KNIME to enhance Grant Thornton data science offering

Professional services firm Grant Thornton UK is set to collaborate with data science company KNIME, as part of the firm’s strategic priority to invest in technology and digital. The move will enable both the firm and its clients to improve and automate the way data is analysed.

Founded in 2008, KNIME is a data mining, business intelligence and advanced analytics provider, working with clients around the world to integrate the latest AI and machine learning techniques into their businesses. The Zurich-headquartered company has a thriving partner ecosystem, helping supply its software and services. Among the network, partners include Deloitte and FTI Consulting.

Now, Grant Thornton has announced a new collaboration with KNIME, which will give it access to KNIME Analytics Platform. The platform enables users to build analytical models and perform a broad range of analytics tasks, from data preparation to data science – and Grant Thornton will also be able to offer access up to its clients. This will enable Grant Thornton’s own employees and its clients to understand how they can quickly and easily harness the power of data analytics, automation and machine learning without significant financial investment or the need for any coding expertise. 

Commenting on the new offering, Jamie Crossman-Smith, Director, UK Digital Hub, Grant Thornton UK, noted, “KNIME, with its strong heritage in academia, provides an extraordinarily strong low code platform to empower everyone in every part of an organisation to develop analytical solutions to solve their biggest organisational problems. This exciting collaboration aligns Grant Thornton’s digital transformation expertise with KNIMEs market leading technology to accelerate our collective ability to help all organisations crystallise the benefit from analytics.” 

According to a release from the firm, Grant Thornton has already used KNIME to explore how it can support internal audit clients. Looking ahead, KNIME will now underpin the firm’s current supplier risk analytics tool, and further allow the firm to show how data science techniques can be used to manage vendor risks – something Alex Hunt, Head of Data Analytics, Business Risk Services at Grant Thornton UK finds “exciting”.

Hunt added, “KNIME made our legacy development processes easier, quicker, and cost effective and I look forward to working with KNIME more closely to support our clients across the UK.” 

Meanwhile, KNIME recognises that the collaboration opens up major opportunities across Britain. With more than 5,000 UK employees at Grant Thornton, Michael Berthold – KNIME’s CEO – suggested there was “huge potential within the UK firm” to upskill many more people, and help them make the best possible use of their data, “making Grant Thornton the ideal partner to drive broader use of KNIME workflows.” 

Berthold concluded, “We are excited to partner with the Grant Thornton team who have demonstrated a deep understanding of the value low code platforms offer in speeding up data science adoption.”