Part 3: AI, Governance, and the One-Hour Pitch
Jim Barry
Bullet round, how is AI changing the conversation with airlines?
6. AI Is Real, But So Is the Risk of a Pile of One-Off Solutions
Bridget Blaise-Shamai
This isn't quite my area, but what I observe is airlines seem to be entering into larger deals with companies like Microsoft or AWS for cloud capabilities. Reading the press releases, it seems to be a lot more collaboration and more risk-sharing on outcomes. What I hope, at a high level, is that it allows airlines to increasingly take their limited financial and human resources and deploy them toward opportunities that realize more value out of every customer engagement, versus the cost side of maintaining systems and running as efficiently as possible. I'm hopeful AI helps airlines get to the holy grail of not being commoditized, having a revenue premium, and never losing money again.
Jim Barry
Patrick, from an AI perspective, what's real versus hype?
Patrick O'Keeffe
I think there's real potential in our space. We're a large-scale operation with lots of data moving around, so anything we can do to improve efficiency and decision-making, those opportunities are real, and AI has the potential to deliver value there. It just needs good oversight. We've been through the dot-com boom, mobility, business intelligence phases. We know that without good governance, you can end up with a Baskin-Robbins of solutions in an organization that don't all operate well together and haven't addressed security, data, and privacy. If we want to be successful in the airline industry with AI, it's going to need really strong governance between business and IT to make sure it's conceived well and implemented well, without ending up as a pile of one-off solutions.
Jim Barry
If a prospective customer had only one hour with an airline executive team, what would you advise them to focus on? What do airline leaders want to hear, and what do they wish vendors would stop talking about?
7. What Not to Say in the Room
Patrick O'Keeffe
I'd probably focus on what not to do. Don't come in logo-bragging. We all know everybody in the industry, so don't tell us you've deployed at United or British Airways, we know those people, and we're going to call them the next day. Knowing that other carriers have done it is a big deal, but don't exaggerate, because we're going to get off the phone and call our friends and ask, and if the answer is "we looked at it for two weeks and it doesn't meet our needs," that's worse than not mentioning it at all. Don't tell us you have a completely off-the-shelf solution that won't require customization, that doesn't work in our space. Don't give us a crazy timeline like three or four months with no training, or claim you can fully automate a process within the airline. We typically prove too complicated for those kinds of claims.
Jill Surdek
I'd say do your homework beforehand. Try to get access to frontline employees and frontline managers to understand what the real problem is, what the solution actually is, and how it'll be perceived. Talk to middle-level technology employees to understand the complexity of your product. A lot of times people come in and ninety percent of their pitch is how great they are and what a great idea they have, when a lot of times we've all had the same idea, we just haven't figured out how to resource doing it. Instead of ninety percent idea and ten percent implementation, you want it closer to fifty-fifty: how can you help us get this done. You lose credibility in that ten percent if you're not acknowledging how hard it is. If it feels like they don't even know that going in, you start wondering whether this is someone you can actually work with.
Bridget Blaise-Shamai
I'd build on that, come in so well-prepared it's as if you've been sitting in staff meetings with these executives. Know your business. Gather as much public and private information as you can, listen to earnings calls, read the investor reports. There's a lot of information available now through AI-enabled searches, so there's no excuse not to understand the real top problems facing these executives, and to go in with a way to take a rock out of their bag. These environments are typically very self-assured, so come in with humility. Put it out there the best you can, and don't be braggadocious.
Jim Barry
Be real, be humble, be conservative, and you'll probably be listened to.
Bridget Blaise-Shamai
Totally. Don't own the room.
Jim Barry
Right. Well, that was terrific. Is there anything I haven't asked that you're dying to say?
Patrick O'Keeffe
I've spoken my piece.
Jim Barry
All right, this was terrific, everybody. I thought it was a good topic, and it turned out even better than I realized, for a host of reasons. For a person who's been on the other side for twenty-five years, I learned some things, so thank you for that.
