Mistral AI inks a deal with global consulting giant Accenture

Enterprises have struggled to find a return on investment from adopting AI tools. Now AI companies are trying a new tactic to get their tech to stick by partnering with consultants.

On Thursday, French AI research lab Mistral AI and global consulting giant Accenture announced a multiyear partnership. The deal entails the two companies working together to develop enterprise tech powered by Mistral’s AI models for clients.

Financial terms and duration of the deal were not disclosed. TechCrunch reached out for more information.

This deal also includes Accenture becoming a Mistral customer and rolling out its technology to its underlying employees.

While Mistral is often seen as a smaller European peer to the sprawling U.S. AI “startups,” the partnership proves that Mistral can still land the same sizable customers, given that OpenAI and Anthropic recently announced deals with Accenture as well.

The agreement comes as AI companies are increasingly partnering with consultants. For instance, OpenAI just announced its “Frontier Alliance” initiative with four large consulting firms, including Accenture, on Monday to help push its new OpenAI Frontier AI agent governance platform to enterprise customers. Anthropic is also partnered with IBM and Deloitte.

Will partnering with consulting firms be the trick to finding more enterprise AI adoption? It’s unclear, but what is clear is that AI companies are definitely trying to find out.