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Julie Sweet

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Julie Sweet
A woman with short blonde hair wearing a blue jacket speaks at a podium in front of a World Economic Forum backdrop
Sweet in 2019
Born
Julie Spellman

1967 (age 58–59)
EducationClaremont McKenna College (BA)
Columbia University (JD)
OccupationBusinesswoman
TitleChair and CEO, Accenture
Spouse
Chad Creighton Sweet
​
​
(m. 2004)​
Children2

Julie Terese Sweet (née Spellman, born 1967)[1][2] is an American business executive and attorney. She is chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of Accenture, a multinational professional services company.[3]

Early life and education

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Sweet grew up in Tustin, California,[4] and competed in speech and debate at Tustin High School.[5] She holds a bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College and a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School.[6]

Career

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Prior to Sweet's work at Accenture, she was an attorney at law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore.[7][8][9] She worked at the firm for 17 years and was partner for 10.[10][11] Sweet was the ninth woman ever to make partner at the firm.[7] She worked on financing, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate counsel.[12]

Accenture

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Accenture recruited Sweet as general counsel in 2010.[7] In 2015, she became CEO of Accenture's North America business, the company's largest market.[7] Since early in her career at Accenture, she has been on the company's global management committee. Alongside then-CEO Pierre Nanterme, Sweet developed Accenture's mergers and acquisitions strategy.[13]

Accenture named Sweet its CEO effective September 2019, the first woman to hold that position.[14][15] She replaced interim CEO David Rowland.[15] At the time of her appointment, she was one of 27 women leading companies in the S&P 500[7] and the 15th female CEO of all Fortune Global 500 companies.[16][17] In September 2021, Sweet became chair of Accenture.[18]

As CEO, Sweet has advocated for diversity, inclusion,[7] and workplace gender parity.[15] Sweet supports Accenture's goal to have a staff equally represented by men and women by 2025; as of 2019, 42 percent of Accenture's staff was female.[19] Sweet was named a top CEO for diversity by the website Comparably in 2019.[20] In February 2025, under Sweet's leadership, Accenture discontinued these global employee representation goals and paused participation in external diversity benchmarking surveys.[21]

Sweet has called for addressing the skills gap in the U.S. and supported the national apprenticeship movement.[22] She participated in The New York Times's New Rules Summit.[4]

Sweet indicated in 2023 that she wants to double the number of Accenture employees primarily skilled in artificial intelligence (AI) and data-related fields.[23] In 2024, Sweet announced Accenture's plans to open 10 generative AI 'innovation hubs' around the world.[24]

In 2023, Sweet's total compensation at Accenture was $31.6 million, or 1,526 times what the median employee at Accenture earned that same year without a cost-of-living adjustment.[25]

Board service

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In addition to Accenture's board of directors, Sweet has been a member of The Business Council, the Business Roundtable, and Catalyst.[26][27][28][29] She has also served on the trustee boards for the Center for Strategic and International Studies,[30] the World Economic Forum,[31] and Bridges from School to Work, which was established by the founders of Marriott International.[32][33]

Personal life

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Sweet is married to Chad Creighton Sweet,[1] and has two daughters.[2] They live in Bethesda, Maryland.[34][35]

Recognition

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The New York Times called Sweet "one of the most powerful women in corporate America" in 2019.[4] Fortune magazine included Julie Sweet in their "Most Powerful Women" list since 2016,[36] and she was named No. 1 on the list for 2020.[37] Fortune noted she "steered Accenture's more than half a million employees in 51 countries through the pandemic." Sweet has subsequently been ranked by Fortune as No. 3 on the list for 2021,[38] and No. 2 on the list for 2022.[39]

Sweet was included in the list of "World's 100 most powerful women" by Forbes (in sixth position) in 2025. She was previously ranked seventh in 2024, 11th in 2023, ninth in 2022, and tenth in 2021.[40]

In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League gave Sweet its 2024 Courage Against Hate Award.[41]

References

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  1. ^ a b Jaffee, Michelle Koidin (October 10, 2004). "Julie Spellman and Chad Sweet". Weddings/Celebrations: Vows. The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Fischer, Peter A.; Igel, Leon (October 16, 2024). "Accenture CEO Julie Sweet is an optimist despite global crises". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved July 19, 2025. Sweet was born in 1967, is married and is the mother of two daughters.
  3. ^ Gill, Kristine (April 27, 2022). "How the best companies to work for are thriving despite the Great Resignation". Fortune. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Gelles, David (January 2, 2019). "Julie Sweet of Accenture Could See Her Future. So She Quit Her Job". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  5. ^ The David Rubinstein Show, "Julie Sweet, Accenture Chair & CEO", S6:E28, 6 October 2021, Bloomberg TV, after 11 minutes 30 seconds.
  6. ^ Maake, Katishi. "Accenture taps Arlington-based Julie Sweet as global chief executive". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Gelles, David (July 11, 2019). "Julie Sweet to Run Accenture, Adding a Woman to the Ranks of Corporate C.E.O.s". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  8. ^ "Accenture Taps Ex-Cravath Partner As New CEO". Law360. July 11, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  9. ^ Gninyomo, Luc (February 20, 2023). "Let's Read About Business Woman Julie Terese Sweet". Sheen Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  10. ^ Abadi, Mark (January 4, 2019). "The CEO of a consulting firm says if 'you can see your future' at work, you may not be in the right career". Business Insider. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  11. ^ Horswill, Ian (July 12, 2019). "Julie Sweet named first female CEO of Accenture". CEO Magazine. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  12. ^ "Accenture names Julie Sweet chief executive officer". Consulting.us. July 15, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  13. ^ Prang, Allison. "Accenture Picks Julie Sweet as Chief Executive". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  14. ^ "Accenture names Julie Sweet as CEO". Reuters. July 11, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  15. ^ a b c Aliaj, Ortenca. "Accenture promotes North America boss to global CEO". Financial Times. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  16. ^ Hinchliffe, Emma (July 22, 2019). "Women Lead Only 2.8% of Fortune Global 500 Companies". Fortune. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  17. ^ "Transcript: The Path Forward: Digital Acceleration with Accenture CEO Julie Sweet". Washington Post. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  18. ^ "Most Powerful Women". Fortune. 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  19. ^ Dantes, Damanick (January 8, 2019). "Accenture CEO: Diversity and Inclusion Start From Within". Fortune. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  20. ^ Brown, Dalvin (June 25, 2019). "Who are the best CEOs for minority workers? Heads of Intuit, T-Mobile, Google rank high". USA Today. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  21. ^ Ellesheva, Ellesheva; Raval, Anjli. "Accenture ditches diversity and inclusion goals". Financial Times. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  22. ^ Murray, Alan (July 11, 2019). "Accenture Names a New CEO: Julie Sweet". Fortune. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  23. ^ King, Hope (September 14, 2023). "Axios Finish Line: Lead like Accenture CEO Julie Sweet". Axios. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  24. ^ "Accenture CEO Julie Sweet Speaks with Bloomberg in Davos". Bloomberg. January 18, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  25. ^ Anderson, Sarah (August 29, 2024). "Executive Excess 2024: The "Low Wage 100" corporations are enriching CEOs at the expense of workers and long-term investment" (PDF). Institute for Policy Studies. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  26. ^ Kahn, Jeremy (January 26, 2022). "CEOs of America's biggest companies detail how to achieve 'responsible A.I.'". Fortune. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  27. ^ "Julie Sweet". Business Roundtable. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  28. ^ "Board of Directors". Catalyst. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  29. ^ Admin. "Active Members". The Business Council. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
  30. ^ "Board of Trustees & Counselors". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  31. ^ "Julie Sweet". World Economic Forum. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  32. ^ "The Path Forward: Digital Acceleration with Accenture CEO Julie Sweet". The Washington Post. December 9, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  33. ^ "Bridges Leadership". Bridges from School to Work. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  34. ^ "Forbes profile: Julie Sweet". Forbes. December 7, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  35. ^ Jaffee, Michelle Koidin (October 10, 2004). "Julie Spellman and Chad Sweet". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  36. ^ "Most Powerful Women: Julie Sweet". Fortune. August 26, 2016. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  37. ^ "Julie Sweet | 2020 Most Powerful Women". Fortune. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  38. ^ "Julie Sweet | 2021 Most Powerful Women". Fortune. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  39. ^ "Julie Sweet | 2022 Most Powerful Women". Fortune. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  40. ^ "The World's Most Powerful Women 2023". Forbes.
  41. ^ "Accenture CEO Julie Sweet to Receive ADL's Prestigious 2024 Courage Against Hate Award". www.adl.org. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
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