Accenture

Accenture’s moat is grounded in trusted brand and reputation with large enterprises and governments, high switching costs embedded in multi-year managed services and platform operations, and efficient scale enabled by global delivery and top-tier alliances with Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, SAP, Salesforce and others.

The Accenture–Microsoft–Avanade alliance, majority-owned by Accenture, is a long-standing differentiator that deepens access to talent, certifications and co-innovation. These factors support industry-leading returns on capital and large-account penetration.

Risks include generative AI automating portions of coding and process work and increased competition from hyperscaler professional services and Indian IT peers, but Accenture’s AI investments and Reinvention Services structure position it to capture the demand shift rather than be displaced.

Morningstar also assesses Accenture as a wide-moat business due to intangible assets and switching costs, aligning with our view.