Rekha Menon had three priorities last year - make sure that the multinational leads in emerging technologies and innovates, be an employer of choice and be a leader in the community or wherever digital could be used to create impact, especially when working with not-for-profit organisations.
Nowadays, almost every IT company swears by new technologies and innovation, but for Accenture, 60 per cent of its global revenues ((in the third quarter ending May 2018) were already in the new - digital, security and cloud-related services. Across Accenture India, about 1,00,000 employees have been trained in new technologies.
Innovation, Menon says, is now in the company's DNA. Accenture set up an Innovation Hub in Bengaluru last year to help clients experience innovation in action. It also runs co-innovation workshops with clients. Patent filings from India have increased as well.
Menon recently co-authored a research paper on artificial intelligence (AI) and focussed on India and its socio-economic growth. It has taken the innovation leadership outside the company - Accenture now has a representative on NITI Aayog's Task Force for AI.
As for community impact, Menon says that Accenture has helped about 1,00,000 people over the past one year "either by skilling them for the digital economy or equipping them with skills for employability or entrepreneurship through the use of digital technologies".