Delta’s path to integrating AI, from baggage handling to customer service
At the tech industry event CES in January 2025, Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, unveiled Delta Concierge, the airline’s generative AI travel assistant. Its full rollout has happened under the watch of the new chief digital & technology officer, Amala Duggirala. As of August 2026, the tool reaches 100% of SkyMiles members to assist flyers with disruption support, self-service cancellations, and bag…
In January 2025, Delta's CEO Ed Bastian introduced Delta Concierge, the airline's generative AI travel assistant, at the tech industry event CES. The tool, now overseen by chief digital & technology officer Amala Duggirala, is integrated with 100% of SkyMiles members by August 2026, aiding flyers in disruption support, self-service cancellations, and bag tracking.
Amala Duggirala, who joined Delta in January 2026, emphasized the importance of culture over technology in her Medium essay titled "Technology is the Easy Part, and Culture is the Hard Part." She urged leaders to operationalize generative AI rather than treating it as an experiment, train leadership before wide rollout, reimagine processes, and cultivate "relentless learners."
Duggirala joined Delta from USAA, where she made AI adoption an enterprise-wide effort, training over 38,000 employees and developing more than 200 AI products.
Baggage AI, a real-time vehicle routing and dispatch optimizer pilot at the Atlanta airport, is one of the AI successes before Duggirala's tenure, which resulted in a 30% improvement in bag transfers. Duggirala sits on Delta's leadership committee and is committed to equipping Delta teams with advanced, agentic, and data-informed solutions.
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