TL;DR

Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Financial Officer Oliver Byers reveals how the airline is using ChatGPT Enterprise and Codex across operations, from accelerating software development to building a voice-powered digital travel concierge. The CFO outlines a practical framework for measuring AI ROI and fostering adoption across the business.

A Challenger’s Edge

At Virgin Atlantic, AI adoption is driven by competitive necessity. “Being a smaller airline compared to our global competitors means we need to find smart ways to offset scale disadvantages,” Byers explains. “Leading-edge technology gives us that edge.”

The clearest wins have come from digital and software development teams. Using AI, Virgin Atlantic writes and tests code faster, ships features more quickly, and improves customer experience. “Cycle times are shorter, and customers feel that progress,” Byers notes.

Beyond development, HR teams have built custom GPTs for company policies, enabling faster self-service and internal support. Finance uses AI to generate first-pass narratives, analyse performance data and produce insights in real time.

Building an AI Culture

Virgin Atlantic’s approach rests on four pillars: education, community, guardrails and iteration. Working with OpenAI, they’ve created guides from prompt writing basics to building custom GPTs—now numbering in the hundreds across the organisation.

A network of AI champions shares what they learn across teams, whilst AI apprentices through Cambridge Spark help scale efforts. Clear guardrails protect sensitive areas whilst encouraging experimentation.

The airline’s digital concierge represents their most ambitious project: a single destination for travel inspiration, booking management, query resolution and loyalty benefits. “Virgin Atlantic has always been about human warmth and wit,” says Byers. “Our challenge was: how do we bring that to life through AI?”

Looking Forward

Byers offers practical advice for leaders considering AI investment: “Be ambitious—this technology evolves at incredible speed, so think on a three-year horizon. Start with outcomes, not technology. Too many organisations lead with the tools instead of the business problem.”

For measuring ROI, Virgin Atlantic tracks time savings for smaller use cases, whilst larger initiatives like the concierge tie metrics directly to outcomes: customer centre wait times, self-service rates and revenue growth. It’s a framework applicable to any organisation weighing AI investment.

Source: OpenAI