Riyadh Air and IBM move forward in their collaboration to redefine travel experiences

IBM announced this week, the next steps in their collaboration with Riyadh Air, the digital-native airline currently scheduled to commence operations in early 2025, to revolutionize the airline's travel experiences. The airline plans to introduce next-generation, channel-fluid guest and traveller interactions, tapping into IBM Consulting's open ecosystem of business partners and deep industry expertise spanning strategy, experience design, technology and operations.

IBM hosted a signing ceremony, announcing the collaboration at the 3rd edition of LEAP 2024, the international technology conference held annually in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; in the presence of Tony Douglas (Chief Executive Officer, Riyadh Air) and Arvind Krishna (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, IBM) and executive management from both entities.

"We're on a mission to shape the future of air travel at Riyadh Air," said Tony Douglas, CEO at Riyadh Air. "By teaming up with IBM, we're pushing the boundaries of innovation to create a transformed passenger experience that is more seamless, personalized and sustainable. From AI-powered check-in systems to immersive in-flight entertainment, we're leveraging the latest technologies to make air travel more enjoyable and accessible for everyone."

Committed to delivering unique, intelligent and hyper-personalized guest journeys, Riyadh Air will harness IBM Consulting's expertise across generative AI, experience orchestration, marketing and customer engagement platforms, mobile, web and in-flight applications. All of these capabilities will be accelerated through the proven, collaborative engagement model of IBM Garage, to help craft guest experiences that are culturally enriching across the travel journey, on the ground or in the air.

Riyadh Air and IBM sign collaboration agreement to establish technology foundation of the digitally led airline

Riyadh Air and IBM recently announced the signing of a strategic agreement in which IBM Consulting will be the lead systems integrator to support creating, building and orchestrating the technology foundation that can help the digitally native airline offer exceptional and seamless travel experiences.

Together, Riyadh Air and IBM Consulting have already created the airline's digital and technology strategy. Now, Riyadh Air has selected IBM Consulting to support building the key business and technology capabilities that underpin the strategy. That includes implementing and integrating more than 50 airline industry solutions and core technology capabilities, including security, infrastructure, integration and data platforms, using a hybrid cloud approach. IBM will also orchestrate the work of over 40 partners by providing program and technical governance, project management, quality assurance, change and communications management and training.

The collaboration is expected to help position Riyadh Air strategically within the broader ecosystem to offer digital innovations and exceptional experiences for travellers and guests. Riyadh Air aims to create a world-class airline with personalized and seamless guest experiences powered by AI and state-of-the-art digital technology, taking obsessive care for details that create memorable micro-moments across the traveller journey. It also includes empowering employees with data-driven insights and new ways of working to help Riyadh Air better serve their guests.

"Our ambition is to launch our first flight in 2025 and put Riyadh Air at the cutting edge of digital technology and innovation within the aviation industry, adopting the best international sustainability and safety practices to deliver an exceptional travel experience, for our guests locally and internationally," said Adam Boukadida, Chief Financial Officer, Riyadh Air. "IBM Consulting will be our principal partner driving us towards our vision with their deep expertise in managing large complex systems and integration programs as well as their expertise in the travel industry."