Southwest Just Perfectly Explained the AI Challenge for Airlines
Photo Credit: A Southwest Airline on the tarmac at Orlando International Airport (MCO). Southwest Airlines
Skift Take
Tech companies love to move fast, especially with AI. But airlines like Southwest have too much at stake — they don't get to break things.
At Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce event in San Francisco this week, CEO Marc Benioff laid out the core disconnect in the bid to connect AI to everything.
“For so many customers, it’s been incredibly overwhelming for them, the amount of technology,” Benioff told a room full of reporters. “Today, in the tech industry, the rate of technology — I would say, acceleration, innovation — far exceeds the rate of technology adoption.”
The shape of the AI race appears to be changing in real time and companies just can't seem to catch up.
Stephen Berkowitz, a technology lead with Southwest Airlines, agrees.
“I think that the adoption of AI at major companies like Southwest are more convoluted than the marketing and sales materials of a company like Salesforce,” he told Skift after a Dreamforce breakout session.
Southwest has to weigh several considerations before implementing AI solutions, he said. As a business, it’s de
