Working with CIOs and their challenges has been the main driver of his work over the last (almost) 30 years and he is thrilled to be committed to Accenture’s CIO Council members and the High Performance IT research program.
As the co-head of Accenture Technology Consulting, Curtis is responsible for Accenture’s mission to aggressively grow the largest and most influential technology consulting capability in the industry.
“Helping to lead Accenture Technology Consulting to where the firm needs it to go is the most challenging role I’ve had in my career,” he says. |
Curtis and John Kaltenmark lead the nine global technology consulting service lines within Accenture Technology Consulting—ranging from IT strategy through to infrastructure transformation and security—involving approximately 8,500 staff and serving clients in more than 30 countries. He believes that explaining Accenture’s story to investors taxes every consulting skill: strong preparation, the need to think on your feet, clear communication and a deep knowledge of the technology industry’s dynamics.
He finds the challenge very exciting: “Investors are smart, aggressive people who want to hear something convincing and new about Accenture’s competitive ability and how this will make them money as investors. There is no room for hot air and one mistake can negatively impact Accenture’s share price.”
Curtis joined Accenture in 2001, attracted by the business model, the strong entrepreneurial spirit, the firm’s market potential, and of course, the people. Had he not joined Accenture, things would have turned out very differently. In order to attend a Business Transformational Outsourcing workshop in Accenture in Washington, he cancelled speaking at a conference at Windows of the World in New York on September 11. Every day he thinks about those friends and colleagues who died at that conference.
Prior to joining Accenture, Curtis was a general partner with a Silicon Valley venture capital fund and a senior vice president at the Boston Consulting Group. He serves on the technology advisory boards of several early-stage technology companies.
Curtis's wife tells him that he lives on United Airlines but his real home is about 15 miles east of the Accenture San Francisco office in Orinda, California. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics from the University of Chicago.