Julie Sweet

Julie Sweet
Born	Julie Terese Spellman Template:Birth year and age Tustin, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Attorney, corporate executive
Years active	1990s–present
Known for	Chair and CEO of Accenture
Spouse	Chad Creighton Sweet
Children	2

Julie Terese Sweet (née Spellman, born 1967) is an American attorney and corporate leader, currently holding the positions of chair and chief executive officer (CEO) at Accenture, a multinational professional services firm.

Both The New York Times and Fortune have acknowledged her as one of the most influential women in the U.S. corporate sector, particularly noting her commitment to promoting workplace gender equality.

Early life and education

Raised in Tustin, California, Sweet distinguished herself in speech and debate during her time at Tustin High School. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Claremont McKenna College and subsequently earned a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.

Career

Prior to her tenure at Accenture, Sweet devoted 17 years to the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where she spent a decade as a partner—being only the ninth woman to reach this level at the firm. Her legal expertise centered on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and serving as corporate counsel.

Accenture

Sweet joined Accenture in 2010 as general counsel. By 2015, she was appointed CEO of Accenture’s North American division, which represents the company’s largest market segment. Early on, she became part of the global management committee and collaborated with then-CEO Pierre Nanterme to shape Accenture’s strategy for mergers and acquisitions.

In September 2019, Sweet was elevated to CEO, becoming the first woman to lead the company, taking over from interim CEO David Rowland. At that point, she was among only 27 female CEOs heading S&P 500 companies and ranked as the 15th female chief executive within Fortune Global 500 firms. She assumed the role of chair in September 2021.

Throughout her leadership, Sweet has been a strong proponent of diversity, inclusion, and achieving gender balance, supporting Accenture’s objective to reach equal gender representation by 2025; women accounted for 42% of employees in 2019. That same year, she earned recognition as a leading CEO for diversity initiatives. Nevertheless, in February 2025, under her direction, Accenture ceased its global employee representation targets and halted external diversity benchmarking efforts.

Sweet is a vocal supporter of closing the U.S. skills gap and endorses national apprenticeship programs. She has stressed the importance of growing Accenture’s talent pool in artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics fields, with a goal to double this workforce by 2023. In 2024, she unveiled plans to establish 10 generative AI innovation centers globally.

In 2023, Sweet’s total remuneration amounted to $31.6 million—1,526 times higher than the median salary of an Accenture employee that year before adjusting for cost-of-living differences.

Board service

In addition to her role on Accenture’s board, Sweet actively participates in organizations such as The Business Council, the Business Roundtable, and Catalyst. She has also contributed as a trustee for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the World Economic Forum, and Bridges from School to Work, an initiative founded by Marriott International’s originators.

Personal life

Sweet is married to Chad Creighton Sweet and they have two daughters. The family lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Recognition

In 2019, The New York Times described Sweet as "one of the most powerful women in corporate America." Since 2016, she has been featured on Fortune’s "Most Powerful Women" list, achieving the top ranking in 2020 for steering Accenture’s workforce of over 500,000 through the COVID-19 crisis. She was placed third in 2021 and second in 2022.

In 2023, Forbes ranked Sweet 11th among its "World's 100 Most Powerful Women." The following year, she was honored with the Anti-Defamation League’s Courage Against Hate Award.

External links

• Accenture executive leadership page