Case study

Building an AI talent pipeline and cutting $24M in annual cost

To increase innovation and productivity across its global operations, SoftBank worked with Correlation One to develop a skilled AI talent pool in Latin America.

Industry

Finance

Headquarters

Tokyo

No. of employees

63,000

Revenue

$45B

$24M

in AI-generated cost savings

97%

participant retention

100%

project completion

Context

SoftBank Group is the largest and most influential financial investor in Latin America (LATAM), operating a $5 billion innovation fund for technology companies in the region. A challenge the portfolio companies part of Softtbank’s innovation fund faced was that AI talent was underdeveloped locally. To change this, the SoftBank operations team partnered with Correlation One to launch the Latin America Data Skills for All (DS4A) program.

Goals

To equip Softbank’s portfolio companies with the AI talent needed to remain competitive, Correlation One curated a custom workforce development strategy with the following objectives:

Establish an AI talent community in LATAM
Diversify the AI talent ecosystem with program scholarships for underrepresented groups
Create internal career pathways for portfolio company employees

Enhance productivity with custom AI upskilling programs

Discover how Correlation One's AI upskilling programs:

Increase workforce efficiency and innovation
Ensure workplace skills application
Demonstrate clear training ROI

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Results

The LATAM DS4A program attracted 2,350 applicants from eight countries and 30 cities across Latin America. It then brought together hundreds of participants who underwent rigorous use-case training and AI competitions to create a qualified, AI talent pipeline for Softbank’s portfolio companies. Here are the results from the program:

AI skills development

206 program graduates completed 375 hours of coursework over 11 weeks. Students were grouped into classes with one teaching assistant each. Even with COVID-19 disrupting the program after its second week, all courses had a 97% retention rate.

Business impact

Correlation One implemented 24 real use-case AI challenges for participants to complete. Each team delivered a 30-page report with a 10-minute recorded presentation. The first-place team saved an estimated $24 million per year for SoftBank's portfolio companies.

Career mobility

The initiative also provided career mobility opportunities for 60 employees from portfolio companies who needed to develop their AI skills.

What participants have to say

Our final project not only saved a considerable amount of money [for] the company, but I also think it changed how leadership looks at applied research and data science.

Gabriela Surita

Employee, Loggi

Great program with very applicable cases for portfolio companies. I really appreciated the quality of the final project!

Bruno Martins

Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Olist

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About Correlation One's solution

Correlation One offers leading enterprises like Softbank custom workforce solutions that build the digital skills organizations need to compete in the AI economy. The learning experiences Correlation One fosters are human-led, AI assisted, and social by design to achieve tangible business impact and notable employee engagement.

Our expert-supported programs are entirely tailored to our clients’ unique strategic objectives, data, and technologies. This enables us to apply project work to our training curriculum for an immediate, hands-on experience that improves employee performance and ROI.

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