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Accenture and Avanade are reinventing the way forward with Microsoft Copilot solutions

The partner organizations work hand in hand with each other and with Microsoft to help customers embrace the future of work and stay ahead of the technology curve.

July 26, 2024

Accenture and Avanade have a long history of helping customers implement cutting-edge solutions worldwide. Their leadership in the AI space and early adoption of Microsoft Copilot have helped them realize value across the enterprise, and they've used that knowledge to help others reinvent how they work. What puts them in such a unique position to help their customers, though, is their seamless partnership with Microsoft, which allows them to collaboratively build, test, and expand on their advanced work—together.

These continued efforts have earned Accenture and Avanade this year's prestigious Microsoft Global Systems Integrator (GSI) Partner of the Year Award for an unprecedented 19th time. Their trailblazing work with AI apps utilizing Microsoft technologies has also garnered a brand-new win for 2024: the Copilot award in the Business Transformation category.

"Our 19th recognition as Microsoft Global SI Partner of the Year underscores the exceptional value our partnership with Microsoft and Avanade delivers to our clients," said Chris Howarth, Senior Managing Director and Accenture Microsoft Business Group Lead. "By interoperating Microsoft Copilot and advanced generative AI technologies, we are not only enhancing our service offerings but also creating new opportunities for our clients to innovate and accelerate growth in their respective markets."

Accenture and Avanade's continued success cements their leadership in innovation and makes them a trusted partner for those looking to solve challenges and scale their business in the digital age. And with numerous AppSource offers for Copilot already in the market and more on the way, Accenture and Avanade are primed to introduce customers across industries to the potential of generative AI. "[Our] strategic focus empowers them to harness the full potential of their digital transformation, driving significant business outcomes," added Howarth.

Acting as Customer Zero for cutting-edge Copilot solutions

Internal testing is a key factor in Accenture and Avanade's ability to deliver customizable solutions. It also gives them a deep familiarity with the product and a unique opportunity to learn valuable lessons, share results with customers, and continue improving on the technological framework Microsoft established. Their work can also help Microsoft gather valuable customer insights and accelerate the feedback loop.

Some of those lessons have helped shape and refine implementations for customers, including a foundational solution: Copilot for Microsoft 365, which interoperates with the AI assistant throughout workplace platforms. "Using our extensive Microsoft technology expertise and practical learnings from our own experience implementing Copilot for Microsoft 365, our solutions empower clients to fully tap into Microsoft AI capabilities," said Veit Siegenheim, Global Future of Work Lead at Avanade.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is designed to blend people, technology, and new ways of working to save customers time so they can focus on more value-driven work. "This journey goes beyond a simple activation," said Siegenheim. "It's a strategic effort to enhance user experience, productivity, and creativity within Microsoft 365. Our hands-on experience and understanding of the challenges ensure we provide our clients with a tailored strategy to maximize Copilot for Microsoft 365's full potential."

Accenture and Avanade surveyed employees to find out which features of the program were the most productive. The results were encouraging: Of all the employees surveyed, 52% saw a positive impact on the quality of their work, 31% reported less cognitive fatigue, and 84% found Copilot's suggestions fair, respectful, and non-biased.

In addition to Copilot for Microsoft 365, Accenture also piloted GitHub Copilot. After extensive testing, they saw an increase in successful builds, which helped developers spend less time debugging and empowered them to deliver projects faster. "GitHub helps us build better solutions, faster," said Dan Schocke, Managing Director, Application Architecture at Accenture. "And in the end, it's our clients who benefit."

Developers also generated more pull requests per week, accelerating the overall development process and shortening the time to market for new software releases or updates. And Accenture's developer experience improved, with 95% of developers surveyed reporting they enjoy coding more when using GitHub Copilot.

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"Our Microsoft Copilot approach is unique as we are focused on deep user adoption and how business functions are reinvented."

—Aaron Reich, Chief Technology Officer, Avanade

Applying lessons learned to new solutions, co-developed with Microsoft

As a result of their extensive hands-on customer deployments, Accenture and Avanade have become Copilot experts—and have used that expertise to develop innovative new solutions with security and responsible AI principles top of mind.
Avanade Manufacturing Copilot, powered by Manufacturing Data Solutions in Microsoft Fabric, democratizes access to intelligence from diverse manufacturing execution applications, so frontline workers can troubleshoot issues and report key performance metrics using natural language without navigating the diversity of applications in their technology stack.
"In manufacturing, we're enabling frontline workers to turn data from diverse informational and operational systems into near real-time intelligence using generative AI," said Brendan Mislin, General Manager—Industry X, Avanade. "We've worked closely with Microsoft to map these knowledge domains using open industry standards, enabling us to supercharge the ask-an-expert capabilities of Microsoft Copilot. This is vital in an era of labor shortages, rising production targets, and the need to cut costs and carbon emissions."
Meanwhile, the Sustainability Copilot helps organizations simplify disclosing information for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and other reporting frameworks, combining quantitative data from Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability with qualitative insights powered by Accenture and Avanade's generative AI.

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"At Accenture, we believe that in today's digital landscape, data isn't just an asset; it's your competitive advantage."

—Richard Holsman, Senior Managing Director, Accenture

The future of Copilot is bright: More customized solutions for clients

Accenture and Avanade's deep expertise allows them to take the next important leap in the evolution of Copilot: tailoring custom solutions that leverage customers' specific data sets to help move their business forward.
"Our Microsoft Copilot approach is unique as we are focused on deep user adoption and how business functions are reinvented," said Aaron Reich, Chief Technology Officer at Avanade. "It's such a powerful platform that mixes the ability to use it out of the box or build on top to yield even more value. We are just at the beginning and I'm excited about how we are innovating responsibly on what comes next."
Not only do they bring their innovative solutions to customers, but they also introduce behavioral changes needed for widespread adoption. They offer comprehensive roadmaps to facilitate seamless implementations, helping teams reskill and upskill to keep pace with advancing technology.
With this momentum, Accenture and Avanade's collaboration with Microsoft continues to grow and break new ground. They are accomplishing more than coordinating Copilot solutions—they are also creating a blueprint for future Copilot implementations with capabilities through GitHub, Azure Open AI, Security, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and especially Copilot Studio.
"At Accenture, we believe that in today's digital landscape, data isn't just an asset; it's your competitive advantage," said Richard Holsman, Senior Managing Director at Accenture. "With the launch of Copilot Studio, we are at the forefront of an exciting shift, empowering organizations to not only harness their enterprise data but to amplify its power through advanced unification, extending existing Copilots and building custom Copilots."
Through these innovative achievements, Accenture and Avanade are not just transforming businesses—they're setting a new standard for how technology can drive productivity and growth in the digital age. As Holsman further explained, "Our deep industry and functional expertise set us apart, enabling us to customize cutting-edge technology with a client's proprietary data. This combination unlocks value across the enterprise, creating new growth and performance frontiers for clients and their businesses."

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