New machine learning functions and AI in AirAsia - to be implemented in conjunction with Google Cloud - will help the airline become a fully-fledged travel technology company, it announced at Google Cloud Next 18

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Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene (centre, left), AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes and AirAsia Deputy Group CEO (Digital, Transformation and Corporate Services) Aireen Omar (centre, right) at Google Cloud NEXT '18 in London.

The Google Cloud will be used to integrate AI in AirAsia and every aspect of its businesses to help it complete its transformation into a travel technology company.

With plans to use introduce machine learning functions, the airline will be able to forecast more accurate demand predictions and target its marketing more closely.

It will also attempt to improve the customer experience by making it more personalised for each user, and reduce flight risks through real-time weather forecasting and predictive maintenance.

The announcement was made at the Google Cloud Next 18 conference in London today (10 October).

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said: “AirAsia has been at the forefront of adopting new digital technologies since our inception in 2001.ai in airasia

“We are now in our next phase of development where we are expanding beyond air transport and digitalising our operations and processes to become more efficient.

“Google Cloud enables us to make full use of the data we own, opening up new opportunities and enabling us to build new businesses.

“We are building two big platforms: airasia.com, which will be our one-stop digital travel platform where our customers can book their travel needs from flights, accommodation, tours, ground transport to entertainments; and BigLife, our lifestyle site which will be like Kayak, TripAdvisor, Groupon and eBay rolled into one.

“BigLife will incorporate all the digital investments under our digital arm RedBeat Ventures, such as our money app BigPay, our in-flight connectivity platform ROKKI, our online marketplace Ourshop, and our logistics services RedBox and RedCargo.

“Both platforms will help drive much more business into AirAsia with the help of data.”

Implementing machine learning and AI in AirAsia

The technical team at AirAsia will work in conjunction with Google Cloud engineers to solve specific business scenarios and learn the basics of AI using the tech giant’s tensorflow and cloud machine learning engine.

Employees at the airline will be able to enroll in the same programme Google Cloud uses to train its own team, in order to gain insight from experience machine learning and AI experts.

G-Suite – Google’s set of cloud-based apps ranging from Gmail to Google docs – will also be implemented into AirAsia’s business to create a more seamless digital user journey.

Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene said: “AirAsia started with G Suite to transform the way its organisation works.

“Now, with our advanced analytics platform and machine learning services, AirAsia will be able to digitise every aspect of its business to better serve their customers.”