Adobe and Air India: Partnering for a Technology-First Transformation
Published: 29 July 2025, 03:23 PM IST
In a remarkable journey of digital innovation, Air India has rebuilt its digital backbone in just two years, transforming customer experience, operational efficiency, employee engagement, and commercial performance. Central to this sweeping transformation is a strategic partnership with Adobe, whose integrated technology solutions have enabled the airline to overcome legacy system constraints and emerge as a data-driven, experience-first airline.
A Transformational Partnership
At the Adobe SUMMIT India 2025, Air India’s Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Dr. Satya Ramaswamy, in conversation with Adobe India Managing Director Prativa Mohapatra, shared insights on how the Tata Group-owned airline has revamped every facet of its operations. Air India was honored as the global Adobe Experience Maker of the Year, underscoring the success of its digital-first strategy powered by Adobe’s comprehensive suite of tools.
Dr. Ramaswamy described the digital transformation not as a buzzword but as a holistic operation essential for the airline’s survival and growth, requiring reinvention across processes, platforms, and people.
Four Pillars of Air India’s Digital Transformation
The transformation at Air India pivots on four foundational pillars that Dr. Ramaswamy outlined:
1. Customer Experience
Customer experience is the foremost driver of Air India’s transformation, with a comprehensive overhaul that touches touchpoints on the ground, in the air, and online. The airline revamped six critical customer-facing digital channels, including its mobile app, website, notifications, AI chatbot, third-party APIs, and in-flight entertainment system.
Leveraging Adobe Experience Cloud, Air India has created a seamless, tightly integrated customer journey. Features such as just-in-time notifications, contextual promotions, and user-centric services have been deployed using Adobe technologies including Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) with headless content delivery, Adobe Target for feature personalization, Real-Time Customer Data Platform (RT-CDP), Adobe Campaign for audience segmentation, and dynamic media for high-quality content delivery.
This integration has simplified the booking, check-in, departure, and onboard experience, allowing the airline to continuously refine service based on in-depth analytics and customer insights.
2. Operational Excellence
Recognizing the dynamic nature of airline operations, where aircraft, crews, and customers shift constantly, Air India has emphasized real-time coordination for enhanced efficiency. Crew and aircraft scheduling, flight planning, route optimization, and maintenance have all benefited from Adobe’s analytics and integration tools, aligning operational decisions with evolving conditions.
The airline uses On-Time Performance (OTP) as a critical KPI that reflects both customer satisfaction and operational execution, made possible through data-driven coordination.
3. Employee Experience
With much of its workforce operating away from a central office, Air India has focused heavily on employee empowerment through digital tools. Dr. Ramaswamy referred to creating a "digital headquarters in their pocket," enabling seamless communication and engagement for flying staff and other employees via mobile technologies.
4. Commercial Performance
Beyond improving experience and operations, Air India is also leveraging Adobe’s platforms to maximize revenue, particularly by increasing direct channel bookings through its app and website, which reduce costs compared to third-party sales. Features like the newly introduced eZ Booking enable users to interact through natural language commands (“Book me a ticket from Mumbai to Delhi tomorrow, return next Wednesday”), simplifying the booking process and reducing friction.
AI Innovations Changing the Game
Air India has pioneered AI-driven advancements in the aviation sector with its launch of AI.g in May 2023—the world’s first generative AI chatbot for airlines. Handling over 10 million customer queries with an impressive 97% containment rate — significantly outperforming the industry average of 70% — AI.g understands context and delivers conversational, policy-aware responses. For example, it can accurately respond to complex queries such as pet travel policies, tailoring answers by breed size, weight restrictions, and cargo requirements.
According to Dr. Ramaswamy, AI.g has not only saved millions of dollars annually but also dramatically elevates customer satisfaction.
Agentic AI: The Future of Operations and Marketing
Looking ahead, Air India is exploring the potential of agentic AI—intelligent systems capable of autonomous decision-making and communication. Unlike traditional automation, agentic AI can interact directly with people, manage tasks, interpret responses, and execute workflows with minimal human intervention.
A notable application is in refund processing for downgraded tickets, which historically took up to four weeks. With agentic AI, this process is now almost fully automated, shortening resolution time to a single day and requiring only final human approval. Additionally, its ability to explain decisions transparently enhances trust both within the company and across customers.
Agentic AI is also revolutionizing marketing. Dr. Ramaswamy described how Air India is developing AI-powered customer “digital twins” — intelligent agents personalized to understand individual preferences, travel habits, and purchasing behavior. These agents can automatically check in passengers, trigger rebookings in case of delays, and deliver highly targeted deals. Marketing efforts are increasingly directed not at customers individually but at their AI agents, creating a more precise, relevant, and efficient engagement process.
Conclusion
Air India’s collaborative technological transformation with Adobe represents a new chapter for one of India’s most iconic airlines. By embedding advanced AI and integrated experience management at the core of its operations, Air India is rapidly evolving into a digitally agile, customer-centric, and commercially successful airline. This partnership sets a benchmark in digital reinvention within the aviation sector, blending innovation with operational excellence and human-centered design.
For further information, visit Adobe India and Air India digital transformation announcements.
