Julie Sweet
American business executive (born 1967)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
1967 (age 58–59)
Columbia University (JD)
Julie Sweet | |
|---|---|
Sweet in 2019 | |
| Born | Julie Spellman 1967 (age 58–59) |
| Education | Claremont McKenna College (BA) Columbia University (JD) |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Title | Chair and CEO, Accenture |
| Spouse |
Chad Creighton Sweet
(m. 2004) |
| Children | 2 |
Early life and education
Sweet grew up in Tustin, California,[4] and competed in speech and debate at Tustin High School.[5] She earned a bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College, and a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School.[6]
Career
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
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.[25]
Board membership
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 been 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
Recognition
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[40], 11th in 2023, ninth in 2022, and tenth in 2021.[41]
In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League gave Sweet its 2024 Courage Against Hate Award.[42]