• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 17, 2022

Accenture is launching a new business group tailored to help companies make sense of and optimize marketing and other efforts in the Metaverse.

The new unit, dubbed the Accenture Metaverse Continuum business group, will be led by Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Executive/Technology and Chief Technology Officer at Accenture and David Droga, CEO and creative chairman of Accenture Interactive. 

“The next generation of the internet is unfolding and will drive a new wave of digital transformation far greater than what we’ve seen to date, transforming the way we all live and work,” said Daugherty. “Our vision of the metaverse as a continuum challenges prevailing, narrower views and highlights why organizations must act today, or find themselves operating in worlds designed by, and for, someone else.” 

The new unit was unveiled along with a new technology report (“Technology Vision 2022”) in part based on a survey of more than 4,600 business and technology leaders across 23 industries in 35 countries. It found that 71% of executives believe the metaverse will have a positive impact on their organization and 42% believe it will be breakthrough or transformational. 

Accenture operates its own metaverse, the Nth floor, where the company’s people participate in new hire orientation and immersive learning or meet and socialize as teams. This fiscal year, the company expects 150,000 or more new hires will work in the metaverse on their first day.

Daugherty added, “As the line between people’s physical and digital lives further blurs, organizations have the opportunity and obligation now to build a responsible metaverse — addressing issues like trust, sustainability, personal safety, privacy, responsible access and use, diversity and more. The actions and choices they make today will set the stage for the future.”

The Technology Vision 2022 report also found that 96% of global CMOs believe that future digital platforms need to offer unified experiences, enabling interoperability of customers’ data across different platforms and spaces. That’s a trend that is explored at length in the report.

And 93% of global CMOs agree that the realization of Web3 over the next decade will fundamentally change how businesses engage with users online.

Other trends examined in the report: 

• · Programmable World: Our Planet, Personalized – As emerging technologies such as 5G, ambient computing, augmented reality and smart materials advance, digital environments will be increasingly woven into the fabric of our physical world. These environments will reshape not just how people engage with worlds, but also redefine everything built in it, how people sense and interact and the control they have over it. Tellingly, 92% of executives agree that leading organizations will push the boundaries of the virtual world to make it more real, increasing the need for persistence and seamless navigation between the digital and physical worlds. 

• · The Unreal: Making Synthetic, Authentic – Businesses and environments are increasingly supported by AI-generated data that convincingly reflects the physical world. More than ever before, AI is top-of-mind for businesses, as companies and consumers alike shift away from considering what is real versus fake, to what is authentic—not just in terms of a company’s content and algorithms but its entire brand. With the unreal world about to become reality, now is the time for leaders to ready their businesses. Already, 96% of executives report that their organizations are committed to authenticating the origin of their data and genuine use of AI. 

• · Computing the Impossible: New Machines, New Possibilities – The emergence of a new class of machines is empowering organizations across industries to stretch the boundaries of what computers can solve. Tools like quantum computing and biology-inspired computing are allowing businesses to solve problems that may be too expensive, inefficient, or flat out impossible for traditional computing. As “grand challenges” become trivial operations, how enterprises compete, provide value and partner will radically change; nearly all (94%) executives agreed that long-term success will depend on leveraging next generation computing to solve seemingly intractable challenges. 

More from the report can be found here.