Gulf airlines look to India for AI, digital transformation

Gulf airlines are considering India for AI, digital transformation, and technology functions as they aim to boost efficiency, reduce costs, and tap into a vast pool of skilled professionals. This trend follows global airlines' increased investment in AI for improving operational efficiency, customer experience, aircraft maintenance, revenue management, and back-office functions. Notably, Australia's Qantas is exploring moving up to 1,000 roles to India through an outsourcing deal with Accenture.

The Gulf region already boasts extensive technology and digital transformation programs, making India an attractive location for specific technology and shared-services functions. Qatar Airways has been expanding its use of AI and data analytics through partnerships with Google Cloud and other providers, maintaining technology operations in India at a Combined Delivery Center in Ahmedabad.

Industry experts suggest that Gulf airlines could benefit from using Indian technology centers to build AI, data science, cybersecurity, software engineering, finance technology, and automation teams, avoiding the need to locate every specialist role in high-cost aviation hubs. India's Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem, with an estimated $98.4 billion in revenue and over 2,100 centers employing 2.36 million professionals, strengthens this argument.

Outsourcing specific technology functions to India could offer Gulf carriers access to a large pool of engineers and AI specialists, round-the-clock support, lower operating costs, and quick scaling of teams as new AI applications emerge. However, core aviation functions, safety-critical operations, flight decisions, and regulatory coordination would remain locally managed.

Gulf airlines are already exploring AI in various aspects of their business, with Etihad Airways establishing an AI Academy with Microsoft and Saudi Arabia's Saudia signing a memorandum of cooperation with India on digitization and emerging technologies.