Karthik Narain Succeeds Paul Daugherty as Accenture’s New CTO

Karthik Narain has officially assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Accenture, effective September 1, 2024. The appointment follows the retirement of Paul Daugherty, who spent nearly 40 years with the company, shaping its technological direction.

Narain will continue his responsibilities as Group Chief Executive – Technology, where he has been leading technology strategy and operations. In a LinkedIn post, Narain expressed his gratitude to Daugherty, saying, “I’d like to extend my gratitude and best wishes to a brilliant tech visionary and storyteller, Paul Daugherty, who is retiring from the CTO role. You have left me with immense shoes to fill after almost four decades at Accenture—and your impact will be felt long beyond.”

Daugherty also shared a farewell post on LinkedIn, reflecting on his 38-year journey. “After 38 years, 5+ million air miles, 997 time reports, 1,000s of clients across 6 of the 7 continents, and (at least) 4 major generations of technology . . . today is my LAST day as an Accenture employee!” He recounted his career, starting with Cobol IMS DB/DC on an IBM S/370 in 1986, and progressing through multiple programming languages like PL/1, LISP, and Python.

Narain brings over two decades of leadership in technology, having previously served as Vice President and Vertical Head for High Tech, Software & Platforms, and Automotive at HCLTech from 2005 to 2015. He also has experience with Infosys.

Narain holds a Master’s degree in Computer Systems and Business from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli.