Athira Sethu
Kochi, 23 June 2025
Accenture, one of the largest IT firms in the world, has cautioned that numerous large firms are reducing technology spending. This is due to worldwide issues such as wars, trade disputes, and economic uncertainty.
Consequently, Accenture provided a less optimistic outlook for the present quarter. Its share price declined by 7.6% to $283. This news is not favorable for Indian IT players such as TCS, Infosys, HCL, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra, which are already witnessing a sluggish beginning to their financial year.
Last quarter, Accenture earned $17.73 billion in revenue, which rose by 7.7% from last year. But it is projecting revenue to taper off and decline between $17 and $17.6 billion in the coming quarter. The company also laid off 10,000 employees, reducing its workforce to 790,000.
Accenture Chief Executive Julie Sweet added that the businesses worldwide are confronted with numerous challenges simultaneously—economic boom and bust, international conflicts, and shifts in consumer behavior. Due to this, businesses are being cautious regarding how to spend funds, particularly on emerging technology.
Sweet supplemented the information by stating that the pause on the tech spending by clients was temporary. Most are now focusing on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). She stated, “Clients are not sitting on the sidelines anymore. They want to move forward and use AI to leap ahead.”
Although the company expects slower growth, it intends to invest as much as $1.5 billion in acquiring other firms during the year. Around 3% of its growth is anticipated from the acquisitions.
One positive note was Accenture’s performance in generative AI (GenAI). The firm received $1.5 billion in new GenAI bookings in only one quarter. That represents approximately 8% of its overall bookings of $19.7 billion. It also earned $700 million in GenAI projects in the quarter. It has taken in $7.1 billion in GenAI orders since September 2023.
For comparison, that is over Tech Mahindra’s entire annual revenue of $6.26 billion. Accenture is also leading Indian companies in reporting GenAI earnings because most Indian IT companies have not reported any figures so far.
However, experts predict that the second half of the year might be challenging as global business conditions keep deteriorating.
