Trending @Accenture; How hard is data science? Can we make a switch to Data science after being in Software development for 5 years?

Yes definitely, you can switch to DS and being from a development background means good in coding, thats what makes it easier. If you have interest in data, ai, ML and likes to code, then DS would be a good career option for you. Also, its a hot cake nowadays. You just have to dedicate some of your post work hours into self study daily, if you are a beginner in this.
I made a career switch to AI/ML engineer role within Accenture from a non coding background in a similar way.

data science is too complex, stick to software. politics is easier to switch.