Global professional services company Accenture has announced changes to its executive leadership team, naming a new chief operating officer and a new group chief executive of its Operations service. 

Manish Sharma has been named chief operating officer, effective March 1, 2022, with responsibility for leading the company’s business operations and executing business strategy, protecting the company’s people and infrastructure and ensuring operational excellence, which includes the ongoing digital transformation of Accenture. 

A 27-year veteran of Accenture and a member of the company’s Global Management Committee, Sharma most recently served as group chief executive — Operations, overseeing a comprehensive intelligent operations portfolio.  He also led the development of Accenture’s SynOps platform, which orchestrates the optimal combination of human + machine talent, driven by AI, data and insights, to create an evolved, intelligent operating model to deliver targeted business outcomes. 

A strong advocate for inclusion and diversity, Sharma has played a key role in fostering gender equality in Operations. 

“Manish brings enormous expertise and extensive knowledge of what our clients need and how to digitally transform. In his new role, Manish’s client centricity will continue to build our shared success with our clients as we help them transform every area of their businesses, and his commitment to inclusion and diversity will further strengthen our effort to create 360° Value for all our stakeholders,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture. 

Yusuf Tayob has been named group chief executive — Operations, effective March 1, 2022. Currently, Tayob is market unit lead for the US Midwest. 

Before his current role, he ran the Accenture Salesforce Business Group, a team of Accenture people who lead complex digital transformations and, previously, led Accenture’s Northeast and Southeast business for the communications, media and technology industries. 

During his career with Accenture, Tayob has worked with over 100 client organizations in over 20 countries, bringing extensive experience in business strategy, operating model change, business process optimization and large-scale technology implementation. He serves on the board of directors of the T Howard Foundation, promoting diversity in media, entertainment and tech industries. Tayob is a member of Accenture’s Global Management Committee.

“Yusuf brings a broad, diverse set of experiences and skills to one of our most innovative services. As our clients continue to create the tech-enabled, future-ready enterprise, Yusuf will help us realize opportunities to build on our momentum in Operations, continue to diversify into new functional and industry services and bring together the full expertise of Accenture to innovate for our clients,” said Sweet.

Jo Deblaere, who has served as chief operating officer since 2009, will continue in the position until March 1, 2022, and plans to retire on September 1, 2022, after a remarkable 38-year career at Accenture. 

Among his many accomplishments as COO, Deblaere led the evolution of Accenture’s corporate investment and acquisition strategy for a decade. He helped design and implement two major operating model transformations; led the digitization of Accenture, which is now over 95% in the cloud and uses leading cloud-based software applications in all parts of its enterprise; created the company’s information security function; and, he developed leading enterprise risk management and business continuity programs. 

In addition, he served as group chief executive of Europe. Deblaere was active with Junior Achievement for many years, chairing the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement Europe and serving as a board member. Most recently, Deblaere joined the board of a non-profit hospital in his hometown.

“I am deeply grateful for the tremendous impact that Jo has made in his nearly four decades at Accenture, and for the essential role he has played in our evolution during one of the most transformative periods in our history. I want to particularly recognize Jo’s critical contributions during the pandemic — his leadership in business resilience and in-depth knowledge of how Accenture operates helped us move quickly, provide our clients with seamless service, and protect our people,” said Sweet.