Bosses have long warned employees who slack off on their application of artificial intelligence that they will be surpassed by their tech-savvy colleagues – and now, having this skill can make or break a career.
According to a recent report, consulting giant Accenture just told its associate directors and senior managers that they need to consistently use its artificial intelligence tools in order to be considered for top promotions. financial times Report.
The Dublin-based company this month began monitoring some of its senior staff’s weekly logins to its AI tools; ultimately, only those who describe themselves as “frequent adopters” of the technology will be considered for leadership roles.
“Using our key tools will be a visible input into talent discussions for leadership promotion decisions this summer,” according to an email from Accenture. financial times.
An Accenture spokesperson said wealth The ultimate goal is to become the “reinvention partner of choice” for clients and the most “AI-enabled” place to work: “This requires adopting the latest tools and technologies to serve our clients most effectively.”
This isn’t the first time Accenture has made changes to the company to attract more AI-savvy employees to the technology.
Just last summer, news broke that the consulting firm was training 550,000 of its approximately 780,000 employees to use generative artificial intelligence, including using tools like AI Refinery and SynOps.
Those who don’t join may be on the chopping block; last September, CEO Julie Sweet said Accenture would “let go” employees who couldn’t be retrained in “the skills we need.”
The company sees its employees as “reinventors” in the age of artificial intelligence—so long as they can keep up with the demands of work driven by the new technology.
But under the latest policy, employees in 12 European countries, as well as Accenture employees working on U.S. federal government contracts and employees in certain joint ventures, are exempt from having AI considered for promotions.
Accenture isn’t the only company setting new AI benchmarks for promotions.
Last year, consulting giant KPMG announced that bosses would assess employees’ use of artificial intelligence tools as part of annual performance reviews, according to Bloomberg. The Big Four company already tracks how its employees process AI data from tools like Microsoft Copilot, but now their technical skills are baked into their upward mobility. Starting with the 2026 performance review cycle, the company will score employees on their performance against KPMG’s AI goals.
“We all have a responsibility to introduce AI into all of our jobs, and that’s not just the responsibility of leadership but also our junior employees,” Niale Cleobury, global head of AI for the workforce at KPMG, told Bloomberg last year. “Now we’re taking it a step further and saying: ‘Effectively everyone’s end-of-year goal is – what are you going to do to introduce AI into your job?’”
Amazon’s smart home security business, Ring, is also implementing a new technology-driven policy in 2025: All company promotion applications must include an explanation of how employees use artificial intelligence at work. Its founder, Jamie Siminoff, said the strategy was designed to reward “innovative thinking” and stimulate employee speed and efficiency.
The new rules apply to Amazon’s Ring, Blink, Key and Sidewalk (RBKS) employees. Even those already in management positions were asked to demonstrate how AI tools could help them “get more done with less,” while keeping headcount the same.
Meta is also changing the way it evaluates employees. The $1.64 trillion tech conglomerate will begin assessing the “artificial intelligence-driven impact” of its employees this year, according to an internal memo reported by Business Insider in 2025. The company describes it as a “core expectation” starting in 2026; now, employees will need to demonstrate that they have leveraged AI to succeed in their roles and built tools to increase productivity and innovation. The policy change comes after reports that Meta was tracking the extent to which its employees were using artificial intelligence.
“As we all know, this is a priority and we are focused on using artificial intelligence to help employees with their daily tasks,” a Meta spokesperson told Business Insider.
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com