Deloitte Innovation Center Explores Expansion into Tax and Legal Services, Aims to Become a Regional Digital Platform
The Deloitte Innovation Center in Cairo is exploring expansion into new areas during the next phase, including Tax and Legal Services.
This is part of an ambitious plan aimed at establishing Egypt’s position as a regional technology platform serving Europe and the Middle East, allowing local talents to play a pivotal role in leading digital transformation programs, as confirmed by Hany Gerges, CEO and Co-founder of the Deloitte Innovation Center.
In his interview with the “Ta3heed” newsletter, Gerges stated that the Center also seeks to raise its readiness and operational capabilities to transform into an integrated regional platform for digital innovation.
Following is the transcript of the interview:
Ta3heed: What is the Deloitte Innovation Center’s strategy for expansion in Egypt during 2026?
Hany Gerges: We are working on integrating and applying Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, data analytics, enterprise technologies, and cybersecurity to deliver advanced solutions that include intelligent automation, predictive analytics, secure cloud migration, and modernizing organizations’ digital infrastructure.
The Center also aims to redefine the concept of digital transformation comprehensively, by building an ecosystem that combines the latest technologies and transforms them into practical solutions that make a real impact.
The 2026 plan is based on deepening this role by enhancing the Center’s operational capabilities, expanding the scope of global projects it serves, and attracting more distinguished Egyptian talents while providing them with international career paths within the network.
With these steps, we are working to establish Egypt’s position as a leading regional hub for technological innovation and a key partner in shaping the future of global digital transformation.
Ta3heed: What is Deloitte Innovation Center’s plan for increasing its headcount?
Hany Gerges: Employees are the central focus of progress at the Deloitte Innovation Center; they are the driving force from which the Center launched.
The Center has successfully grown from 23 specialists at its founding to over 600 employees currently, reflecting our commitment to Egyptian competencies.
With the continued expansion in the scope of services and regional operations provided, the Center aims, according to forecasts, to reach about 700 employees by the end of the last quarter of 2025, aligning with our plan to onboard more outstanding talents.
Thus, we confirm our continuous commitment to supporting local capabilities and enhancing our role in driving the wheel of the country’s evolving digital economy.
The Deloitte Innovation Center continues to excel as a preferred destination for talent, working to instill an inclusive, high-performance work culture that enables employees to thrive and reach their full potential.
The Center provides employees with exceptional opportunities to work on world-class projects, giving them extensive practical experience and exposure to various markets and modern technologies, alongside continuous investment in advanced training programs, professional certification tracks, and leadership initiatives.
The Center also promotes employee well-being through the DEAP (Deloitte Employee Assistance Program), which provides comprehensive care and integrated guidance in all aspects of professional and personal life.
The 50/50 gender balance in the team is a clear model of the Deloitte Innovation Center’s belief that diversity, empowerment, and comprehensive employee support are key to sustainable innovation and corporate success.
Ta3heed: What are the most prominent economic sectors that the “Deloitte Innovation Center” aims to focus on?
Hany Gerges: The Deloitte Innovation Center is already working across a wide range of vital sectors in Egypt and the region, and is preparing in the next phase to deepen its presence within these industries that increasingly rely on advanced digital technologies.
This includes the financial and banking sector, the telecommunications and technology sector, healthcare, the public sector, consumer goods and retail, in addition to the global business services sector, which is witnessing rapid growth in the Egyptian market.
The Center also plans to expand the scope of services it offers in the future, keeping pace with the needs of these evolving sectors.
This focus is intended to enhance these sectors’ ability to leverage technological innovation and support the state’s efforts to develop a more efficient and resilient digital infrastructure.
Through our work in these areas, the Center provides an integrated system of advanced technical solutions in some of the most impactful sectors of the economy.
The impact of this work extends beyond borders, as the Center serves hundreds of clients across the Europe and Middle East region, managing multiple and diverse projects.
This regional and international presence reflects a long-term strategic vision aimed at reinforcing Egypt’s role as a regional hub for digital innovation.
Ta3heed: How will the Center play a role in executing the Ministry of Communications’ plan to reach $7.4 billion in digital exports?
Hany Gerges: The Deloitte Innovation Center plays a pivotal role as a national partner in executing and accelerating the vision of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
This began with bolstering the Center’s investment capacity, through actual investments worth $30 million over the past two years, and a plan to inject an additional $80 million over the next three years.
This provides it with the operational energy and necessary tools to expand the scope of international business and offer exportable digital solutions on a wider scale.
The Center’s role will focus on three interconnected execution tracks: expanding delivery capacity to take on larger projects through global operating models that enable it to fulfill contracts with markets in Europe and elsewhere; transforming local expertise into exportable products and services; and finally, building a talent supply chain through educational and professional partnerships, most notably the recent collaboration with the Information Technology Institute (ITI) to launch a national training initiative on the ServiceNow platform. This initiative prepares youth with direct practical skills and reshapes the labor market to be capable of executing global projects from within Egypt.
The expected outcome is not just isolated figures, but a tangible path to increase digital exports by raising the value of every export-oriented project, increasing the number of international projects executed from Cairo, and graduating generations of experts capable of working on projects with higher added value.
In this way, the Deloitte Innovation Center acts as an executive arm for the Ministry’s policy.
Ta3heed: How will the $80 million in new investments you plan to inject over the next three years be utilized?
Hany Gerges: As the Deloitte Innovation Center celebrates just two years since its launch, it is entering a new phase of deliberate expansion based on expertise accumulated at a notable pace over a short period.
In this context, the $80 million in planned investments over the next three years comes as a strategic step aimed at raising the Center’s readiness to transform into an integrated regional platform for digital innovation.
A major portion of these investments will be allocated to developing the technological infrastructure the Center relies on, by enhancing its capabilities in AI and Cloud and building more advanced digital tools that enable work teams to execute complex global projects with higher efficiency.
At the same time, the investments will be used to expand operational capacity by establishing specialized work environments that support the global operating models the Center serves.
The most impactful axis remains the investment in competencies, where these resources will allow for the launch of training programs, professional certifications, and advanced development tracks that prepare a larger generation of specialists capable of leading international digital projects.
Ta3eed: Why does Deloitte see the opportunity as suitable for expanding its investments in Egypt?
Hany Gerges: The Deloitte Innovation Center believes that the current moment in Egypt is the most suitable for expansion, as the country is experiencing a real boom in digital transformation that aligns with the objectives of Egypt Vision 2030.
The technology sector has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy, with a rate reaching up to 16% annually, reflecting continuous momentum and increasing demand for advanced digital services.
This momentum is reinforced by the presence of a vast and growing human base in the Communications and Information Technology sector, supported by the availability of professional cadres and highly qualified graduates.
This abundance of skills makes Egypt an ideal environment for building teams capable of supporting global projects.
At the same time, the entrepreneurship scene is witnessing a remarkable flourishing with over 560 technology startups, creating an active innovation ecosystem that supports global companies and opens opportunities for new solution innovation.
All these elements make Egypt a mature and attractive environment today, giving the Center confidence that expanding its investments here is a step in the right direction and at the ideal time.
Ta3heed: How has the stability of the exchange rate reflected on the evaluation of investment opportunities in the Egyptian market?
Hany Gerges: The stability of the exchange rate during the recent period has had a direct impact on our view of the Egyptian market within the Deloitte Innovation Center.
With relative stability, we can plan with greater confidence for the long term. Generally, we benefit from the currency differential, both in terms of expanding work teams and increasing the volume of global projects managed from Cairo.
Ta3heed: What is the Center’s vision for developing human skills in Egypt?
Hany Gerges: Egypt is living through an exceptional phase in the evolution of its digital skills, driven by immense youth energy; youth under the age of thirty constitute more than 60% of the population, and with over 50,000 technology graduates entering the labor market annually, the country possesses a massive talent pool ready to lead the wave of digital transformation.
With the expansion of this human reserve, the need for practical training platforms that elevate this talent to global competitive standards is growing, and this is where the Deloitte Innovation Center’s role comes in.
As a regional center of excellence, the Center invests directly in developing this promising energy through practical programs like the Bridge Program and the Mentorship Program, which have given over 1,600 young men and women the opportunity to work on real projects within the global Deloitte network.
This has enabled them to gain high-value professional experience that qualifies them to lead advanced digital solutions both inside and outside Egypt.
Through this daily interaction with local talent, the Center clearly observes that Egypt is producing a generation capable of innovating and competing globally, making talent development a pivotal part of the Center’s mission, not just a training initiative.
Ta3heed: How will Deloitte enhance the development of Egyptian human cadres?
Hany Gerges: The Deloitte Innovation Center works to develop Egyptian human cadres by empowering them to work within multi-disciplinary teams that deal daily with the latest global technologies.
This gives local talents a real opportunity to gain advanced skills through practical experience, not just theoretical training.
The Center integrates specialists into tracks that include AI and Data, from LLMs and MLOps and Data Engineering, to Cloud Engineering and DevOps, through Cybersecurity and Customer Experience solutions, up to business platforms like ServiceNow and Oracle.
The Center reinforces this practical approach through the Analyst Induction Program (AIP), which gives new graduates a strong start via a four-week journey that includes getting acquainted with the Center’s culture, consulting fundamentals, and practical training on technical skills, forming a solid foundation for an influential career path.
Through this direct exposure, employees become capable of design, execution, and data-driven decision-making in line with global standards.
The Center also provides a unique environment for advanced learning through its role as an AI experimental lab in collaboration with Google and Nvidia, among other prominent vendors, allowing Egyptian talent access to the latest AI tools such as Gemini, Vertex AI, and Agent Space.
With this practical approach based on real projects and intensive experiences, the Center contributes to building a generation of Egyptian competencies capable of leading advanced digital solutions both inside and outside Egypt, not just as training, but as direct practical experience that puts them at the heart of the future of technology.
