American Airlines has hired John Deere chief technology officer Ganesh Jayaram as its new chief digital and information officer.
She will join American Airlines on Sept. 1, replacing Maya Liebman, who spent 15 years at Moline, the pain-based tractor maker, who announced her resignation as chief information officer in May.
Jayaram is being tapped to take over the airline’s complex technology operation, which is responsible for selling tickets to customers and coordinating thousands of flights, crew members and passengers on a daily basis. The airline is also trying to introduce self-service and contactless options to make the customer experience more user-friendly.
As consumer demand outstrips the number of pilots and other workers, that’s becoming increasingly important as American and other airlines try to overcome challenges from stressful jobs.
“Ganesh has the ability to drive innovation in large, complex global organizations,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a statement. “
While John Deere is known for its agricultural equipment, Jayaram has overseen a technology operation focused more on robotics, cloud storage, data analytics and sophisticated sensors.
Jayaram took over as John Deere’s chief information officer in May. Before that, In 2016, he oversaw the company’s technology operations and served as the company’s vice president of information technology and vice president of corporate strategy and business development.
After joining the company in 1994, Leibman is moving to London for family reasons. She will remain with the company in another role in the UK to “fulfill global responsibilities”, the company said.
