Engineering advantage

A one-stop destination for data that's used for multiple functions

The situation

One of the largest retailers in the country had grown rapidly via mergers and acquisitions. The consequent muddle of fragmented, obsolete finance systems made efficient management reporting almost impossible. And the self-service queries that finance needed more frequently every day? Forget about them. The company's CFO knew there had to be a better way.

Her thinking: Why couldn't there be a one-stop destination for data that could be used for multiple finance functions?

The solve

Although the CFO hadn't seen technology tools as an answer to her function's challenges, she realized it was impossible for finance to run specific queries without them. That opened the door to engineering advantage through an in-memory computing solution, powered by SAP HANA® enterprise, that mined through the vast amount of data available and automated the retailer's monthly close process.

This technology innovation was based on a very human truth: New solutions are more readily adopted when small improvements lead to tangible, visible, short-term benefits.

The impact

Accurate reporting. More-informed finance employees. Shorter time to market.

The difference was immediate—and visible. Furthermore, decision-makers across the organization can now access data how they need it, when they need it—enhancing both customer relations and decision-making. This led the retailer to other SAP solutions, such as a cloud-based analytics tool that powers personalized dashboards to deliver data in near-real-time via mobile devices.

Based on this success, the CFO is now open to considering robotics and predictive analytics to take full advantage of the retailer's new computing power and data availability.

Engineering greater confidence in AI

The situation

A financial services company faced increased risk exposure from its artificial intelligence (AI) due to inconsistent monitoring, risk identification, governance, and documentation of multiple applications across its business units. The issues potentially exposed the company to poor customer experiences; negative brand image; and legal, regulatory, and compliance violations.

The solve

We engineered advantage by helping our client make AI more human. We recommended that humans keep watch on the AI algorithms. We made sure that the learning behind each AI model was transparent and that guardrails and accountability existed when an AI model produced unexpected outcomes.

Deloitte's AI governance and risk management specialists collaborated with the company's data science team to review the AI models, capture a risk profile, and develop a risk assessment. Each AI model was reviewed against Deloitte's AI risks dimensions and aligned with Deloitte's Trustworthy AI™ framework.

The impact

Thanks to Trustworthy AI, our team:

• Brought understanding of how AI applications can generate outcomes devoid of business context when left unchecked.
• Created a consistent classification and approach to AI algorithms and techniques.
• Met or exceeded industry benchmarks of AI governance capabilities set by peers.
• Improved AI safeguards, transparency, and confidence across businesses with policies to determine who is responsible for the output of AI system decisions.
• Put in place an agile and targeted operating model to manage AI adoption in a responsible manner with appropriate governance and controls.

Planting seeds for the future

The situation

When launching Grow with Google, which offers low-cost certificate training for people as an alternative to a traditional two-year or four-year university degree, Google realized it needed help in developing the courses that offered the precise skills employers needed. In the era of digital transformation, where innovation moves at lightning speed, the knowledge gap is constantly widening, which meant Google needed experts to give its curriculum not just integrity but also relevance.

The solve

As Google created three new Career Certificate Programs—Program Management, UX/UI Design, and Data Analytics—the company turned to Deloitte to provide subject-matter expertise in each field to flesh out the programs, make sure they followed best practices, and provided the appropriate skills training employers would want in recruiting new tech talent.

The impact

By contributing to the tools, training, and resources, Deloitte helped Grow with Google enable learners—largely from underrepresented backgrounds—and suddenly make them in demand by some of the nation’s top employers in the new tech job market. As a result:

• More than 70,000 people have graduated with Google Career Certificates
• Most enrollees will finish in fewer than six months, putting the cost at about $240 for US students. Some may need only three months, cutting that cost in half.
• Google is offering 100,000 need-based scholarships in the United States.
• Our team is helping Google think through topics for future certifications. We have hired 14 program graduates for roles at Deloitte and are planning to find ways to embed Grow with Google as a sustainable hiring channel throughout the entire organization.

When the going gets tough, the factory gets smart

The situation

One of the world’s largest manufacturers of aerostructures for commercial airplanes, defense platforms, and business jets wanted to uplevel their World War II-era facilities for the future of manufacturing. The plan: create a Smart Factory—a highly responsive, adaptive, and connected system of technologies that together would engineer a continuous flow of information between the physical and digital worlds.

Despite some major disruptions, including interruptions to the global supply chain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leadership chose to double down on digitizing the company’s operations, positioning it for future growth by harnessing the power of next-generation technology.

The solve

The transformation unfolded in multiple modules powered by Deloitte’s Smart Factory Accelerator, a preconfigured suite of cloud-based IoT applications.

We implemented Floorsight™ to maximize machine utilization using RFID tags to track components through the production facility and make sure materials are in the right place, at the right time. Using OptiCrew, we combined disparate enterprise resource data to enable a detailed visual dashboard with a complete (and dynamic) picture of workforce utilization. And with the Command Center enabling data-driven business decisions, constraints to the manufacturing process could be ranked, tracked, and managed to resolution.

The impact

Several years into its transformation, the company has found its stride with the Smart Factory and will continue to lock in bottom-line results from the solutions engineered with the Smart Factory Fabric modules. The company’s long-term plan marks a new way of doing business through a globally connected ecosystem—a goal that might have previously been unachievable.

A game-changing digital experience at SoFi Stadium

The situation

Back in 2016, there was a big pile of dirt and a bigger idea. Real estate developer and Los Angeles Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke was realizing his vision for developing historic land in the heart of Los Angeles. The expansive project would include mixed-use commercial, retail, residential, and entertainment facilities and was designed to connect to and transform the once iconic Hollywood Park racetrack. Creating this singular world-class destination would require incredible planning, award-winning architecture, and a next-generation digital guest experience.

Hollywood Park’s chief technology officer understood that the guest experience begins long before arrival at a venue like this one and is managed increasingly by guests through their mobile devices in non-linear ways. He envisioned a digital journey that starts on the couch, kicks into high gear at the curbside of SoFi Stadium—the centerpiece of Hollywood Park—and concludes back where it began—hours, days, or months after the glow of a game, a concert, or a gathering with friends subsides. Enabling this experience would require embedding the necessary capabilities into the stadium’s infrastructure while it was being built in intentional and strategic ways.

Each football game would draw tens of thousands of fans to SoFi Stadium from around the world, but Hollywood Park was conceived as a destination for every day of the year. The enhanced digital experience would be designed to meet the needs of families who might visit on any given Tuesday, workers onsite for jobs throughout the week, residents who’d call the site their home, and everyone in between. A delightful and meaningful digital experience would therefore deliver seamless, intuitive, and contextual interactions so each guest might feel as if the experience had been created just for them.

This was a highly complex technology challenge. And it couldn’t be tackled with technology alone.

The solve

The dirt lot became a temporary office complex (fabricated from connected construction trailers) and the new home for a cross-functional team of Deloitte professionals. This team included football fans and sports agnostics, Los Angeles natives, and individuals from across the United States and India. It was an intentionally broad mix of backgrounds and an intentionally broad range of specializations, with designers, engineers, strategists, analysts, and cyber specialists working side by side.

Taking a creative-first approach, Deloitte helped architect a plan that would drive requirements for technology, data, content, and more. The collective team defined guest personas to anticipate needs and interests for a range of potential end users and set priorities to incorporate into a best-in-class digital experience. The native mobile application evolved through rapid development and iteration into something akin to a social feed. Integrated functionality like ticketing flowed organically into logical next actions, such as reserving parking or scheduling transportation.

First-of-its-kind navigation technology was built to power wayfinding—inside and outside the building—with directions adapting based on what stadium access a guest may have. And significant third-party integrations, including options that make it possible for guests to buy tickets or arrange for a ride without leaving the stadium app, were all worked through in meticulous detail.

Deloitte cybersecurity specialists helped create a comprehensive set of cybersecurity capabilities designed to help keep SoFi Stadium’s visitors, operations, and digital properties safe—a vital part of any modern-day guest journey.

Beyond these leading-edge features, Deloitte Digital specialists also assisted in creating several next-generation marketing offerings for advertisers and sponsors. And data insights were converted in ways that allowed for a personalized guest experience.

The impact

Deloitte Digital helped create, build, and launch an innovative digital guest experience at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park designed to maximize customer, sponsor, and business value well beyond game day. The elevated guest journey was crafted to make the most of this destination that is like no other while making it easier for visitors to manage and enjoy their experience before, during, and after an event.

Executing on our client’s bold vision for the 3.1 million-square-foot indoor/outdoor stadium required the breadth of Deloitte, bringing a cross-functional team of creative professionals, technologists, analysts, data architects, product managers, and more around a single mission.

Deloitte is serving as an official digital transformation provider and an official technology alliance sponsor of SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater, and the Hollywood Park development. And as building continues throughout the remainder of the property, the advanced digital capabilities and next-gen marketing offerings we’re helping implement are intended to deliver a highly personalized experience for guests for decades to come.