The announcement in July of a multi-year, global investment program between Amazon Web Services Inc. and Deloitte & Touche LLP signaled both a significant expansion of the ongoing relationship between the two technology powerhouses and the increasing influence artificial intelligence, more specifically enterprise AI solutions.
The collaboration is focused on scaling generative AI, data and analytics capabilities for mutual clients worldwide, with the potential to reshape the landscape for enterprise AI adoption.
“The Deloitte AWS collaboration represents a significant move in the enterprise AI market,” said Shelly Kramer, managing director and principal analyst at theCUBE Research, in her recent report on the newly-announced partnership. “By combining Deloitte’s industry expertise and client relationships with AWS’ technical capabilities and the significant inroads AWS has made delivering for customers on the AI front, this initiative has the potential to accelerate AI adoption across various sectors. However, the ultimate impact will depend on the partners’ ability to deliver practical, value-driving solutions while navigating the complex landscape of enterprise AI implementation.”
In her full analysis, Kramer assessed key elements of the collaboration, what it will mean for AI adoption in the enterprise market and challenges that AWS and Deloitte will face as the companies seek to deliver tangible business value.
Industry-specific enterprise AI solutions offered
The Deloitte AWS initiative builds on an existing collaboration that has encompassed cloud innovation strategies and joint client use of AWS-native services. This most recent partnership will include the establishment of an Innovation Lab, enabling engineers from both firms to develop industry-specific solutions.
“By tailoring AI solutions to specific industries, Deloitte and AWS are addressing one of the key challenges in enterprise AI adoption: the need for contextual understanding and domain-specific applications,” Kramer said.
The collaboration includes Deloitte’s C Suite AI for CFOs, a tool that leverages acceleration capabilities from Nvidia Corp. and Amazon Bedrock to streamline financial functions using customized large language models. It also implements enterprise AI solutions and builds on AI-enhanced contact centers and the Deloitte Converge portfolio to support banking modernization and cloud security.
“This integration of new AI capabilities with established solutions suggests a strategy of evolving existing products rather than creating entirely new ones, which should be very good news for customers, potentially easing the adoption process for those already using these services,” Kramer noted.
The Deloitte AWS partnership is positioned to benefit both firms by advancing their respective AI agendas through the use of enterprise AI solutions. Deloitte established a generative AI practice in 2023 and announced a $2 billion strategic investment in its IndustryAdvantage program for AI enablement in April.
At July’s AWS Summit in New York, the cloud provider made a number of generative AI announcements for fine-tuning models and supporting low code development. The combined strengths of Deloitte and AWS in the AI field could reshape the enterprise narrative, according to Kramer.
“From a market perspective, the Deloitte AWS partnership could significantly impact the competitive landscape.” she said. “Deloitte’s status as an AWS Partner Network (APN) Premier Tier Services Partner, combined with its recently acquired AWS Generative AI Competency status, positions the consulting giant as a formidable player in the AI services market. For AWS, this collaboration extends its reach into enterprise AI applications, leveraging Deloitte’s vast client base and industry expertise, which should speed enterprise interest, sales and adoption.”
Challenges for AI in governance, value and security
Success of this latest chapter in the Deloitte AWS partnership will depend on delivering tangible business value, particularly at the CFO level. This will involve a host of factors that currently surround AI, including security.
“Beyond delivering on the ROI equation, addressing concerns around AI ethics, security and governance will be critical,” Kramer said. “Deloitte’s emphasis on its Trustworthy AI framework suggests an awareness of these issues, but implementation in diverse enterprise environments may prove complex.”
Another challenge will be speed. Innovation in the AI arena is moving fast, with new solutions emerging on a weekly basis.
“As new AI models and techniques emerge rapidly, Deloitte and AWS will need to ensure their solutions remain cutting-edge and adaptable,” Kramer said.
Looking at the broader industry perspective, Kramer notes that the partnership is part of a trend where technology providers and professional services firms can help clients achieve value from AI investment at a faster pace than by pursuing a strategy on their own.
“Reinventing the wheel, approaching AI with a ‘we must build it ourselves’ mindset is not, in many instances, the best strategy,” she said. “Conversely, working with trusted vendor partners who are already immersed in the space, often leading the pack and delivering for other customers, is often the smart move, whether we’re talking AI or anything else. This Deloitte AWS alliance is attractive as it also highlights the growing importance of industry-specific AI solutions, as opposed to generic, one-size-fits-all approaches. I’m thinking the Deloitte AWS collaboration bodes very well for both companies, as well as for their enterprise customer base.”
Read the full analysis here.