Accenture names Bhaskar Ghosh as global Chief Strategy Officer
Having advised Accenture Global CEO Julie Sweet on key strategic areas since early this year, Bhaskar Ghosh now takes over as global Chief Strategy Officer at the professional services firm.
Ghosh has a long and illustrious career in the digital sector behind him, the last 17 years of which have been spent at Accenture. He joined the firm in 2003 with extended spells at Philips and Infosys under his belt. Starting out as Lead for Accenture’s India delivery centre, he took over as Group Chief Executive for Accenture’s Technology Services in 2014.
As head of the global technology wing, Ghosh was responsible for Accenture’s tech platforms, products and global technology delivery. “Under his leadership, Ghosh helped grow Accenture into a technology industry powerhouse and expanded our data, cloud, and security offerings,” explained Sweet.
An adviser to Sweet since March this year, Ghosh provided input on the firm’s growth and investment strategies, business performance, organisational effectiveness and restructuring. Some of these functions will carry forward into his new role as Chief Strategy Officer, as will his oversight on Accenture’s Industry X division that looks after key areas of digital manufacturing and intelligent products.
Accenture has already established itself as a leader in the global digital services market – occupying a burgeoning market share – and is now looking to consolidate this position. The firm recently channeled $3 billion into a new Cloud First division – dedicated to driving cloud migrations and digital transformations worldwide. According to Sweet, Ghosh will play a key role in the success of these efforts.
“Bhaskar brings incredible vision and business acumen to his new role as chief strategy officer. His vast experience will be invaluable as we invest to help our clients become cloud first and transform every aspect of their businesses with technology. Bhaskar’s long track record of creating “tech for good” and commitment to inclusion and diversity make him ideal to help us drive responsible business by design into every aspect of our strategy,” she said.
Times of change
Alongside Ghosh’s promotion – effective immediately – Accenture has also changed its leadership in the UK and Ireland, announcing the appointment of Simon Eaves as Managing Director for the region as of January next year.
The moves come at a time of flux for Accenture, as it refocuses its operations towards impact. Reflecting the broader business environment, Accenture has taken a hit by the Covid-19 crisis, with its growth rate slowing to 1% in the first few months of 2020.
Reorienting to keep its edge in this challenging market, the firm has had to let go of thousands of its global workforce, while channeling significant investments into growth areas at the same time, including a roster of acquisitions.
