About
Founder and lead advisor. One standard of excellence.
F1 Consulting is led by Reza Firouzbakht. As lead advisor—including in fractional CAIO engagements—Reza works directly with clients and assembles the project teams, partners and specialists each engagement needs. The expertise on this page is who leads the work.
Thought leadership
A technology-strategy thought leader since before AI was a trend.
Long before AI became the hot topic in every boardroom, Reza was shaping how global companies make technology bets and lead transformation. The same evidence-based approach he brought to those waves is the one he now applies to AI.
Patents
Two awarded patents
Systems for predictive analytics using real-world M&A transactions—methods for predicting enterprise outcomes from evidence, developed and patented during his tenure at Accenture.
Methodology
Adopted globally
Developer of Accenture's Science & Technology strategy methodology—a framework for how science and technology companies endure disruption, adopted across Accenture's global Strategy practice.
Publications
Published thought leadership
Author of Making the Right Bets, Harnessing Disruption: How Science and Technology Companies Endure, Era of Outcomes: Emerging Biopharma Business Models, and Achieving Future High Performance in the Biopharmaceutical Industry.
Why AI, why now
I have seen many technology waves across twenty-five years—the internet, cloud, mobile, IoT, blockchain. AI is both the most disruptive of them and the largest opportunity for value creation I have seen. That conviction is why this practice exists.
How Reza works
Technology is a means. Value is the point.
Reza is energized by working directly with clients and creating real, measurable value. In fractional CAIO and transformation engagements, he leads the work personally, backed by the project teams and partners each engagement needs. Every engagement is judged by its outcomes—revenue growth, cost reduction, and return on technology investment—not by the volume of analysis produced.

Career
Reza Firouzbakht
Founder, F1 Consulting. Former IBM Partner and Accenture Strategy Senior Principal; executive roles at Amazon and Microsoft. Chicago Booth MBA.
IBM Consulting
Partner & Practice Leader, Digital Strategy
Built and led a $20M+ consulting practice advising Fortune 500 electronics, automotive and manufacturing CEOs on growth strategy and digital transformation.
Accenture
Senior Principal, Accenture Strategy
Fifteen years in Accenture's elite Strategy practice across High Tech and Life Sciences, with Microsoft as an anchor client. Originated the frameworks and patents above.
Amazon
Principal Product Manager, Payments
Led strategic partnerships and commercialization for Amazon One and Just Walk Out, building a payments ecosystem spanning American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Adyen.
Microsoft
Director, Strategic Partnerships
Led strategic partner engagements for Azure Marketplace, working with leading software providers driving over $1B in Azure sales.
Diagnostic
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