Phil pods with Accenture’s Chief Strategy and Services Officer Manish Sharma

Phil pods with Accenture’s Chief Strategy and Services Officer Manish Sharma: Same movie, bigger budget? Pressure-testing Accenture's reinvention bet Phil Fersht asked Accenture's Manish Sharma a blunt question: is enterprise reinvention genuinely a different operating model, or is it just transformation 2.0 with a bigger budget? Manish's answer — in his 32nd year at Accenture — is the most candid conversation on the subject we've recorded this year. In this episode of From the Horse's Mouth, HFS Research CEO and Chief Analyst Phil Fersht and Accenture's Chief Strategy and Services Officer Manish Sharma cut through the noise on what enterprise reinvention actually requires. They debate the line between transformation programs that end and reinvention capabilities that compound. They name the five things every enterprise has to unblock for AI to deliver any measurable value. They walk through what the human-and-AI workforce actually looks like inside a nearly 800,000-person services firm. And they pressure-test the narrative most boardrooms are still telling themselves about AI as a productivity story. If you're running an AI program, sitting on a board reviewing one, or trying to figure out why your last five pilots stalled, listen to this conversation. CHAPTERS 00:00 — Theme 1: Same movie, bigger budget? Reinvention vs. transformation 09:29 — Theme 2: The five things enterprises must unblock for AI to deliver value 11:24 — Theme 3: Building the world's largest AI-native workforce 23:52 — Theme 4: When AI stops being a tool and starts being how work runs 25:30 — Theme 5: AI's real prize isn't productivity. It's revenue. ABOUT THE GUEST Manish Sharma is Chief Strategy and Services Officer at Accenture, where he leads the firm's Reinvention Services. With 32 years at Accenture across operations, the Americas, and now Reinvention Services, Manish brings a practitioner's perspective to the question of what enterprise reinvention actually requires at scale. ABOUT THE HOST Phil Fersht is Founder, CEO, and Chief Analyst at HFS Research. He's one of the most quoted analysts in the services industry, known for independent, no-nonsense perspectives on enterprise technology, AI, and the future of work. From the Horse's Mouth is his ongoing conversation series with the executives shaping how Global 2000 enterprises operate. Connect with Phil on LinkedIn:   / pfersht   Learn more about HFS Research: About us - https://www.hfsresearch.com/about/ #EnterpriseAI #AgenticAI #DigitalTransformation #Accenture #HFSResearch #FromTheHorsesMouth #AIStrategy #FutureOfWork