The Innovation Centre is Qantas’ first outside of Sydney and will focus on developing and improving the airline’s digital products, including the Qantas App, as well as tools for frontline staff to help customers manage their journey when things don’t go to plan.
The initiative, made possible through a landmark commercial agreement between the South Australian Government and Qantas, marks a significant step forward in South Australia’s digital leadership, demonstrated through the state’s leading tech research, thriving innovation ecosystem and growing skilled workforce.
Once complete, the Innovation Centre will be home to more than 400 technology roles, bringing together product managers, designers, software engineers, data and AI specialists.
The initial team of 12 have started work in a temporary space and are designing and building new digital features that will be used by millions of Qantas customers every day.
Qantas will also partner with Adelaide University to create graduate pathways into the Centre, helping to develop the next generation of Australian technology talent, including a new research collaboration with Adelaide University’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML), providing scholarships for PhD and Honours students in the Institute’s Industrial AI Program.
“South Australia has a thriving technology community and world-class universities that are focusing on AI, which makes it a great place to grow our team,” said Rachel Yangoyan, Qantas Group Chief Technology, AI and Transformation Officer. “We’re already hiring close to 40 roles ahead of the Centre opening in another few months and are on track to hire hundreds more over the next few years.
“The Centre will be the foundation of our AI to help us turn ideas into reality faster so that we can continually improve the journey from the booking process through to picking up your bags.”
The Innovation Centre will also look to attract and develop top graduate talent to build a strong pipeline of professionals with advanced AI and digital skillsets.
The investment from Qantas in its Innovation Centre, further strengths South Australia’s reputation as a national leader in digital innovation and skilled workforce pathways, partnering with the Department of State Development to support workforce attraction and development activities to continue to build the skilled tech workforce pipeline in the state.
