... Jason Birnbaum, who became United’s CIO in 2022, manages a team of over 1,500 employees and about 2,000 contractors who are responsible for all of the tech that makes this happen. ...
But that also comes back to reliability. Like all airlines, United still operates a lot of legacy systems — and they still work. “Frankly, we are extra careful as we move through this journey, to make sure we don’t disrupt the operation or create self-inflicted wounds,” he said.
United has already moved and turned off a lot of legacy systems, and that process is ongoing. ...
While all of this work is still going on, United is also looking at how it can best leverage AI.
One story I regularly hear about AI/ML in large enterprises is that ChatGPT didn’t necessarily change how the technologists thought about it, but that it suddenly became a boardroom discussion. That also holds true for United. ...
Not that long ago, it was rather typical to get a notification when a flight was delayed, but no further information about it. Maybe the incoming flight was delayed. Maybe there was a maintenance issue. A few years ago, United started using agents to write short notices that explained the delay and sent those out through its app and as text messages. Now, pulling in data from its chat app and other sources, the vast majority of these messages are written by AI. ...
See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/21/how-united-airlines-uses-ai-to-make-flying-the-friendly-skies-a-bit-easier