At Accenture, it’s about making a positive impact, anywhere and anytime 

BACK in the brick-and-mortar days, Accenture introduced its 2013 technology vision that read “Every business is a digital business” - a model that has proven to be successful over the years. 

Almost a decade later, the global IT services and consulting firm is again challenging companies to reimagine their business. This time, with its vision to “Meet me at the metaverse” - the continuum of technology and experience that it believes is reshaping businesses.

Depending on who you ask, the metaverse is either the most over-hyped offering or the promising next frontier of the internet. For Ng Wee Wei, country managing director for Accenture in Singapore since Sept 1, 2020, digitalisation and the metaverse - a virtual world that allows the gathering of people from all over the globe to work, collaborate and create unique simulations of the real world - are growth enablers that clients need to look at.

Speaking to The Business Times recently, Ng spoke about the forces that companies have to harness to be more resilient. This reinvention involves the building of a digital core, talent war, sustainability, the metaverse and emerging technologies.   

“Businesses need to start thinking and experimenting with the range of technologies including what we define as the metaverse continuum, from operations to building a brand presence, client engagement and employee engagement, and how that spectrum can all evolve.

“The platform allows businesses to collaborate across ecosystems so that everyone sees the same thing pretty much in real time as the projects are going on,” she said.

This vision of the future on how people work, live and play is taking shape at Accenture, which houses an innovation hub that explores the future of cities.

The firm has a corporate metaverse to both onboard new employees and increase digital collaboration between the company’s 700,000 workers worldwide - something that was welcomed by staff and newcomers during the Covid-19 pandemic when travel and physical meetings were restricted. 

Ng is passionate when speaking about how companies should leverage data, analytics and emerging technologies to drive new value while creating innovative new services. 

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“But I will not pursue technology just because it is the latest shiny toy,” she said, adding that  technology must solve a client’s problem and make an impact. 

In Singapore, the firm is working with the Changi Airport Group (CAG) to leverage technologies such as artifical intelligence, digital marketing, big data and analytics, predictive maintenance and the Internet of Things (IoT).

In Thailand, it is working with a bank to further its ambition to grow into a super application. The super app aims to provide services beyond food delivery, including travel, mart, parcel delivery and ride-hailing in Thailand. This is a significant part of the bank’s new roadmap for sustainable growth, focused on helping businesses and communities thrive amidst disruption. 

The future of work, however, is not just about space and place.

Ng said: “It’s actually really about that sense of belonging, that connection for people to build a culture where the emphasis is on the relationships, not on the spaces and places. Of course, technology plays a key role.” 

An Accenture survey found that companies whose people benefit from omni-connected experiences can realise a 7.4 per cent annual revenue growth premium; not to mention a deeper level of trust. 

Ng, a Business Administration graduate from the National University of Singapore, believes that discipline and analytical skills are crucial, apart from basic technology skills.

“It is the precision and the acumen you develop over the years and the on-the-job training,” she said, adding that Accenture spends US$1 billion a year training people globally. 

Besides investing in the career growth of its employees, policies are also put in place for the well-being of staff. Those in Singapore are now able to apply for uncapped vacation leave. 

“I believe that amazing work requires rest,” Ng said, adding that she did not want staff to feel they have to save up their vacation leave like a commodity.

Having been in the industry for close to three decades, Ng said it was an opportunity given in 2015 to lead Accenture’s Health and Public Services group for South-east Asia that prepared her for her current role. The role empowered her. She had to manage the profit and loss for the practice, set the strategic directions and pursue opportunities.

“It gave me the spectrum to be a value creator, a business operator and a people developer of a sizeable team, delivering many projects in the 6 years,” said Ng, who has been recognised in the 100 Women in Tech organised by IMDA for her efforts in elevating the tech ecosystem and empowering women in the sector.

Asked about Singapore’s digital infrastructure, Ng said it is fairly mature and constantly evolving, but reckoned there is still much work to be done, especially at the enterprise level, and the small medium enterprises (SMEs) which make up the bulk of the economy. 

This is also crucial in Singapore’s bid to reach net zero: “You need to establish our net zero credentials. Without digitalisation, without making data flow more transparent, more accountable…the journey to net zero will be so much harder from an accountability and traceability perspective,” Ng said. 

Moreover, it is pertinent when it comes to attracting young talent and customers: “The market will demand a certain standard for this. So I feel that as a country, digitalisation really needs to filter down to the SMEs in order for us to go on to the next wave where we think about sustainability and how we position ourselves for that,” she said.

Last November, Ng helped spearhead the launch of the Singapore Innovation Hub - Future of Cities, aimed at finding smart urban solutions that address economic and environmental challenges. 

For the third quarter fiscal 2022, Accenture’s growth markets including Singapore generated US$3.19 billion in revenue, out of the US$16.2 billion globally. That is an increase of 22 per cent in US dollars and 30 per cent in local currency compared with the third quarter of fiscal 2021.

Accenture, launched in the city-state in 1975, has doubled its staff count under Ng to about 4,000 today. The Singapore office will achieve gender equality by 2025.