Faculty AI Business Sold to Accenture for £740 Million Pounds

A London-based artificial intelligence company has been acquired by Accenture in a transaction valued at approximately $1 billion, or £740 million. Faculty, which provides AI tools and services to public sector organisations and commercial enterprises, will become part of the US-listed consulting behemoth following the deal’s completion.

The acquisition represents a significant exit for Faculty’s investors and marks another milestone in the consolidation of the UK’s applied AI sector. Founded in 2014 by Marc Warner, Angie Ma and Andrew Brookes, the company has built a reputation for deploying AI solutions in real-world environments, particularly within government and healthcare settings.

Faculty’s prominence in technology circles stems partly from its early work with the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum. The company provided data analysis services to Dominic Cummings, then a leading figure in the Brexit campaign, in exchange for tens of thousands of pounds. This engagement elevated Faculty’s profile within political and policy circles.

The company later expanded its government relationships significantly. During the coronavirus pandemic, Faculty’s chief executive Warner served as an adviser to Boris Johnson’s administration, developing an early warning system for the NHS to forecast hospital bed demand. This project led to substantial government contracts, including a recent £3 million deal with the Department for Education to develop and test AI tools for educational institutions.

Faculty’s client base encompasses the NHS and the UK’s AI Security Institute, where the company has helped organisations implement and test technologies such as ChatGPT. The business demonstrated strong financial performance; revenues quadrupled over the four-year period following its latest funding round, according to Apax Partners, the venture capital firm that invested £30 million in 2021.

The transaction will integrate Faculty’s 400 employees into Accenture’s operations. Julie Sweet, Accenture’s chief executive, characterised the acquisition as instrumental in advancing the consultancy’s AI strategy. Warner, who will assume the role of chief technology officer at Accenture, stated that the combined entity possesses the capability to support comprehensive AI transformation programmes across client organisations.

Mark Beith, a partner at Apax, described Faculty as the UK’s standout applied AI business, noting its ability to combine technical expertise with disciplined deployment practices. The transaction’s success reflects broader investor confidence in British AI capabilities, despite headwinds in the wider technology sector. Accenture’s share price increased by 2 percent following the announcement of the acquisition.