Cloud transformation clears companies for digital takeoff

Rajeev: Certain. I feel nowadays none of those conversations will be full with out speaking about AI and gen AI. We began this early exploratory section early into the sport, particularly on this a part of the world. However for us, the bottom line is approaching this primarily based on the shopper’s ache factors and enterprise wants after which we work backward to establish what kind of AI is finest appropriate or related to us. In Cathay, at present, we deal with three most important varieties of AI. One is in fact conversational AI. Primarily, it’s a type of an inside and exterior chatbot. Our chatbot, we name it Vera, serves clients straight and might deal with about 50% of the inquiries efficiently. And nearly two weeks again, we upgraded the LLM with a brand new mannequin, the chatbot with a brand new mannequin, which is ready to be extra environment friendly and far more responsive by way of the human work. In order that’s one a part of the AI that we closely invested on. 

Second is RPA, or robotic course of automation, particularly what you are seeing is throughout the pandemic and post-Covid period, there’s restricted sources accessible, particularly in Hong Kong and throughout our provide chain. So RPA or the robotic processes helps to automate mundane repetitive duties, which does not solely fill the useful resource hole, nevertheless it additionally straight enhances the worker expertise. And to this point in Cathay, now we have a few hundred bots in manufacturing serving varied enterprise models, serving roughly 30,000 hours yearly of human exercise. So that is the second half. 

The third one is round ML and it is the gen AI. So like our digital group or the information science group has developed about 70-plus ML fashions in Cathay that turned the group information into insights or actionable gadgets. These fashions assist us to make a greater resolution. For instance, what meals to be loaded into the plane and particular routes, by way of what amount and how much product affords we promote to clients, and together with the fare loading and the pricing of our passenger in addition to a cargo bay area. There’s loads of exploration that’s being performed on this area as properly. And a few examples I may relate is should you ever occur to return to Hong Kong, subsequent time on the airport, you may hear the general public announcement system and that’s additionally AI-powered lately. Up to now, our employees used to manually make these bulletins and now it has been moved away and has been moved into AI-powered voice expertise in order that we might be constant in our announcement. 

Megan: Oh, implausible. I will should pay attention for it subsequent time I am at Hong Kong airport. And you have talked about this subject a few instances within the dialog. Look, after we’re speaking about cloud modernization, cybersecurity is usually a roadblock to agility, I suppose, if it is not managed successfully. So may you additionally inform us in a bit of extra element how Cathay Pacific has built-in safety into its digital transformation journey, significantly with the adoption of improvement safety operations practices that you’ve got talked about? 

Rajeev: Yeah, that is an fascinating one. I take care of cybersecurity in addition to the infrastructure providers. With each of those essential features round my hand, I must be aware of each facets, proper? Sure, it is an fascinating one and it has modified over the time period, and I absolutely perceive why cybersecurity practices must be inflexible as a result of there’s loads of compliance and it’s a extremely regulated perform, but when one thing goes fallacious, as a CISO we’re held accountable for these faults. I can perceive why the group is so inflexible of their practices. And I additionally perceive from a enterprise perspective it might be perceived as a street blocker to agility. 

One of many key facets that now we have performed in Cathay is now we have been following DevOps for fairly a variety of years, and lately, I feel within the final two years, we began implementing DevSecOps into our STLC [software testing life cycle]. And what it primarily means is quite than the core cybersecurity group being accountable for most of the safety testing and people types of facets, we need to shift left a few of these capabilities into the builders in order that the individuals who develop the code now are held accountable for the testing and the standard of the output. And so they’re additionally enabled by way of the cybersecurity course of. Proper? 

In fact, after we began off this journey, there was an enormous resistance on the safety group itself as a result of they do not actually belief the builders making an attempt to do the testing or the testing outputs. However over a time period with the introduction of assorted instruments and automation that’s put in place, that is now getting right into a matured stage whereby it’s now enabling the upfront groups to care for all of the facets of safety, like risk modeling, code scanning, and the vulnerability testing. However on the finish, the safety groups can be nonetheless validating and act as a type of a gatekeeper, however in a really gentle and inbuilt processes. And this fashion we are able to make sure that our cloud purposes are safe by design and by default they will ship them sooner and extra reliably to our clients. And on this complete course of, proper? 

Up to now, safety has been at all times perceived as an accountability of the cybersecurity group. And by enabling the builders of the safety facets, now you’ve gotten a greater possession within the group in the case of cybersecurity and it’s constructing a greater cybersecurity tradition throughout the group. And that, to me, is a key as a result of from a safety facet, we at all times say that individuals are your first line of protection and sometimes they’re additionally the final line of protection. I am glad that by these processes we’re capable of enhance that maturity within the group.