The Lufthansa Group is the world’s largest aviation group in terms of revenue and the market leader in Europe. Lufthansa is at the forefront of big data analytics in the airline industry. Customer data based on millions of individual interactions is delivered in real time, presented at the correct moment, in a form that is easily understood so immediate decisions are made. Here are two examples of how Lufthansa leverages big data for decision-making.

Lufthansa uses AI to mine the big data they collect. They create models that are analyzed by machine learning systems. For example, they developed an application for the agents in their call center. In partnership with IBM, an expert system lets agents ask the system questions in conversational language. The AI system taps the ticketing database and other data sources to locate a similar situation that has occurred before. Then, the system offers an optimized solution. Call center agents love it and have gained confidence in the answers generated by the system. Lufthansa benefits from the rapid ability of an agent to respond to a customer concern, and they are less dependent on employees’ expertise..............

Discussion Questions

1. This case describes Lufthansa’s use of AI to improve customer service and predict flight demand. Conduct some research and discuss another way that Lufthansa uses big data for decision-making.

2. What are the privacy issues related to the use of big data to personalize marketing? Discuss the pros and cons of using data without customer knowledge.

3. Explain whether you believe that AI will someday eliminate certain jobs such as call center employees. What are the pros and cons of AI for employees?