Just days into 2026, Accenture has signed its first acquisition of the year – UK AI advisory firm Faculty – and will make the firm's chief executive its new CTO.
The deal brings all of Faculty’s AI tools, strategy, safety and design services, and its 400 staff into its operations following the acquisition, announced January 6.
Terms were not disclosed.
Accenture’s UK and Ireland Head Matt Prebble said the deal would “accelerate the delivery of advanced AI and data solutions that drive sustainable growth.
He added in a canned statement "Faculty’s unique position in the AI sector reinforces our commitment to supporting clients as they navigate change.”
Faculty
Faculty was founded in 2014. Its clients include the UK Ministry of Defence, the NHS and OpenAI. (Its site features testimony from Sam Altman about its Red Teaming efforts for the ChatGPT maker.)
The company offers both advisory services on how and where to deploy AI tools, and its own AI offering, centred around its “Frontier” intelligence platform for business decisions, which will now join Accenture’s portfolio.
Following the acquisition, Faculty CEO, and former UK AI Council member, Marc Warner will also become Accenture’s CTO and shape its “technology vision and strategy”, said CEO Julie Sweet.
An AI spending spree
As IT outsourcing competes with in-house AI solutions, Accenture has invested heavily in building out its AI capabilities, signing deals for GenAI consultant NeuraFlash and Danish AI developer Halfspace in 2025.
In its most recent earnings, Accenture said “advanced AI” was responsible for 10.5% of its Q1 2026 bookings, or $1.1 billion, and added it would stop segmenting the sector’s results as it integrated AI tech into its portfolio.
During the quarter, Accenture spent $374 million investment on acquiring six companies, including advanced AI companies Decho and RANGR Data.
Accenture CFO Angie Park said the company expected to invest $3 billion in acquisitions across the financial year.
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