Accenture CEO Julie Sweet learned leadership from her father
Today’s edition includes Kamala Harris’ California decision, another Ivy deal with Trump, and luckLira McClellan’s Lira McClellan on Julie Sweet at first Leadership Lesson Accenture.
– Ready to win. When Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture, was a 15-year-old girl who grew up in Tustin, California, she often won cash prizes and participated in local debate tournaments and speech contests. She grew up in a working class family, she recently explained, “You can make $500 or whatever” at the Lions Club tournament.
Sweet’s father, wearing one sports coat he owned, drives her to the Beat Up VW Bug event, and Sweet regularly wins on the podium, but not every time. One night she advanced to the semi-finals of the competition, but was defeated by the daughter of the club president. On the way home she said, “I was like I was driving to my dad, ‘Yes, she was so cute, she was the president’s daughter.’
“My father looked at me and said, “First of all, Julie, you’ll never be the daughter of the president of the Lions Club. That’s not the family you were born in,” she said. “‘And I believe you can do anything, but… you need to be far better than anyone else I have it To give it to you.
“‘Tonight’,” he continued, “You weren’t that good.”
Mackenzie Stro for Fortune
Sweet called her exchange of initial experiences of constructive feedback. That night lesson of her late father helped her and her army of consultants give her desperately needed feedback companies as she tries to navigate a world confused by AI.
To report in New feature storyAccenture is an AI powerhouse and booking hundreds of millions of AI services for clients, one of the world’s most influential companies. Accenture has also grown under Sweet’s tenure. It is now worth more than $170 billion, almost twice as much in 2018, before the suite took the reins. It employs 774,000 people worldwide, compared to 460,000 people six years ago. It was sweet at the beginning of this year No. 2 Above luckThe most powerful women list of 2025. Accenture is number 211 in the 2025 edition Global 500It was released this week.
He is true to her 15-year-old self, and says he is ready for anything that comes next, and is not worried about the proposal that AI itself may one day replace a consultant. “AI is just technology,” she told me. “The value comes from the reinvention of how we work, our workforce, our tools we use. We see that we are leading the way in reinventing ourselves.”
Read the complete story of my story here.
Lilac McClella
lila.maclellan@fortune.com
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Also in the headline
– stay tuned. Kamala Harris announced that she will not run for governor of California in 2026, as was speculated. Instead, the former vice president said that her leadership “for now” is “not in the elected office.” Whether she will run for president again in 2028 remains an open question. CNN
– The transaction has been completed. Brown University (with only a handful of women-led Ivy remaining) has signed a $50 million contract with the Trump administration to restore federal funds. Brown President Christina Paxon has agreed to measures to dismantle several DEI programs in exchange for restored grants and eligibility for future federal funds. Brown will pay a $50 million grant to Rhode Island workforce development organization over a decade. CNN
– Still great. Venus Williams is playing professional tennis again at the age of 45. “There’s nothing left to prove,” Williams joked, and both compete to maintain WTA health insurance to win the wildcard for the US Open’s Singles Tournament. “There is no limit to excellence,” she says. “It’s all in your head.” Wall Street Journal
Mover and shaker
Edge AI Platform Zededa has been hired Carla Spanich As vice president of human resources.
Jen Morris It was named Synchrony’s SVP, external relations and public duties.
Teresa Jennings He is the new CFO of InvestorFlow.
With my radar
Gen Xers, who were waiting to become CEO, are handed over. Wall Street Journal
Trump, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum Plan Call is approaching tariff deadline Bloomberg
25 years after comedy, Leanne Morgan finally recognizes her worth Glamour
Words of farewell
“If it’s a disaster, we’ll just break.”
–EventBrite CEO Julia Hartz About her thoughts when she left her TV career to start a ticketing company