01 · The challenge
Scale and speed outpaced annual tests
With 800,000 employees, 10% annual turnover and code shipping continuously, compliance pentesting alone could not cover a global attack surface.
Case Study How Accenture Partners with Synack to Reduce MTTR
Annual compliance testing could not keep pace with continuous code releases and fast AI adoption across Accenture’s global attack surface. Continuous offensive security with the Synack Red Team helped it eliminate entire vulnerability classes and hold a 7-day remediation target for critical findings.
7-day Remediation target for critical findings
6 years Eliminating entire vulnerability classes
3,000+ Internal AI agents in a deployment Synack helped secure
77,000 AI and data specialists in Accenture’s 2025 workforce
From compliance testing to continuous validation
At Accenture’s scale, a once-a-year pentest leaves too much unseen between tests.
02 · The approach
A persistent offensive security partner
Accenture moved to continuous testing on the Synack Platform, with the Synack Red Team testing its global assets around the clock.
03 · The outcome
Fewer repeat flaws, faster fixes
Findings became automated checks that removed whole vulnerability classes, and critical issues are held to a 7-day fix target.
Why annual testing could not keep up
Accenture brings in close to 80,000 new people every year. Training alone cannot close the gaps that creates, and a single annual pentest cannot cover an attack surface that changes every day.
AI adoption raised the stakes. In two years, Accenture grew its AI and data workforce from 40,000 to 77,000 and delivered more than 6,000 advanced AI projects in fiscal 2025 (CRN, 2025).
Global CISO Kris Burkhardt needed testing that could match the pace of continuous deployment and scale across assets worldwide.
You can’t train your way out of a problem at this scale.
Fix the root cause, not just the bug
Accenture treats every Synack finding as a lesson for the whole organization. Patterns across findings show where systemic weaknesses sit.
Find what tools miss
Synack Red Team researchers surfaced issues such as unauthenticated objects buried in complex web applications.
Turn findings into PenBots
Accenture’s team built internal automated scanners, called PenBots, that hunt for the same vulnerability class across the whole estate.
Keep testing continuously
Ongoing testing catches new risks in new or sensitive systems and stops fixed flaws from quietly returning.
“Synack found these needles in the haystack.”
Defending at the speed of AI
With more than 3,000 internal AI agents deployed and teams releasing code every hour, continuous testing acts as a safety net for fast-moving development.
The fun part of AI is enablement; the not-so-fun part is defending against AI-powered attacks.
You have to move at AI speed. Continuous testing ensures that as our teams release code every hour, we aren’t unknowingly reintroducing old flaws.
We don’t just want to fix a bug; we want to make the organization smarter. Synack helps us learn from our mistakes so we don’t repeat them.
Kris Burkhardt
Global CISO, Accenture
What Accenture achieved
Eliminated entire vulnerability classes
Over six years, Accenture turned Synack findings into automated PenBots that remove whole classes of flaws, not single bugs.
Supported secure AI adoption
Helped secure the deployment of 3,000+ internal AI agents.
Set a 7-day fix target
Reduced mean time to remediate by holding critical findings to an aggressive 7-day remediation target.
Kept pace with a growing workforce
Secured an AI and data workforce that grew to 77,000 specialists in 2025.
Reported progress in business terms
Instead of vulnerability counts, Burkhardt shows leadership falling MTTR and fewer recurring vulnerabilities through Synack Platform reporting, linking security investment to business goals.
Questions about the Accenture case study
Who is Accenture?
Accenture is a global solutions and services company that helps enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and applying AI across the business, with approximately 786,000 people.
Which Synack solutions does Accenture use?
The Synack Platform for continuous, offensive security testing (pentesting as a service), with the Synack Red Team providing 24/7 testing across Accenture’s global assets.
What are PenBots?
PenBots are internal automated scanners Accenture built from Synack findings. Each one hunts for a vulnerability class Synack researchers found, across the whole environment, so the same flaw does not reappear elsewhere.
How does Accenture measure progress?
Through governance and organizational risk rather than vulnerability counts. Synack Platform reporting shows mean time to remediate falling and recurring vulnerabilities being prevented.
How does continuous testing support AI adoption?
With thousands of internal AI agents and code released every hour, continuous testing catches new risks quickly and makes sure fixed flaws are not reintroduced.
Get the Accenture case study
See how Accenture eliminated vulnerability classes, helped secure 3,000+ internal AI agents and holds a 7-day remediation target for critical findings.
