How AirAsia's CTO is using AI to rewrite software - while winning over employees
- ID
- 40271
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 27 Oct 2026, 2:57 PM
- Fetched
- 28 Oct 2026, 10:19 AM
- Provider
- Digital News Asia
- Category
- malaysia-tech
- Original URL
- https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/digital-economy/how-airasias-cto-using-ai-rewrite-software-while-winning-over-employees
- Source URL
- https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/rss.xml
Summary
- Score
- 7.0
- Created
- 28 Oct 2026, 10:19 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_codersai_ml_learnerssaas_founders
What happened
AirAsia CTO Wan Yussman says AI-assisted development compressed selected software timelines by 10 to 47 times, including a working demo of roughly 350 screens for an airline operations system built in three weeks versus an estimated two years traditionally. The demo covered flight, crew, aircraft assignment and recovery functions, but was not production-ready. His technology organization supports about 23,000 employees across seven AirAsia-branded airlines and 179 airports, and he frames the 2026 message as 'speed over perfection' while stressing that lives are at stake and that trust, accountability and new skills matter as much as tooling.
Why it matters
Builders should treat the 350-screens-in-three-weeks result as evidence for using AI to produce early working demos that win over skeptical operational users, not as proof that demo speed equals production readiness. For founders selling into large Malaysian or Southeast Asian enterprises, the case shows buyers may respond to rapid prototypes plus a credible change-management plan, especially where legacy replacement and safety-critical operations are involved.
Discussion angle
Where should an engineering org draw the line between AI-accelerated prototyping and production-grade review when the system affects airline operations and lives?