Extremely Slow Ramp Up

Joined a new firm several months ago. Ramp up for role has been extraordinarily slow (many months, really not much to do, which is weird for me, especially at this level in my career (almost decade in development)). Report directly to SVP who runs our team. Role was created because a senior member of the team is likely retiring in a few years. I have little to do because, although we have lots of capital and pipeline, our team is currently able to handle it...until this person retires. What would you do with this time? The most obvious answer to me seems to be network with other departments internally (we're a huge organization), since I will need strong working relationships with those people once I get active here. But the only pushback I have is that sitting down 1:1 with other departments, as strategic (and even enjoyable) as that may be, isn't the same as actually working with them on actual projects. So, what would you do with this time, in an extremely slow ramp up?