Accenture is acquiring Mudano, a data consultancy with customers primarily in the financial services industry, headquartered in London.

The company develops and implements a platform that captures project data – such as daily tasks, meeting notes, resource information and progress reports – and uses machine learning to predict the path of a project.

According to Mudano, this approach can help foresee issues, improve productivity and deliver projects more efficiently.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Update: The Sharktower software, developed by the startup, will carry on as a separate business.

Welcome to Applied Intelligence

Mudano has been working to put artificial intelligence in service of better project outcomes since 2014. It develops a proprietary platform called Sharktower, serving as a front-end for its project optimization efforts.

The company can help with data strategy, data analytics and applied machine learning, placing it somewhere in the middle between a software firm, a data science lab and a consultancy.

Mudano has trademarked its approach as “Delivery Science” and says it has been running complex change programs and portfolios with budgets exceeding £100m.

According to FutureScot, the startup received a £2.6m research and development grant from the Scottish government in 2018, after it agreed to open an R&D facility in Edinburgh.

Following the acquisition, Mudano’s staff will join Accenture’s 20,000-strong Applied Intelligence division, where they will help clients in the financial services sector scale their AI efforts.

However Applied Intelligence is not interested in selling software, so Sharktower will continue to exist as a separate business.

“The Sharktower business is not a part of the agreed acquisition and will continue to develop its AI-driven project and portfolio management technology,” George Marcotte, managing director responsible for the Applied Intelligence group in the UK and Ireland, told AI Business.

“Sharktower is still available for purchase with a range of enterprise pricing models and extensive support for all customers.”

Accenture launched Applied Intelligence in February 2019, looking to combine its expertise across artificial intelligence, data management, analytics and automation. The division has since absorbed AI firms Clarity Insights, Pragsis Bidoop and Analytics8, and now employs a total of 6,000 data scientists, data engineers and AI professionals.

“Mudano’s focus on helping clients build a ‘data culture’ aligns perfectly to Accenture’s applied intelligence strategy,” Marcotte said. “By creating a strong data foundation — supported by the right skills, stakeholders and technologies — our clients can transform at speed and scale and fuel real change for their business.”

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Accenture has announced the return of its award-winning Women in Data Science Accelerator for the second year. The six-week evening programme is free to attend and combines industry-led lectures, hands-on workshops and career guidance to help women become successful leaders in data science.

The aim of this programme is to build and develop the data science capabilities of women who already hold applied data skills or have broader numerical experience and are interested in the field. Participants will get the opportunity to network with other women pursuing data science careers and learn from Accenture experts in the field. Accenture STEM research published in December 2019 highlighted that 85% of girls in school are very inspired by role models, reinforcing the importance of women working in STEM careers, such as data science, that younger girls can look up to.

What’s Involved?

30 women will be selected to participate in the six-week programme hosted at The Dock, Accenture’s flagship R&D and Global Innovation Centre in Dublin’s Silicon Docks. The curriculum consists of a blend of modules that will help participants build their data science skillsets and further their professional development. There will also be a collaborative practical project throughout the six weeks.

Sessions will run for two hours, one evening per week in a classroom environment, with an additional 2-4 hours weekly focused on the practical project in the participant’s own time. The programme will provide a unique insight into the day-to-day work of in the field of data science while at the same time offering great networking opportunities with Accenture’s experienced data scientists and digital leaders.

Commenting on the launch of the 2020 programme, Oonagh O’Shea, Women in Data Science Programme MD Sponsor, said: “The accelerator is a great opportunity for participants to upskill, collaborate and network with fellow and aspiring data scientists to help further their careers. I am deeply proud of the success of the programme last year. The commitment of our people to develop this resulted in Accenture winning the Analytics Institute’s 2019 ‘Diversity in Analytics Award’. The feedback from last year’s participants has been really overwhelming so I am delighted that we are running the programme again this year.”

Following the inaugural six-week accelerator in 2019, 82% of participants felt more equipped to make a career move into data science after the programme, while 100% of participants would recommend it to other women.

To find out more and to register interest, visit www.accenture.com/WomenInData. The closing date for expressions of interest is Friday, 31st January 2020. Participants will be notified of their acceptance into the programme by 12th February 2020. It will begin on Wednesday 19th February 2020 and run for six weeks, until Wednesday 25th March 2020.

In 2019, Accenture in Ireland was awarded ‘Diverse Company of The Year’ at the annual Women in Tech Awards and ‘Employer of the Year’ at the Women in IT Awards.

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The multinational professional services company, Accenture may expand its data science team in India to develop an Asia-Pacific (APAC) hub with more than 500-membered team based in Gurugram.

Anindya Basu, the country managing director of Accenture India said that the proposal is still being discussed. Basu is also a member of APAC management committee.

Explaining about its team in Gurugram, Basu asserted – “We have a team of…top-notch data scientists sitting out of Gurgaon and everyone is looking at us, the India operations, and saying ‘why can’t you be the hub for at least a large part of Asia Pacific’ (for data science services).”

Moreover, to build up this hub, the expansion of the labor force needs to be significant. Where IT service providers are buying smaller firms skilled with data analytics and data sciences, Accenture is looking up to hire data science professionals.

Reportedly, Accenture already possesses data analytics platform which is ready to yield results right after deployment to clients but it needs to build on the ability and capability by adding more data scientists to the company instead of acquiring other firms.

The team at Accenture is visiting colleges and hiring new IIM-based talents and reskilling them with the latest technology beneficial for the company.

The adoption of digital technology and its demand has transformed the conventional definition of industries. Basu while talking about the expansion idea, stated – “We have a big thing going now internally at the global level – we have certain definitions for industries, whether that definition instead needs to change.”

Additionally, the company aims to become a market leader in digital transformation while thriving in India Market and it has also invested in talents to achieve this.

Accenture has adopted certain mechanization from the plethora of technologies and team there is delving deep into it to perform in both global and Indian market as well.

According to Anindya Basu, the company was confident regarding its deal pipeline for India. He further stated that – “From a purely domestic market standpoint, I can say that I do not see any softness. I’m betting on it (being) bigger.”

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