NEW YORK & STOCKHOLM–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Essity (STO: ESSITY-B) has selected Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Microsoft to help the global hygiene and health company accelerate the use of AI agents to unlock value and drive efficiencies and growth through improved business agility.
As part of the multi-year collaboration, the companies will work together at Essity’s AI Centre of Excellence. Accenture’s top cloud, data and AI experts with deep industry and functional knowledge will use Microsoft’s advanced technologies such as Azure, Copilot Studio, Power Platform and collaborate with Microsoft experts for technical guidance and support. Together, the companies will create a robust and flexible cloud-based technology platform that will provide next-generation AI capabilities, on which Essity can test and scale solutions across their core business processes and functions to deliver transformational impact.
This first phase of the collaboration will focus on enhancing procurement and finance operations, where cross-functional teams will test, observe and continuously improve these areas over a period of time. Longer term, Essity plans to scale AI across the company to reinvent other end-to-end business processes, enabling new pathways to value and growth.
“To accelerate value generation for our consumers, customers and our employees, we are collaborating with Accenture and Microsoft to access strong industry, functional, technical and product expertise, crucial for ensuring we have the agility to move as the market does,” said Carl-Magnus Månsson, Essity’s Chief Digital and Information Officer. “We are creating a robust and flexible foundation and approach for developing and embedding data and AI in our core business processes to create value and deliver growth. The platform will be developed with leading design principles within a responsible AI framework designed to ensure ethical and legally compliant use and aligned to our company core values: We are committed, we care, we collaborate, and we have courage.”
“Essity has taken a bold step forward in realizing its ambition to be a pioneering company in the hygiene and health sector by reinventing key business processes with AI so it can move forward, faster,” said Patrik Malm, managing director at Accenture and lead of this initiative with Essity. “We’re bringing together multi-disciplinary expertise across function, industry, and technology to create a cloud-based platform for collaboration and co-creation. Together with Microsoft, our collaboration breaks exciting new ground for how Essity can better serve consumers with generative AI and agentic technology to create value and drive growth.”
Sophia Wikander, CEO Microsoft Sweden, said: “We’re operating in a transformative era of AI, where the ability to test, observe, shape, and scale solutions rapidly is evolving. Through this collaboration with Essity and Accenture, we’re bringing Microsoft’s agentic AI technologies and technical expertise to empower Essity to reimagine its core operations and unlock new levels of agility and value.”
About Essity
Essity is a global, leading hygiene and health company. Every day, our products, solutions and services are used by a billion people around the world. Our purpose is to break barriers to well-being for the benefit of consumers, patients, caregivers, customers and society. Sales are conducted in approximately 150 countries under the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and other strong brands such as Actimove, Cutimed, JOBST, Knix, Leukoplast, Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Modibodi, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, TOM Organic and Zewa. In 2024, Essity had net sales of approximately SEK 146bn (EUR 13bn) and employed 36,000 people. The company’s headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden and Essity is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. More information at essity.com.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading solutions and global professional services company that helps the world’s leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise, bringing together the talent of our approximately 779,000 people, our proprietary assets and platforms, and deep ecosystem relationships. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and to be the most AI-enabled, client-focused, great place to work in the world. Through our Reinvention Services we bring together our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X with our deep industry expertise to create and deliver solutions and services for our clients. Our purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity, and we measure our success by the 360° value we create for all our stakeholders. Visit us at accenture.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “aspires,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook,” “goal,” “target” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance nor promises that goals or targets will be met, and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These risks include, without limitation, that the use of AI could harm our business, damage our reputation or give rise to legal or regulatory action, as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” heading in Accenture plc’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s expectations.
Copyright © 2025 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and its logo are trademarks of Accenture.
Contacts
Tara Burns
Accenture
+44 7850 435 158
[email protected]
