US-based tech giant IBM has been selected by EgyptAir Tourism and Duty Free Co. to leverage IBM Cloud to scale and modernise the organisations’ operations.
As part of the deal, IBM will streamline EgyptAir Duty Free’s back-end operations and host its SAP Travel Retail System.
In addition, EgyptAir will also adopt IBM Cloud and leverage IBM Watson Assistant to create an AI virtual agent to transform their travelers’ shopping experience.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, the airlines industry started to look for new technologies to reinvent their services and unlock an array of new experiences for their customers. EgyptAir Duty Free selected IBM as its trusted technology partner for cloud architecture.
With a hybrid cloud approach from IBM, EgyptAir Duty Free will migrate its ERP workload to IBM Cloud while staying connected and fully integrated with the Frequent-Flyer Program of EgyptAir Airlines and Star Alliance companies to provide shopping services from EgyptAir's duty free outlets and attract new customers.
Furthermore, with IBM Cloud, EgyptAir can leverage IBM’s security capabilities, which can include confidential computing and encryption capabilities backed by the highest level of security certification commercially available. This gives enterprises the ability to retain control of their own encryption keys so clients are the only ones who can control access to their data.
As part of this engagement, IBM will provide technology and industry expertise to enhance the digital services for EgyptAir Duty Free by using IBM Watson Assistant, running on IBM Cloud.
The AI virtual agent will provide EgyptAir Duty Free customers with a differentiated shopping experience, enabling them to do online shopping through the Duty Free website including order placement, payment and delivery inside the plane, thus ensuring a seamless retail experience.
"The new technology will help us to reinvent our services and unlock an array of new choices for our customers,” said Reda Metwally Chairman and CEO, EgyptAir Duty Free. “With IBM and SAP technology, we will modernise our operations through the supply chain to meet the evolving needs of our customers and suppliers.”
Wael Abdoush, General Manager, IBM Egypt, said, “Through technologies like hybrid cloud and AI, EgyptAir will take their customers’ relationship to the next level, surfacing distinct new trends to change travelers’ experience and ensure security, agility and operational efficiency.”
IBM has collaborated with EgyptAir for over 30 years hosting core applications on both IBM hardware and software.