Deloitte Launches Enterprise Tech Incubator

Deloitte has rolled out a new initiative to help its business clients adopt disruptive technologies.

The company announced Monday (Oct. 17) the launch of Deloitte Catalyst, a group of startups that explores how technologies, like blockchain and Internet of Things, can be used for business applications.

Those use cases include document review automation, language processing and generation, data management, machine intelligence, distributed ledger and other technologies for the enterprise.

In a statement, Deloitte LLP Chief Executive Officer Cathy Engelbert said Deloitte Catalyst has enabled Deloitte to launch these use cases.

“Deloitte Catalyst is enabling Deloitte and our clients to more easily tap the power of innovation,” the CEO said. “Many businesses are searching for ingenuity amongst disruption given today’s economic climate, and they need an efficient way to access the latest advances in science and technology.”

According to the company, the new initiative will pair large corporates with the startups that are a part of Deloitte Catalyst so they can collaborate on how to integrate emerging technologies as real-world solutions within the enterprise. Together, the startups and their partners will create use cases, proofs of concepts, prototypes and launch pilots to evaluate new tools.

“Deloitte acts as an incubator,” the company explained in its release, “applying the experiences needed to scale solutions into marketplace offerings.”

Its first members include Kira Systems, Narrative Science, Ayasdi and loyyal, according to reports, and will work to develop several dozen use cases of disruptive technologies.

Kira Systems, the company explained, utilizes machine-learning technology to assess documents and manage their data for analysis by Deloitte. Narrative Science, meanwhile, uses natural language generation technology to generate reports from data collected from data fraud investigations.

“For an early-stage company offering a new artificial intelligence technology, Deloitte Catalyst can offer a clear path to identifying applications appropriate for the enterprise,” said Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel. “Sometimes, I’m not sure which is harder — inventing new forms of AI-powered software or navigating the marketplace to find the right opportunities.”

“Deloitte understands how to apply emerging technologies to meet their clients’ needs in a way that enables progress and growth on both sides,” he added.