Accenture plc’s (ACN Quick QuoteACN - Free Report) subsidiary Accenture Federal Services announced appointment of Dr. Portia Crowe as Chief Data Strategy Director for Defense.

Crowe is a data strategy expert with 20 years of experience and former Army Futures Command’s Network Cross Functional Team’s chief data officer. She was also the chief of Cyber Engineering and Operations, and Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Communications, Command, and Control Tactical Headquarters.

In her new role with Accenture, Crowe is expected to help implement artificial intelligence and machine-learning-based transformation strategies for Accenture’s federal customers and enable them get quickly accustomed to the everchanging digital world.

"I look forward to helping Accenture Federal Services’ clients keep pace with today’s digital world, solve vexing digital transformation challenges, and achieve operational efficiencies," said Crowe.

Accenture’s shares have gained 38.3% over the past year, outperforming the 30.4% growth of the Zacks S&P 500 composite while underperforming the 44.5% rally of the industry it belongs to.

Zacks Rank and Other Stocks to Consider

Accenture currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Some other similarly ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are ManpowerGroup Inc. (MAN Quick QuoteMAN - Free Report) , Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN Quick QuoteCCRN - Free Report)  and TransUnion (TRU Quick QuoteTRU - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

The long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for ManpowerGroup, Cross Country and TransUnion is pegged at 23.1%, 9.9% and 22%, respectively.