What could you build in two days with the right data, tools and teammates?

At a recent Databricks hackathon event in Salisbury, N.C., Ahold Delhaize USA associates worked alongside technology partners and subject matter experts to turn business challenges into solutions. Teams created models designed to speed up processes, improve accuracy and free up time for higher-value work before presenting live demos to judges.

“We identified subject matter experts across all our scenarios,” Director of Data & Analytics Laura Price said. “As we were developing, we had them there to ask, ‘Is this accurate?,’ ‘What’s the algorithm?,’ or ‘What’s the logic?’”

Six scenarios were explored, including one finance-driven case. The winning concept, “I Dream of Payment Terms,” supports a working capital initiative for Ahold Delhaize USA, focused on improving efficiency.

“What can we do to help speed up work and provide quicker insights?” Price said. “Instead of spending time compiling information, teams can spend more time acting on insights.”

Additional demos focused on managing inbound volume at distribution centers and strengthening procure-to-pay processes.

“It was wild seeing the outputs and the accuracy they achieved in just a day and a half,” Price added.

The event also gave associates exposure to technology that’s expected to play a bigger role in their day-to-day work and the collaboration that technology will require. 

“As we evolve in analytics, our goal is to equip analytics teams with the right knowledge and skillsets to leverage natural language models, empowering the business to uncover deeper insights, ask more informed questions and make more strategic, data-driven decisions,” Price said. “This will always be a partnership between the business and IT. Neither can succeed in isolation; it must be a truly collaborative effort. We are constantly working to figure out how we evolve the organization in ways that drive meaningful improvement — not just change for the sake of change, but change that delivers new and better outcomes.”