Your AI is ready. Your data foundation probably isn’t

Summary

Cushman & Wakefield’s enterprise AI program addresses fragmented experiments, disconnected data, and uneven organizational maturity across a 53,000-person workforce. Over four years, Chief Digital and Information Officer Sal Companieh used a product operating model, business-linked accountability, co-created investment decisions, and shared architecture standards to build a common foundation while preserving business-unit flexibility. Databricks supports that strategy as a partner and platform, with its intelligence layer and Genie helping employees query trusted data in natural language, examine quality and governance, and monitor compliance. The company says the time from idea to outcome has fallen from months to days, while client and acquisition onboarding has materially accelerated. Companieh identifies human behavior, education, and trust—not technology alone—as essential to making change durable.

Context

Cushman & Wakefield faced fragmented AI experiments, disconnected data, and differing levels of organizational maturity. The company sought to make pilots valuable by first establishing a trustworthy, governed, scalable data foundation aligned with enterprise priorities.

Approach / What changed

The company uses a product operating model with technologists embedded in business units, business-linked accountability and investment, shared architecture standards, and a common platform that supports business-unit flexibility. Databricks provides the intelligence layer, while Genie gives employees natural-language access to data quality, governance, and compliance workflows.

Takeaways

• The product operating model embeds technologists in each business unit and gives them accountability for revenue and EBITDA, linking technology work to business outcomes.
• Databricks Genie lets employees use natural-language queries to find inconsistent records, validate data quality, review governance policies, and monitor compliance metrics.
• Cushman & Wakefield reports reducing the time from idea to outcome from months to days, alongside materially faster onboarding, integration, and activation of clients and acquisitions.

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