Autogrill was faced with one of the biggest challenges in the Retail Travel sector: transforming an obsolete data infrastructure into a modern, scalable and AI-ready platform. In this interview we discover how, thanks to the collaboration with Sopra Steria and Google Cloud, the company replaced a thirty-year-old data warehouse, building an advanced data lake that today fuels innovation. From implementing change management to developing a new cloud-native ecosystem, up to future applications of Gen AI and augmented reality: we talked about it with Francesca Porta, CIO EMEA South and Global Head of IT Strategy at Autogrill.
Autogrill operates in the complex Retail Travel sector. How did you prepare to face the digital transformation?
Italy is an icon in the retail sector and Autogrill’s ecosystem is built around travel channels. We manage over 150 million customers every year in Italy alone, generating an impressive amount of data. Until recently, this information was locked in a legacy data warehouse, a technology that would soon be thirty years old. We had precious, but scarcely accessible data. With the growing need to integrate AI, develop real-time use cases and enable machine learning to optimize the supply chain, the need for change had become increasingly evident.
What were the first steps of this transformation?
“We decided to gradually dismantle the old data warehouse across Europe, starting with a small test to validate the technology and accustom our IT department to the new Google Cloud ecosystem. This test turned into our new data lake and reference data platform. In 2022, we officially launched the cloud migration project and chose Sopra Steria as a partner to guide us in this transformation.”
What were the main objectives of the project?
“The first goal was to involve as many corporate stakeholders as possible. Replacing a platform that has been worked on for thirty years is not only a technological challenge, but also one of change management and mindset. We approached the project in small logical blocks, managing to migrate data from as far back as 2002 to the cloud.”
What were the main obstacles?
“One of the biggest challenges was managing the great variety and complexity of data. During this journey we worked a lot on the simplification of information, on the scalability of the platform and on the rapidity of response.”
How did the collaboration with Sopra Steria and Google Cloud take place?
“The success of the project is also due to the cohesion of the team. We have been working with Sopra Steria and Google Cloud for three years and have created a highly integrated team. Furthermore, it was a fundamental choice for us to include two consultants from Auticon in the team, professionals with extraordinary skills in data reconciliation and squaring, who dedicated themselves to the creation of the new Data Dictionary. This choice accelerated many activities and improved the overall quality of the project.”
What results have you achieved so far?
"We have significantly improved the accessibility and usability of data. We have measured how users who use the new applications the most perform better than those who use them little or not at all. We can now leverage our data lake to enhance replenishment with machine learning models and we are developing new Proofs of Concept with Sopra Steria related to Gen AI."
One last question: how did you approach the topic of sustainability?
"Our old on-premise server was extremely energy-intensive. Today, we operate in a carbon-neutral cloud with Google Cloud, drastically reducing our environmental impact. Sustainability is a central element of our technology strategy."
Thanks for sharing this experience. Any final thoughts?
“This transformation is not only technological, but cultural. Change management has been crucial to the success of the project. We now have a solid foundation on which to build the future of data analytics and innovation for retail travel.”