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Qantas has opened the first stage of its new “innovation centre” in Adelaide, with an initial 12 employees beginning work at the end of March.
Working in a temporary space, the staff members are the first of a planned 400 employees at Qantas’ first innovation centre outside of Sydney, and will “focus on developing and improving the airline’s digital products, including the Qantas App”, as well as front-line tools for Qantas workers.
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“This initiative, made possible through a landmark commercial agreement between the Malinauskas Labor government and Qantas, marks a significant step forward in South Australia’s digital leadership, demonstrated through the state’s leading tech research, thriving innovation and growing workforce,” the SA government said in a statement.
“The investment from Qantas in its Adelaide base further strengthens South Australia’s position as a national leader in digital innovation and is a strong vote of confidence in SA’s workforce pathways.
“Qantas will partner with Adelaide University to create graduate pathways into the centre, helping develop the next generation of Australian technology talent.
“This includes a new research collaboration with Adelaide University’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning, providing scholarships for PhD and honours students in the institute’s Industrial AI program.”
According to Rachel Yangoyan, Qantas Group chief technology, AI and transformation officer, the roles on offer will include product managers, designers, software engineers, data and AI specialists.
“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,” she said.
“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 first way of working to help us turn ideas into reality faster to that we can continually improve the journey from the booking process through to picking up your bags.”
SA Minister for State Development Chris Picton called the opening “a significant milestone in an important project that will add hundreds of highly skilled local jobs”.
“Qantas choosing Adelaide for its Product Innovation Centre highlights the strength and capability of our local workforce and education pathways.
“Our state’s been a leader in AI and this investment will help position SA at the forefront of innovation,” he said.
Qantas last year appointed Yangoyan, formerly CEO of QantasLink, to her new role as part of a broader push to embrace AI across the business.
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