"During the recent Fortune Brainstorm AI conference, Arnab Chakraborty, Chief Responsible AI Officer at Accenture, argued that the era of treating technology roadmaps as distinct from corporate goals is over. "The data and AI strategy is not a separate strategy, it is the business strategy," he said, emphasizing that for modern organizations, these elements must be the foundation of the entire operation."
"This insight stems from a massive, ongoing collaboration between Accenture and Australian telecommunications giant Telstra. In January 2025, the two companies moved beyond a traditional client-consultant relationship to form a dedicated joint venture, a move designed to bypass the sluggishness of typical corporate structures. Dayle Stevens, a Telstra data and AI executive, told moderator Jeremy Kahn that the company had a five-year strategic roadmap but realized the market was moving too fast for standard timelines."
"Chakraborty said the JV has been a "very bold move" and "industry first," both for telecoms and consulting. "We had to form a new company, you know, where this whole setup of data and AI has been formed and what it is doing is, it is creating a new identity." He said it's still very integrated with Telstra but is bringing in innovation from the consulting world and Silicon Valley."
Data and AI strategy must be the central business strategy rather than a separate initiative. Accenture and Telstra formed a dedicated joint venture in January 2025 to accelerate AI deployment and bypass slow corporate processes and annual budget cycles. Telstra compressed a five-year roadmap into two years to keep pace with rapid market change. The joint venture creates a new company identity that remains integrated with Telstra while bringing in consulting and Silicon Valley innovation. Building an agentic organization requires attention to foundational elements beyond technology and changes to governance, funding, and organizational structure.
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