Avanade appoints Ben Beath as Chief AI Officer to lead

Avanade has appointed Ben Beath as Chief AI Officer, giving the company a dedicated executive to oversee its artificial intelligence strategy.

Beath will lead AI adoption across Avanade's operations and client work, focusing on embedding the technology into core business processes and linking investment to measurable returns. He will also oversee the use of intelligent tools and agentic systems across teams and service delivery.

The appointment comes as consulting and technology services groups seek to move beyond early AI experimentation and make it part of routine business use. For firms such as Avanade, that means balancing internal deployment with advisory work for customers seeking to reshape operations, decision-making and customer service.

Beath has been with Avanade since 2018. Most recently, he served as AI Acceleration Lead and co-led the company's AI Transformation Office, where he worked with enterprise clients to identify where AI could materially change how they operate.

Before joining Avanade, he co-founded digital agency Loud&Clear in 2009. Avanade later acquired the business, establishing its first Digital Innovation Studio in Asia Pacific, which Beath then expanded across Singapore, Japan and Brazil.

He later relocated to New York to lead Avanade's Digital Experiences business across the north-eastern US before moving into AI-focused leadership roles. Alongside Loud&Clear, he has also co-founded five start-ups, including PlayHQ, a community sports platform in Australia.

AI strategy

Beath's remit includes strengthening Avanade's own use of AI as well as advising clients on broader organisational change. The role reflects a wider market shift, as service providers face pressure to demonstrate practical AI use within their own businesses while also selling transformation projects to customers.

Avanade was founded by Accenture and Microsoft and works closely within the Microsoft ecosystem. It operates in 26 countries, employs more than 60,000 people worldwide and serves more than 7,000 organisations.

Beath outlined his view of how the debate around AI has changed.

"The AI conversation continues to shift incredibly quickly and has moved past debate of whether or not to invest. Today's topic centres around how organizations can realize the full value of that investment. Key differentiation is being delivered by those that are moving past tools and rethinking how work gets done, how decisions are made and how they serve their customers.

"At Avanade, we need to lead through our own use of AI. My focus is on learning what delivers results in our business and bringing that experience to clients as they navigate their own transformation. That's how we can help turn AI investment into measurable business value," said Ben Beath, Chief AI Officer at Avanade.

His appointment also signals the growing prominence of dedicated AI leadership roles within large services companies. Businesses that once placed AI responsibility within data, technology or innovation teams are increasingly assigning it to executives whose remit spans internal operations, governance and customer-facing work.

Chris Howarth, Chief Executive Officer of Avanade, linked the decision to Beath's experience in digital transformation and entrepreneurship.

"Ben has spent his career helping organizations embrace new technologies and translate innovation into business outcomes. His combination of entrepreneurial experience, deep understanding of AI and track record of leading transformation will be invaluable as we accelerate our own use of AI and help clients navigate this next phase of change.

"AI presents an enormous opportunity for organizations, but realizing that potential requires more than technology alone. Ben will play an important role in helping Avanade and our clients adopt AI at scale, responsibly and with confidence," said Howarth.

The appointment places Beath at the centre of Avanade's effort to shape how its teams use AI and how it advises organisations seeking to integrate the technology into day-to-day operations.