Accenture appoints Manish Sharma as COO

Mumbai: Accenture on Friday said it has appointed Manish Sharma as its global chief operating officer, effective March 1, 2022. Yusuf Tayob has been named as group chief executive, at Operations, effective March 1, 2022.

Julie Sweet, CEO at Accenture, said Manish brings enormous expertise and extensive knowledge of what the company’s clients need and how to digitally transform. “In his new role, Manish’s client centricity will continue to build our shared success with our clients as we help them transform every area of their businesses, and his commitment to inclusion and diversity will further strengthen our effort to create 360° value for all our stakeholders,” Sweet said.

Earlier, Sharma served as group chief executive of Operations, where he was overseeing a comprehensive intelligent operations portfolio. He also led the development of Accenture’s SynOps platform, which orchestrates the optimal combination of human + machine talent, driven by AI, data and insights, to create an evolved, intelligent operating model to deliver targeted business outcomes.

Sharma, who graduated from Mumbai University, will join the league of several Indian-born executives who are at leadership positions in technology and Internet firms. The list includes names such as IBM’s Arvind Krishna, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Twitter’s Parag Agrawal.

A strong advocate for inclusion and diversity, Sharma has played a key role in fostering gender equality in Operations. Sharma founded the Accenture Rural program, through which Accenture partners with small business process services firms in rural areas in India. He and his wife also have established a trust that focuses on children’s education in India. Sharma is a 27-year veteran of Accenture and a member of the company’s Global Management Committee.

Jo Deblaere, who has served as chief operating officer since 2009, will continue in the position until March 1, 2022, and plans to retire on September 1, 2022, after a 38-year career at Accenture.

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