Shaping the future of real estate for a better world
JLL uses Databricks Training to supercharge their Databricks onboarding program
Reduction in time to execute ETL jobs
Employees equipped with new skills from the bespoke Databricks Odyssey training program
Learning activities completed involving Databricks since launch
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a global real estate leader, leverages their JLL Technologies division to pioneer cutting-edge real estate solutions, aiming to revolutionize market operations through technology and innovation while promoting sustainability. To achieve this strategic vision, modernizing the underlying technology stack was essential for fully leveraging the value of data. The integration of the Databricks Platform marked a pivotal shift, overcoming legacy obstacles by enhancing data ingestion and processing speeds — from hours to mere minutes — and reliability, enabling real-time analytics and robust data management. JLL created the Databricks Odyssey training program to facilitate this digital transformation, addressing potential change management issues by equipping over 100 employees with essential skills rapidly. This strategic focus on workforce training has not only smoothed the transition from old systems but has also unlocked new capabilities in data and AI, driving operational efficiencies and innovation in real estate management.
Inefficient legacy systems impede real estate technology advancements
Jones Lang LaSalle is not just a real estate powerhouse but also a technology-forward company. Through their division JLL Technologies (JLLT), the company aims to revolutionize the real estate market. JLLT delivers top-notch technology solutions and services, pioneering the future of how real estate operates. With a hefty investment of $380 million through JLL Spark in proptech innovations, JLL is driving a new era of real estate management focused on smart space utilization and sustainability — ultimately enabling public and private sectors to aim for net zero emissions.
Srihari Kumar, Chief Product Officer, Insights and Data, said, “Databricks has been instrumental in empowering our organization to harness the full potential of AI, allowing us to extract valuable insights from our vast data resources and drive innovation across our business operations.”
Kristopher Curtis, JLL’s Global BI Technology Director, articulates the company’s forward-thinking approach: “Our main mission at JLL Technologies is to harness the transformative power of cutting-edge technology to significantly enhance how real estate spaces are acquired, operated and managed for our clients. We are committed to delivering value through efficiency by continuously enhancing our BI and analytics capabilities. This enables us to not only meet but exceed the dynamic needs of our clients in a rapidly evolving market. However, we faced significant challenges with our legacy systems, primarily around the speed and reliability of data processing. Migrating to Databricks was not just a technical upgrade but a strategic necessity to maintain our competitive edge.”
To achieve this, JLL knew that current systems and processes needed to be overhauled. The team sought to transition from their legacy client data warehouses, which could not keep pace with the growing demands and speed required by the business. JLL also wanted to build JLL Azara, the first purpose-built commercial real estate (CRE) data and insights platform to help JLL customers answer questions on their real estate portfolios.
To hit all these use cases, the integration of Databricks into JLL’s infrastructure was going to be central to their digital transformation strategy. The adoption of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform was primarily driven by the need to handle complex, voluminous datasets more efficiently than the existing on-premises solutions allowed. Kristopher realized that such a major shift would cause some change management headaches — a common concern when telling teams that they are moving off what they are comfortable with to something brand-new. As Kristopher explained, “We quickly realized the necessity for a bespoke training program to ease this transition.” The solution, Databricks Odyssey, was crafted not just to train but also to transform JLL’s team into adept users of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.
Implementing BI use cases with Databricks Odyssey, a robust training program
Continuous Learning is one of the five strategic pillars envisioned by Paul Chapman, Global Head of Client Analytics and Insights, who gave Kristopher the task of expanding JLL’s already successful learning programs. Databricks Odyssey was meticulously designed to address the various levels of proficiency across the team, promoting a gradual yet steady adaptation to the new tools. “Databricks Odyssey represents our commitment to our team’s professional development. It is structured to foster not only learning but genuine enthusiasm for the new capabilities at our disposal,” Kristopher noted. This training program aims to equip all data professionals across the organization with the necessary skills and confidence to navigate the complexities of the Databricks environment effectively.
To facilitate this transformation, JLL integrated Databricks Academy into their training curriculum, providing a foundational layer of knowledge crucial for mastering the Databricks platform. Kristopher highlighted the importance of the Academy, stating, “Databricks Academy was instrumental as it provided structured, scalable learning paths that were essential for our team to build confidence in using the platform efficiently.” This structured approach was vital in ensuring that employees could handle Databricks’ robust platform capabilities, from data engineering to analytics.
In addition to the Academy, Databricks Certifications played a pivotal role in both validating the skills acquired and incentivizing learning among team members. “Certifications were more than just a milestone; they served as a benchmark for our team, ensuring that our proficiency standards were aligned with industry best practices,” Kristopher explained. The gamified elements of Databricks Odyssey, like earning badges and ascending through levels from Rookie to Rockstar, by completing technical challenges or sharing tips with others to earn points, further motivated the team, making the learning process both engaging and rewarding.
Armed with new skills and tools, JLL’s team tackled their first major use case: transitioning from their legacy client data warehouses to the more dynamic and scalable lakehouse environment. “Our move to Databricks was a game changer for handling the volume and complexity of data we work with. It not only increased our processing speeds but also enhanced our data reliability significantly,” Kristopher noted.
The development of JLL Azara, the analytics platform, underpinned by Databricks, marked a significant advancement in JLL’s CRE capabilities. This platform leverages Databricks to offer real-time analytics and insights, empowering clients to make informed decisions rapidly. According to Kristopher, “Azara Analytics has transformed how we manage commercial real estate data, providing our clients with a powerful tool to visualize and manipulate data at their fingertips.”
The third use case, optimizing work order management, was another critical application of Databricks for JLL. With Azara Analytics, JLL customers can make more effective, data-driven operational and strategic decisions such as analyzing maintenance schedules and operational efficiency to predict and prevent potential delays and safety issues. “Using Databricks’ sophisticated analytics, we’ve been able to streamline our maintenance processes. We understand everything from safety concerns and maintenance schedules to pricing and inventory,” Kristopher elaborated.
Supercharging innovation by cutting ETL processing time down to minutes
Migrating over to Databricks has significantly reshaped the operational dynamics at JLL, bolstering data processing and management capabilities critical for servicing their extensive client base. Kristopher explained, “The most significant and noticeable impact for our data professionals has been the enhanced speed and reliability of data ingestion and transformation from key data sources. Databricks reduced processing time by 60% compared to a previous on-premises data warehouse, for the same data source and volume.”
The unified data environment provided by the platform does more than just increase the speed of data ingestion. It also ensures that the data being accessed is both accurate and reliably available. This reliability is underpinned by Databricks’ fully managed service, which significantly reduces manual effort and increases confidence across the business. “The way that we’ve got different clusters set up in Databricks for each client means that dependency is gone. You can execute your own jobs for your own client, when you need to, essentially on demand — and you’re not impacted by other people’s resource consumption,” Kristopher added.
The successful launch of the bespoke Databricks Odyssey training program has been embraced by the JLL data community, with 175 users enrolled, over 1,250 submissions completed and 75 certifications awarded, in just a few months since the August 2024 launch.
Having a thriving culture and a belief in personal development, Paul and Kristopher have set goals for the analytics community to achieve professional recognition and pass the Data Analyst Exam at the Associate level, which focuses on Databricks SQL.
Looking forward, JLL is committed to further integrating Databricks to leverage more advanced capabilities, including AI and machine learning. Understanding that they can continue to harness the power of Databricks Academy to accelerate the onboarding of teams onto Databricks, JLL plans to expand the scope of their data-driven decision-making processes to enhance their real estate management services further. This ongoing innovation allows JLL to not only respond to immediate analytical demands but also to anticipate future trends and challenges effectively.
