Inês Nabais do Paulo and Joana Simões e Setra Mendão Make Sense of Accenture’s Restructuring.

Accenture’s recent AI-driven restructuring offers a real-time glimpse into how technology is reshaping the future of work. The tech firm plans to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, training staff on new systems: as Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said, “We are investing in upskilling our reinventors, which is our primary strategy .” (Financial Times).  

The scale of this shift makes one thing clear: AI is transforming the way organizations operate and manage their workforce. Accenture is far from alone: major employers such as Intel and Microsoft have also announced large-scale restructurings this year, as global companies adapt their workforces to new technologies and market realities. Across sectors, companies are already rethinking how human and machine intelligence will coexist inside organizations, and what skills will define the next generation of work.

These were precisely the questions addressed by Joana Simões e Setra Mendão and Inês Nabais do Paulo, in their recent talk “Soluções de Inteligência Artificial como Ferramenta de Trabalho” (“Artificial Intelligence Solutions as a Tool for Work”), delivered at the Labour 2030 conference in Porto in September. Drawing on the Portuguese Labour Code and the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, they outlined a framework to help companies implement AI tools responsibly — combining innovation with legal compliance, workforce adaptation, and long-term strategy contingency mechanisms to address foreseeable challenges.

Inês’s and Joana’s conclusion was clear: effective AI adoption cannot be reduced to automation alone. It requires thoughtful analysis, worker consultation, continuous training, and transparent governance — a structured approach that protects both companies and people.

As the Accenture case illustrates, these questions are no longer theoretical. They are already shaping business decisions at the highest level, and transforming the roles of hundreds of thousands of professionals around the world. Navigating this transition demands not only technological vision but also legal and strategic insight—ensuring that innovation serves both performance and people. The companies that get it right will be those that treat AI not as a shortcut, but as a responsibility and an opportunity.

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