Good morning. Both the CEO and CFO of Accenture are women, and that leadership dynamic isn't going to change with the appointment of a new finance chief. But it remains incredibly rare.
The global professional services company led by Julie Sweet announced on Tuesday that CFO KC McClure would be retiring after 36 years at the firm. McClure will step down, both as finance chief and as a member of the Global Management Committee, on Nov. 30 and officially retire March 31.
Angie Park, effective Dec. 1, will assume CFO duties at the Fortune Global 500 firm. Park, who's spent nearly three decades at Accenture, currently leads its business and commercial finance division and is the former head of investor relations. Previously, Park was CFO for Accenture Technology Services and led investor relations for six years, playing a key role in financial strategy and communications.
Sweet became CEO in 2019, the same year McClure was promoted to CFO. At the time, very few large companies had women performing the two top roles. And five years later, not much has changed: An analysis provided by Russell Reynolds Associates found that among S&P 500 companies only 2.2% have both a female CEO and female CFO. (By comparison, about 74% of S&P 500 firms have men in both roles.)
During a Fortune CFO Collaborative event in 2021, in partnership with Workday, Sweet and McClure discussed their partnership. “We are in this together, always,” Sweet said of her CFO. “As my partner, it’s really critical that KC is a business leader first, just like I look to my general counsel as a business leader first—with legal expertise—but also a leader that epitomizes our values."
“You need to have mutual respect for each other,” McClure added. “That enables you to have very candid conversations. Julie feels very comfortable with me, as I do with her.”
As Accenture’s next CFO, Park will help the firm use AI to help clients improve operations, achieve growth, and become more resilient. At Fortune’s Future of Finance event last month in New York City, McClure discussed being in the “unique position” to assist clients in implementing technology while also using it internally.
When it comes to clients who are CFOs, McClure added that “there’s no question” AI and GenAI are “transformative.” It’s not a question of if they’re deployed, but when. “It’s figuring out ‘How do I get started, and where do I go?’”
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
