Knowledge is power. The world constantly evolves. The business world is in a state of flux. New technologies, values and global dynamics change the formulas for success. Never-before-faced risks emerge, and so do unprecedented opportunities. Where can you find the knowledge and skills to stay on top of the changes?
As a premier institue of higher learning, AIHM focuses on helping individuals and organisations acquire the tools to succeed in the economy of today and tomorrow. Deloitte champions a similar mission. The esteemed organisation is a leading global provider of consulting and professional advisory services, serving four out of five Fortune Global 500 companies. Now for the first time, Deloitte and AIHM are joining in academic association to allow Asia’s professionals to benefit from their complementary expertise.
The collaboration kicks off with a launch event on 11 March 2024 and unfolds with three initial courses: two-day Executive Education master classes that teach tools graduates can put into practice in their workplaces and careers immediately. Learners can choose from weekend trainings on Adopting Generative AI in Hospitality, Finance for Non-Financial Professionals in Hospitality and Fundamentals of Carbon Management in Hospitality.
Discover more about this collaboration and how it can help you acquire the power tools to build your future. Michael Gomez, Director at Deloitte Risk Advisory Southeast Asia, speaks with AIHM’s Director of Global Partnerships, Samantha Lauver-Marion below.
Exploring New Opportunities for Asia’s Ambitious Professionals: An Interview with Michael Gomez from Deloitte Southeast Asia
SLM: Today, I'm very excited to introduce our readers to Michael Gomez from Deloitte. In this interview today, we'll be talking about the exciting opportunities that are upcoming for our learners here in Thailand to experience the Deloitte way of learning.
Welcome, Michael. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
MG: I’m a specialist in Learning and Development at Deloitte, specifically within the Risk Advisory function. Overall, I have about 15 years’ working experience within the education space in business schools, universities, management institutes and private enterprises. I’ve held positions such as Head of Executive Education and directed the Career Office of an educational institute. Aside from holding leadership positions in schools and universities, I've worked with multinational companies as well as small and medium enterprises, helping them in terms of learning and training interventions for their workforce.
SLM: For those who aren’t already very familiar with Deloitte, could you share with us a little bit about your organisation and what makes Deloitte unique?
MG: At Deloitte, we operate worldwide. We've got offices across the globe. We operate within five key business divisions: consulting, audit and insurance, tax, financial services, and risk advisory. Within the risk advisory business, and we work very closely with organisations to help them assess and develop risk controls in order to ensure that their businesses continue to operate and that they can navigate any challenges that come their way.
SLM: Could you tell us about some of the organisations you've worked with in the past that have seen success after engaging in your courses?
MG: Deloitte Southeast Asia operates as one unit. We work across the whole of the ASEAN region, and we've worked with numerous government agencies within the region as well as very big logistics companies, energy companies and of course financial services. Financial services are a major contributor to the economy here in Singapore, where our regional office is located.
We've assisted organisations via strategic training sessions and conducted programmes across managerial levels all the way up to C-Suite.
SLM: Could you tell us about some of your expert facilitators that you have here in Southeast Asia and around the world delivering the Deloitte experience?
MG: All the people that work within Deloitte are practitioners and work directly with the industry day to day, advising and consulting for them. Our trainers are immersed in their industries so they have up-to-date frameworks in which they operate and can consult and advise our clients. They’re also able to bring experiences from one project to another so they’re able to deliver best-in-class insights and expertise. They bring both a depth and breadth of expertise in their sectors.
SLM: It's amazing to hear about the range and scope of the way that Deloitte is impacting the industry and the wider business sectors around the world. And it's amazing to have this opportunity to collaborate together, Deloitte and AIHM. Could you tell us a little bit about how our collaboration will be unfolding in the next few weeks?
MG: From the Deloitte side, we’re really excited to be collaborating with AIHM. I think the real benefit of this collaboration is the intersection of our areas of expertise. AIHM is at the forefront of training and development talent within the hospitality industry. Deloitte comes in with its own highly attuned practitioner-expert perspective and real-life case studies to further enhance AIHM’s own training excellence. We can help ensure that the participants in our trainings are able to contribute more impactfully in the workforce the moment they step out of your doors after completing a training.
We’re really excited to be launching a series of programmes in the upcoming months to cover topics and skills around sustainability, governance and the latest developments on the cyber and digital front. These programmes will empower the participants to tackle critical issues that every company and every industry out there is facing now.
SLM: One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about the preparation to collaborate together is the shared view we have across both Deloitte and AIHM in that we want our learners to be able to immediately utilise what they have developed and learned in the training. We’re passionate about participants being able to take their new skills and insights back to work on Monday morning and applying them right away.
This is something that’s different from a lot of what you see available in the market now because we both focus on sharing and imparting tools that can be applied right away for lasting and true change within any organisation. When an organisation joins us in this initiative by sending their professionals for a selection of these trainings or otherwise partnering with us in these programmes, the participants are able to implement these new tools in their teams and departments straightaway.
MG: Yes, I totally agree with that. I think that's really the key differentiator here. You know, it's one thing to learn a framework and and understand it from an academic perspective, but it's really another thing—especially when you’re already in the workforce—to be able to bring what you’ve learned back to the company and add value instantly.
That’s where this collaboration truly comes together and really helps add value to the participants as well as the industry. Being able to share these frameworks that have been developed and delve into real industry examples with excellent case studies, these assets empower participants to start thinking about they could possibly do next. We’re focusing not just on knowledge, but on using knowledge for action, on applying knowledge, on taking things further, building upon them, putting them into practice in ways that benefit participants’ own individual organisations and business contexts.
SLM: I want to tell our readers about the upcoming launch event that's happening on Monday the 11th of March at the AIHM Bangkok campus? Could you give our readers an overview of this experience?
MG: We're really excited about this launch. The event on that date is the initial step that we're taking towards establishing this joint initiative. The launch will enable participants to see and experience how this Deloitte-AIHM association allows learners to be able to really impact the industry and the workforce. The event starts off with a master class, which will give a great introduction to some of the topics and courses that we're co-creating and co-delivering.
What we can really look forward to is hearing firsthand from our partners and our directors within Deloitte. We can hear directly from them what they’re going to be bringing to the classroom in terms of the real-life case studies, their first-hand experiences, and best practices of various industries that can be translated to and used within the hospitality sector.
At Deloitte, we’re really thrilled and enthusiastic about this launch.
SLM: We are as well. The subject of the master class, generative AI, is one of the areas that those within the hospitality industry and the wider business sector are very interested in. Business leaders and professionals are eager to see how we can utilise the new and different tools and technologies that are available to us now to streamline what we're doing within our organisations already and to free us up for more collaborative and creative work in the future. Could you tell us a little bit more about the generative AI master class?
MG: Obviously, AI is one of the most dramatic new developments in the business world and society. AI is emerging into the light, quickly. Until very recently, the concept of artificial intelligence felt almost like science fiction. As a society and as businesspeople, we all knew it was real, but for most of us, it seemed like futuristic technology that existed somewhere on the horizon. All of sudden, it’s here and the changes it’s ushering in are unprecedented.
Companies are being exposed to AI and the proliferation of AI-driven tools out there that businesses can use. The challenge is understanding what tools are available and how they can best fit within an organisation. Where Deloitte’s expertise stands out in this space is helping organisations understand how to integrate these new technologies. Not every tool fits into an organisation. And there are always risks involved in integrating new technologies. This is very true when it comes to AI. We can help hospitality businesses and other organisations understand what these risks are and how you can best mitigate them to ensure business continuity, and business success.
This master class will provide participants with a solid exposure to what exactly generative AI is, what tools are out there—and also extremely importantly, what sort of risks are associated with it and how you can mitigate these risks.
I really appreciate this opportunity to work together with you and your team on this exciting new project. Thank you very much, Samantha.
SLM: We're equally excited and it's just the beginning. We can't wait to see how we can impact the industry together.
Choose Your Course
Click on the AIHM-Deloitte courses below to learn more and secure your spot. Contact Samantha Lauver-Marion to discuss group enrolments for your team and customised learning options.
Follow AIHM on LinkedIn to access more opportunities for the hospitality industry and experience economy.