Key points
- Qantas is bringing in Accenture to modernise its IT systems and parts of its corporate functions, affecting about 850 roles over the coming years.
- Services will move mostly to Accenture teams in India and some in Australia, with further transformation through automation and AI, and the first wave of changes expected by mid-2027.
- CEO Vanessa Hudson said Qantas will focus on redeployment, reskilling, retraining and ongoing support and care for affected employees.
Qantas is bringing in Accenture to modernise technology systems and “parts” of its corporate functions, impacting the future of about 850 roles “over the coming years”.
The airline said that Accenture will be tasked with “modernising its backend systems, processes and data”.
The services firm will also work to “redesign and simplify how parts of the group’s corporate functions operate.”
“Some of the services they provide will move to Accenture, delivered mostly by its teams in India and some in Australia, and in time be transformed further with automation and AI,” Qantas said in a statement.
Some 850 roles are set to be impacted.
“Qantas will consult with affected employees and their unions before individual outcomes are determined,” it said, adding that “the first wave of changes are expected to be in place by mid-2027.”
According to the Australian Services Union, the first wave of employees impacted will be in the “finance, procurement, people, and marketing functions”.
The union is demanding an explanation from Qantas on why it is offshoring roles, despite previous assurances it would not do so. Representatives are expected to meet with Qantas staff later Tuesday.
Qantas’ intent to engage Accenture in an outsourcing deal was first reported back in August.
Internally, the work is occurring under the codename ‘Project iQ’.
Technical debt
Qantas said that as part of the Accenture agreement, it wanted to address “decades” of technical debt, “including more than 1000 legacy applications that were never designed to work together.”
“Modernising these systems and connecting the data across them is the critical next step to remove complexity, unlock innovation and accelerate the group’s use of AI,” it said.
“To deliver this, Accenture will invest upfront to accelerate the modernisation of the group’s data platforms.”
Qantas has some of its own onshore AI capability through an innovation centre in Adelaide that will ultimately house around 400 staff.
It said that a “multi-year partnership” with Accenture “will help the group move faster and at greater scale than it could on its own.”
Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said in a statement that the aim is to “fundamentally redesign how the work behind our airline gets done, so it is simpler, more connected and keeps getting better, with automation and AI built in from the start.”
