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Accenture has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake (65%) in DLB Associates, a prominent US-based AI data center engineering and consulting firm. This strategic move will expand Accenture’s end-to-end capital projects capabilities, aiming to help software, platform, and high-tech clients accelerate their time to market and address the critical infrastructure demands of AI enablement.
Accenture agrees to acquire a 65% majority stake in US firm DLB Associates.
DLB provides data center site selection, design, engineering, and commissioning services.
The acquisition adds approximately 620 specialized employees to Accenture’s Industry X practice.
Goal is to offer clients end-to-end data center development from design to deployment.
DLB is a trusted partner to hyperscalers, neo-clouds, and colocation providers.
The move addresses client challenges in scaling AI-ready infrastructure rapidly and reliably.
The acquisition is designed to fill a critical gap in the infrastructure value chain. By integrating DLB’s deep engineering expertise with Accenture’s global scale and strengths in supply chain, procurement, and technology, the combined entity plans to offer a comprehensive service. This spans from the earliest stages of conceptual design and strategic site development through to advanced engineering, rapid deployment, and operational performance, providing a single partner for complex capital projects.
Clients across the tech sector are facing significant constraints in data center capacity, staffing, sustainability, and cybersecurity as they race to build AI-ready infrastructure. DLB’s specialization in accelerating the entire development lifecycle for leading hyperscalers and colocation providers directly addresses these pain points. The partnership aims to help clients navigate site planning, manage construction quality, and optimize energy use to meet the scale and reliability demands of AI workloads.
Upon closing, DLB’s team of approximately 620 employees, led by CEO David Quirk and Chief Innovation Officer Neil Chauhan, will join Accenture’s Industry X practice. This integration augments Accenture’s existing infrastructure and capital projects (I&CP) capabilities with DLB’s respected engineering pedigree, which includes co-founding key industry standards bodies like ASHRAE’s TC9.9 committee for mission-critical data center design.
“As AI-driven demand for data center capacity accelerates, our clients increasingly face infrastructure constraints that impact their core value chains,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “Along with DLB's deep expertise, Accenture will offer an end-to-end capability from the earliest stages of conceptual design and strategic site development through to advanced engineering, rapid deployment, and operational performance. This approach will ensure our clients can meet the ever-increasing demands of AI with speed, scale and reliability.”
“The data center industry is experiencing significant growth amid an unprecedented push for scaling and DLB is at the forefront of helping clients quickly navigate every stage of the development lifecycle,” said David Quirk, CEO, DLB. “We selected Accenture to unleash our ability to match that scale and help support clients through value creation and joint ideation for next generation AI data center—at pace.”
Accenture’s majority stake in DLB represents a significant bet on the sustained growth of physical AI infrastructure. It signals a strategic expansion beyond digital consulting into the high-stakes realm of large-scale capital project delivery, positioning the firm as a critical partner for companies building the foundational compute power required for the AI era.
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