Data Engineering

Forward Deployed Sigma AI App for CapEx Governance and Forecasting

The Situation

A fast-growing cold storage developer and operator managing capital expenditure (CapEx) requests needed to establish governance and approval processes for a new business model. The company had grown quickly through acquisitions and financing, but CapEx request workflows were informal and spreadsheet-based, with no standardized way to submit, review, forecast or track capital approvals against actual spend.

  • CapEx requests came in through ad hoc channels with no consistent format or approval structure.
  • Warehouse managers needed a way to submit requests with business justification and ROI statements, but no system existed to collect or evaluate them.
  • Leadership wanted visibility into what was approved, what was pending and how actual spend compared to approved budgets.
  • The company ran Snowflake and Sigma but lacked in-house Sigma building capacity to create the governance app.
  • The company's data team was new to Sigma, learning the platform while supporting other priorities.

What We Did

Sigma referred InterWorks as a trusted partner to deliver a forward-deployed engineer implementation. We built a production-ready Sigma AI App that created a CapEx request intake, multi-level review and approval process, plus forecasting and spend-tracking capabilities.

  • Reviewed the client's vibe-coded HTML prototype and approval mock-up
  • Designed a Sigma AI App that brought the full request-to-spend workflow into one system
  • Built the intake form to capture warehouse manager requests, ROI statements and project descriptions in a standardized format
  • Created a flexible, multi-stage review and approval workflow with role-based access
  • Incorporated scenario forecasting capability so leadership can model different approval scenarios and their financial impact
  • Designed spend-tracking that measures actual expenditures against approved budget requests, creating accountability and visibility
  • Built flexibility into the architecture from the start, allowing leadership to model different approval scenarios and adjust the review process as business needs evolved
  • Documented the app extensively and created recorded walkthroughs so the client's data team could confidently maintain, troubleshoot and build on the platform independently

Results

The company now has a standardized CapEx governance platform in Sigma that gives warehouse managers a clear submission process and gives leadership transparent visibility into requested, approved and actual spend. The app supports scenario planning, helping the company evaluate different capital allocation strategies before committing funds.

  • Standardized CapEx request intake deployed, replacing ad hoc spreadsheet submissions
  • Multi-level review and approval process created with clear visibility into request status
  • Flexible scenario forecasting built in, allowing leadership to model approval scenarios and financial impact
  • Spend-versus-approval tracking established, creating accountability between committed capital and actual expenditure
  • Comprehensive documentation and recorded walkthroughs delivered for team enablement, training and support
  • Data team now owns the platform with deep working knowledge of Sigma’s app architecture, positioning them to evolve it as business needs change
  • The solution creates a foundation for future CapEx optimization and performance improvements as the company scales

What This Unlocks

If your organization manages capital expenditure decisions across multiple locations, business units or customer segments, this approach applies directly. Real estate, manufacturing, logistics and other asset-heavy industries often struggle with CapEx governance: too many channels for requests, unclear approval stages and no clear way to track whether actual spend stays within approved budgets. By building a Sigma AI App as your CapEx governance system, you centralize all requests, make approval workflows transparent, and give your finance and operations teams real-time visibility into capital commitments and actual spend. The forecasting capability is especially valuable: you can model different scenarios (aggressive growth capital, maintenance-only, alternative scenarios) and see their financial impact before committing. Most importantly, this approach puts the request and approval process in the hands of your finance team. The additional best practices support and training ensure your team can maintain and evolve the app as your business strategy changes.

Team

Two forward-deployed engineers embedded with Sigma delivered this engagement, working closely with the client's finance leadership, data team and warehouse managers to understand capital decision processes, design the governance app, and architect a flexible approval and forecasting system that the client's own team could maintain and extend.

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SigmaSigma AI Appsforward deployed engineersCapEx governanceapproval workflowcapital planningforecastingscenario analysisspend trackingbudget managementreal estate operationsdata governance

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