It’s got advanced virtual reality simulations meant to train highway patrol officers, high-tech gamelike programs meant to test for empathy in social workers and promising artificial intelligence software — plus it’s got beanbag chairs and foosball tables.
Accenture, an Ireland-based multinational consulting and technology company recently featured on Fortune’s 500 largest companies globally, opened up a new office in midtown Sacramento’s Ice Blocks Monday afternoon, touting impressive tech demos and emphasizing its creative problem-solving strategies.
Jens Egerland, a senior managing director at Accenture for more than 30 years and the head of its Sacramento office, said the new 10,000-square-foot office is a big upgrade from its old 7,000-square-foot space in Meridian Plaza.
The office, which is part open-layout workspace and part innovation hub, doesn’t necessarily reflect an expanding portfolio — although that’s always a priority, Egerland said — but instead, quicker turnaround on systems solutions and an opportunity for more innovative solutions.
“It’s solving them more effectively, differently and giving us the ability to solve problems that previously were not being addressed.” Egerland said. “This is growth in different areas which we also feel will help growth in the portfolio, but this is focused on really changing the way people think about the problems and the solutions.”
Accenture has been working in Sacramento for decades, and has primarily served the state and local governments to improve large systems in areas such as licensing, health care and finance, Egerland said.
For instance, Accenture and the California Department of Social Services have been working on the Statewide Automated Welfare System, a system that automates welfare processes.
“We’ve been in the area here in various locations since the early 1980s, and this was something we looked at three four years ago. We knew we needed to change how we do business,” Egerland said. “You’re not going to see many Fortune 500 companies in the Ice Blocks. You’re going to see them on the 18th floor of some high rise, and that’s why we really wanted to make this different.”
Now, as it settles into the R Street corridor, Accenture plans on expanding further in Sacramento with more private sector partners in health and finance, more cutting-edge technology like blockchain ledgers and quantum computing and hiring as growth warrants, Egerland said.
Louis Stewart, the chief innovation officer for the city of Sacramento, said the opening of Accenture’s new office in Sacramento may also drive other technology companies to the city, echoing remarks from Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who spoke at the opening.
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