How CATRION Transformed Hospitality Operations with Microsoft Power Platform

CATRION’s journey from a traditional catering leader to a digitally powered innovator provides a compelling blueprint for organizations navigating the increasingly complex world of hospitality operations. In an ever-shifting market, where digital transformation is not just a buzzword but a necessity for survival and growth, CATRION stands out as a prime example of purposeful change fueled by strategic technology adoption, especially through its embrace of the Microsoft Power Platform.

From Aviation Roots to a Diversified Vision​

Founded in 1981, CATRION’s story began in the bustling aviation catering sector of Saudi Arabia. For decades, the company built an enviable reputation for quality and reliability, ultimately serving more than 115 international airlines and providing critical support for marquee events, such as the United Nations’ Conference of Parties (COP16) and the Dakar Rally. But legacy alone is no guarantee of future success, and by 2020, CATRION recognized the imperative to diversify beyond aviation catering. The company’s ambition became explicit: to be the global provider of choice for catering and hospitality not just in aviation but across public and private sectors.
This strategic pivot meant rebalancing revenue streams—aiming for an even 50/50 split between aviation and non-aviation markets by 2026. The scale of the challenge was immense, but CATRION’s leadership understood that technological transformation would be the engine propelling this transition.

Launching a Digital Transformation​

The scale and urgency of CATRION’s transformation required an agile, cost-effective technology strategy. In 2020, the company’s IT department took center stage, charged with reimagining the organization’s processes using digital tools that would allow for rapid innovation, enhanced efficiency, and secure scalability. Enter the Microsoft Power Platform—a low-code suite capable of democratizing app development and automation throughout the organization.
With Power Platform at its core, CATRION empowered internal teams to create over a dozen business applications. These ranged from HR onboarding solutions to financial tracking tools, and from procurement digitization to robust customs compliance applications. “We used to run tests with paper and pen, gather feedback in person, and then spend three or four days consolidating everything,” recounts Ashraf Mahmoud Nadeem, CIO at CATRION. Now, new apps can be developed and deployed within hours instead of weeks, representing a quantum leap in operational agility.

Key Innovations Unleashed​

• Universal Catering Automation System (UCAS): This proprietary platform digitizes and standardizes critical workflows across CATRION’s diverse operations, ensuring quality, consistency, and traceability at scale.
• Supplier Evaluation App: One of the earliest victories, this Power App standardized the sensitive process of food and supplier assessments by internal committees. The new digital approach eliminated manual paperwork, reduced result consolidation from days to minutes, and decreased paper waste.
• HR Onboarding and Audit Tracking: By leveraging Power Platform, CATRION’s HR and compliance teams replaced cumbersome spreadsheets and emails with tailored applications to streamline onboarding, compliance checks, and performance monitoring.

Automation as Culture: RPA in Financial Operations​

For many companies, automation is an afterthought—bolt-on tools brought in to patch inefficiencies. For CATRION, however, automation became a core organizational capability, especially within its finance function. The finance division, seeking to embed Robotic Process Automation (RPA) into daily operations, shifted towards a “self-learning, self-developing” stance. Instead of relying exclusively on external IT resources or rigid vendor solutions, CATRION empowered finance professionals themselves to build, own, and refine digital workflows using Microsoft Power Automate.
This democratization of automation pays dividends in speed and flexibility. As Abdulrahman Alsamadani, Specialist, Account Receivables, testifies: “Automating our reconciliation and customer communication processes has been a game changer. What once took days of manual effort is now completed in just a few clicks. This has dramatically improved our responsiveness and strengthened client trust.” Indeed, accurate and timely client engagement, enhanced by the elimination of laborious manual reconciliations, stands as a tangible, verifiable benefit.

Cultural Transformation: Empowerment and Upskilling​

Perhaps the most profound impact of Power Platform has been cultural. CATRION’s IT team did not impose digital solutions from above. Instead, they fostered an environment where “citizen developers”—business users without formal coding backgrounds—could use low-code tools to solve their own operational challenges. This devolution of innovation accelerated the pace of improvement organization-wide.
Further, automation and app development ceased being siloed IT responsibilities; they became shared capabilities. Teams learned new skills, formed cross-functional collaborations, and developed a new mindset centered on continuous improvement. These are not just anecdotes; they are now measurable drivers of productivity and staff engagement.

Measurable Outcomes and Industry Impact​

While transformation narratives are abundant in modern business literature, CATRION’s results are both specific and significant:

• Application Development Time Reduced: With Power Platform, new apps can be built and rolled out in hours versus weeks. CATRION’s IT team confirms this with real-world deployments.
• Operational Efficiency: Automated reconciliation and customer communication processes now take minutes, increasing both accuracy and client satisfaction, verified by direct feedback from finance stakeholders.
• Paper Waste Reduction: Shifting supplier evaluations from printed forms to digital interfaces drastically decreased paper consumption and associated administrative overhead.
• Rapid Response to Business Changes: The ability to quickly deploy, adapt, and scale digital tools has enabled CATRION to nimbly respond to unpredictable business conditions, such as heightened safety requirements during international events or surges in non-aviation hospitality demand.

Critical Strengths of CATRION's Approach​

The success of CATRION’s digital transformation can be attributed to several strategic strengths:

1. Ownership by Business Units​

Unlike many top-down digital initiatives, CATRION placed tool ownership in the hands of business users. This fostered a sense of accountability, encouraged experimentation, and led to faster, more relevant app creation.

2. Leveraging a Flexible, Scalable Platform​

Microsoft Power Platform—comprising Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI—provided the toolkit for rapid, secure development at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional custom solutions. Its cloud-native architecture ensures that applications can scale with CATRION’s expanding global reach.

3. Strong Vendor Partnership​

CATRION’s collaboration with Microsoft went beyond software licensing. Microsoft provided hands-on support, training resources, and strategic guidance, ensuring that CATRION’s teams were both confident and competent in using the new tools.

4. Focus on Measurable Business Impact​

Every app and workflow developed was tied to a clear, measurable business need—whether consolidating food evaluation results, onboarding new staff, or reconciling accounts. This ensured that digital investments were directly aligned with strategic goals.

Potential Risks, Challenges, and Mitigations​

Despite these strengths, CATRION’s story is not without risk. Any organization embarking on a low-code transformation should heed the following considerations:

1. Shadow IT and Governance​

Empowering citizen developers can occasionally foster uncoordinated tool proliferation—a phenomenon known as “shadow IT.” Without robust governance, this can lead to security gaps, data inconsistency, and integration headaches. CATRION’s IT division has implemented governance structures to oversee app development and ensure platform compliance, but maintaining this balance as the ecosystem grows will remain a continuous challenge.

2. Skill Gaps and Training​

While low-code tools lower the barrier to entry for app development, they still require thoughtful design, security awareness, and cross-system integration skills. Over-reliance on non-specialists without adequate training can result in poorly architected solutions. To address this, CATRION invests in continuous training and cross-functional pairing of business and IT staff.

3. Platform Lock-in​

Relying heavily on a single vendor platform—no matter how robust—raises concerns about pricing changes, feature deprecation, or ecosystem lock-in. CATRION mitigates this risk through active vendor engagement, regular reviews of the technology roadmap, and by developing data portability strategies wherever possible.

4. Cybersecurity and Data Privacy​

Digitizing sensitive workflows introduces new attack surfaces and compliance requirements. CATRION’s focus on robust governance and security reviews is essential, especially given the nature of client and supplier data handled by its new applications.

Broader Implications for the Hospitality and Catering Sector​

CATRION’s digital evolution is especially salient for peers within the hospitality, catering, and event management sectors. Historically, these industries have been late adopters of advanced digital tools, relying on labor-intensive manual processes. The demonstrated ROI—seen in faster operations, reduced administrative costs, greener practices, and enhanced customer trust—makes a strong case for the accelerated adoption of low-code and automation platforms industry-wide.
Especially noteworthy is the scalability of the approach. The same Power Platform tools that streamline a food evaluation in Jeddah can be swiftly configured for onboarding in Riyadh or financial operations in a Paris pop-up. This modularity is essential in a globalized, event-driven industry.

Aligning with Global Digital Transformation Trends​

CATRION’s embrace of automation and citizen development aligns with macro-level trends seen worldwide:

• Democratization of Technology: Gartner and Forrester have both identified the growth of low-code tools as pivotal for closing the IT skills gap and empowering business innovation.
• Sustainability Initiatives: Digital processes that reduce paper waste and improve resource efficiency support broader environmental, social, and governance (ESG) targets.
• Agility in Operations: The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the necessity of rapid adaptation—a capability CATRION’s platform-enabled teams now embrace.
• AI Integration Roadmaps: With Power Platform’s deepening integration of AI capabilities (including Copilot and next-gen Power Automate features), CATRION is poised to further enhance predictive insights, process automation, and service personalization.

Future Outlook: Staying Ahead of the Innovation Curve​

Looking ahead, CATRION is well positioned for continued growth and innovation. The foundation laid by its strategic digital investments opens the door to next-generation technologies like AI-driven analytics, advanced IoT for facility management, and virtual concierge services for high-value events.
The existing culture of empowerment and continuous improvement will serve the company well as operational complexity grows and as clients demand ever-higher standards of service, speed, and transparency. Tangible plans to build further internal automation capability, strengthen data governance, and develop richer business intelligence tools have been signposted by CATRION’s leadership.

Conclusion: Lessons for Digital Transformation Leaders​

CATRION’s digital transformation underscores the transformative power of low-code platforms when paired with strategic vision and a culture of empowerment. By democratizing innovation, prioritizing measurable impact, and maintaining a rigorous focus on governance and training, CATRION not only streamlined its own operations but also set a new standard for the hospitality and catering sector.
The journey, while not without risk, demonstrates that bold, strategic adoption of modern platforms like Microsoft Power Platform can fundamentally reshape business models, drive operational excellence, and create competitive advantage in even the most traditional industries.
For organizations at the crossroads of digital transformation, CATRION’s experience offers a persuasive case for purposeful investment in automation, citizen development, and continuous learning—hallmarks of any truly future-ready enterprise.

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Source: Microsoft Powering a new era of smart operations: How CATRION fuels growth with Microsoft Power Platform | Microsoft Customer Stories