovation with Accenture’s deep expertise and strong ecosystem partnerships will help Unilever scale AI and generative AI more rapidly and responsibly across its business and discover new pathways to value.”
“We are excited about building on our long-standing partnership with Accenture to step up our innovation agenda and drive value for our consumers, retailers, and distributors. Horizon3 Labs is a unique platform for collaboration and co-creation, and we look forward to working with Accenture and other partners to take our investment in AI to a new level,” said Steve McCrystal, chief enterprise and technology officer, Unilever.
This initiative will leverage the industry solutions and accelerators within Accenture’s previously announced $3 billion investment in data and AI.
As part of these efforts, Accenture will connect Unilever with its top data and AI experts, and help capitalize on Accenture’s ecosystem partnerships, ventures, and strategic investments within its Center for Advanced AI, which includes more than 1,450 pending and issued patents in Accenture’s AI solutions and learnings from more than 300 generative AI projects.