At IBM Think Riyadh 2025, IBM and Riyadh Air announced a major milestone in their collaboration, unveiling Riyadh Air as the world’s first AI-native airline. Designed from the ground up without legacy patchwork, AI-driven operations provide the foundation to transform guest and employee experiences and set a new benchmark for innovation in aviation.
Riyadh Air leverages IBM Consulting’s expertise, broad partner ecosystem, and IBM Orchestrate to operate as an AI-native enterprise. IBM orchestrated 59 workstreams with more than 60 partners, including Adobe, Apple, FLYR, and Microsoft, using IBM Consulting Advantage to accelerate execution of the airline’s end-to-end technology strategy. Initial flights have begun, with the first commercial service expected in early 2026.
The airline is reimagining employee and customer experiences through generative and agentic AI. Employees will use AI-powered digital workplaces and mobile applications, while AI-enabled voice bots and agent-assist tools enhance personalized customer care. Operational efficiency is also embedded from day one, with integrated enterprise performance management for financial, operational, and commercial insights supporting data-driven decision-making and route profitability.
Together, IBM and Riyadh Air are building an AI-native enterprise capable of serving millions of travelers and connecting Saudi Arabia to over 100 destinations by 2030. The announcement follows IBM’s broader AI infrastructure expansion, including its acquisition of Confluent in an $11 billion deal to combine real-time data streaming with AI-ready enterprise applications, further powering next-generation cloud and aviation operations.
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