Mistral AI has signed a deal with global consulting giant Accenture

Companies have struggled to find a return on investment by adopting AI tools. Now, AI companies are trying a new tactic to make their technology stick by partnering with consultants.

French artificial intelligence research lab Mistral AI and global consulting giant Accenture on Thursday announced a multi-year partnership. The deal entails the two companies working together to develop enterprise technology powered by Mistral’s AI models for customers.

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

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

While Mistral is often seen as a smaller European counterpart to US AI startups, the partnership proves that Mistral can still attract the same large clients, given that OpenAI and Antropik recently announced deals with Accenture as well.

The agreement comes at a time when artificial intelligence companies are increasingly collaborating with consultants. For example, OpenAI just announced a “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 clients. Anthropic is also partnered with IBM and Deloitte.

Will partnering with consulting firms be the trick to creating more AI adoption in organizations? It’s not clear, but what is clear is that AI companies are definitely trying to figure it out.