Cathay leverages Microsoft 365 Copilot to move its employees to greater heights

Cathay leverages Microsoft 365 Copilot to move its employees to greater heights

Cathay remains laser-focused on delivering world-class service and ensuring seamless travel experiences. As a progressive organisation, it has been one of the first in Hong Kong to implement Microsoft 365 Copilot into its workstreams to enhance agility and efficiency. 

Cathay has evolved into a premier travel lifestyle brand, offering a wide array of services such as flights, holidays, shopping, dining, and wellness. As Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific operates a diverse fleet from its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. With over seven decades of experience, Cathay remains dedicated to connecting Hong Kong to the world and enhancing travel and cargo experiences through strategic partnerships and new technology.

In line with maintaining Cathay’s reputation as one of the world’s greatest service brands, Cathay has been strategically integrating AI applications across its operations to enhance efficiency and elevate customer experiences. Its dedicated Digital and IT team, which spearheads the organisation’s digital transformation, continually introduces new solutions for colleagues and customers, as well as critical systems that support flight operations. Cathay’s commitment to digital leadership is what drives the organisation to be among the first in Hong Kong to adopt Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Accelerating workflows

By automating routine tasks, Microsoft 365 Copilot empowers Cathay’s employees to work smarter and free up their time for more strategic, value-adding activities.

Copilot in Microsoft Teams can summarise meeting highlights and action items, streamlining communication and ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned on priorities and next steps. It can even generate detailed meeting lists that include topics, timings, and attendees, enabling employees to prepare for meetings effectively and minimise scheduling conflicts within teams. Copilot is also able to condense lengthy reports into concise and accurate summaries, which help accelerate decision-making processes.

"Cathay’s mission is to become one of the world’s greatest service brands by transforming into a digital leader. We wanted an AI-powered solution to help our people work smarter, giving them the power, time, and space to focus on value-added tasks.” said Lawrence Fong, Director Digital and IT, Cathay.

Enhancing the synergy between humans and AI

Microsoft 365 Copilot can generate drafts and summaries that boost efficiency across Cathay’s teams and empower employees to focus on higher-level tasks that demand analysis, strategic planning, and creative thinking. That said, humans will continue to play a critical role, ensuring the accuracy of Copilot’s outputs to maintain quality control, and align generated content with organisational standards and objectives. While AI excels in specific tasks, it cannot replicate the nuanced understanding, empathy, and connection that humans bring to interactions. “It’s like having an AI assistant to help you with your analytical planning and even creative tasks. The tool is called Copilot because humans are still in the driving seat. We’re still the ones in charge,” said Fong.

When it comes to adopting AI technologies, Cathay ensures strict compliance to data security. Microsoft 365 Copilot supports data protection by operating under the same data access controls used across Microsoft 365 services — which ensure that only authorised users have access to organizational data.

Fueling an innovation flywheel

Microsoft 365 Copilot can analyse data within documents and offer insights that can inform strategic decisions and improve business outcomes. As a result, Cathay’s employees are able to integrate Copilot to streamline meetings and manage information more effectively, reducing time-consuming tasks and fostering creativity in the process. This introduces an innovative approach to work and reshapes Cathay employees’ relationship with technology.

“Our ultimate aim is to cultivate a workplace where technology amplifies human potential. Embracing AI-powered tools not only boosts our efficiency but also forges a culture of innovation that will keep Cathay at the leading edge of the aviation industry. Copilot is a great start for us. As human-AI collaboration continues to grow and evolve, the sooner we experiment with it, the better we can thrive in this new way of working,” said Fong.

Microsoft is committed to pushing the envelope and reshaping work paradigms with Microsoft 365 Copilot. The AI assistant empowers organisations like Cathay to harness the potential of AI to unlock creativity and drive efficiencies and collaboration in the modern workplace.