MANY recent scientific findings have attested to the capability of artificial intelligence (AI) and its subfield, machine learning (ML), to improve a company’s cost base vis-à-vis augmenting human capability to motivate greater and more expansive efficiencies.
The bottom line is such that AI/ML can doubtlessly help to enhance or protect top line revenue, experience, and engagement.
But do be aware of the downside, notably from the fronts of (i) skills shortage (ie the availability of experienced technical staff to effectively deploy and operate the particular AI/ML solutions) and (ii) cost (smart technologies can be expensive with incurrence of further costs for ongoing maintenance).
The above springs to mind as Malaysia Airlines announced its partnership with ReveMax, a leading provider of Digital Strategic Solutions, to implement the Airline Revenue Maximisation Solution (ARMS) which will enhance and strengthen the airline’s commercial decision-making and business processes.
Powered by AI/ML, the platform provides predictive and prescriptive intelligence, connecting different airline departments and guiding them in making smarter strategic decisions with the aim of profitability and sustained financial good health of the organisation.
This partnership allows ReveMAX to bring its innovative ARMS Solution, a strategic decision support platform (SDSP), the first of its kind in the world to provide a complete and comprehensive picture of an airline’s revenue and cost ecosystem.
The system also enables airline personnel to see a transparent, unadulterated, and 360-degree bird’s-eye view of their airline’s day-to-day health and make an immediate revenue decision based on fact-based data.
“One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the importance of having a business that is robust and sustainable, built upon a foundation of digitalisation which has allowed the business to operate as efficiently as possible given the circumstances,” commented Malaysia Airlines Bhd Group CEO Izham Ismail.
“Together with our other in-house system integrations, we can fully automate changes to our processes and trigger executions with limited manual interventions.”
Without wanting to undermine the national carrier’s initiative, it is worthwhile to point out that the true power of AI/ML lies in humans’ ability to work collaboratively with advanced technologies to create the best possible outcomes.
In layman language, things are always more complicated than what company management could anticipate especially when it comes to the promises of new technologies.
For example, there is the basic problem of the data itself. Without a clear cycle of data management, AI/ML models may cause more problems than they solve. There is then the need to explain how decisions derived from the AI/ML models were made.
Beyond that, Malaysia Airlines is engulfed in a peculiar situation that probably no AI/ML solution is able to resolve: mounting debts (RM15 bil in terms of liabilities) and the numerous bail-outs by its owner Khazanah Nasional Bhd to safeguard its business survivability. – May 17, 2021
