Google Cloud and Accenture launch new business group to embed forward deployed engineers with customers

Google Cloud and Accenture have unveiled a new joint business unit aimed at helping Gemini Enterprise customers scale AI capabilities.

The Accenture Gemini Enterprise Business Group will bring together Accenture’s Gemini Enterprise-certified consultants, forward deployed engineers (FDEs), and Google Cloud engineering staff to support enterprises.

According to the duo, the aim of the new unit is basically to help enterprises get more bang for their buck with agentic AI. In a blog post, Google Cloud said the scheme will help clients “realize measurable business value from their agentic AI and data investments”.

“The Accenture Gemini Enterprise Business Group will help clients achieve these outcomes faster, bringing together the talent, advanced AI and data capabilities, and industry expertise needed to reinvent with confidence and create value at scale,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO at Accenture.

The new business group will prioritize four key areas, according to Google Cloud, including:

• Increasing enterprise adoption of Gemini Enterprise
• Building “repeatable industry-specific solutions that reduce time to value”
• Driving user adoption and use of Gemini Enterprise tools
• Bridging gaps between AI experimentation and enterprise-wide transformation

The last of these is crucial for Google Cloud and is an area of intense focus in recent months. As ITPro reported in July, the hyperscaler and Accenture teamed up to drive AI capabilities for mid-market businesses, a demographic that has traditionally struggled with adoption rates.

AI adoption has been a difficult challenge for enterprises across the board, however, particularly in terms of measuring return on investment (ROI). Research from Accenture in April revealed only one-in-ten UK organisations had successfully deployed or scaled AI in core operations.

That same study noted that many enterprises are dealing with mismatched efficiency gains when it comes to AI. While individual workers are reporting productivity improvements, these aren’t translating into broader business value.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said the launch of the business group “significantly expands the expertise and resources” available to customers to “deliver real business value”.

“Building on the success we’ve seen with world’s leading brands, we’re combining Google Cloud’s full-stack AI capabilities with Accenture's deep industry expertise to deliver transformation at scale,” he said.

FDEs in the spotlight

All told, Google Cloud said the new business group will establish a workforce boasting roughly 1,000 forward deployed engineers.

These engineers essentially act as consultants embedded within enterprises, providing teams with technical guidance along with practical support to co-design and build AI systems.

FDEs are now at the forefront of big tech’s attempts to drive AI adoption, as ITPro reported in July. Earlier this year, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft both pledged billions in funding to recruit and deploy FDEs.

Both companies said the use of FDEs aims to streamline adoption processes for enterprise customers and, crucially, “compress timelines” when it comes to deployment of the technology.

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