March 6, 2025 • 18 mins
Take Off with Brian Cobb - Chief Innovation Officer -From Pilot to Pilots at CVG Airport
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello and welcome to the next episode of Take Off, a podcast where we dive in through the stories of innovation told by the people driving the future of mobility with insight on aviation, automotive, automation, and some funny things thrown in for good measure.
(00:14):
How's it going Brian? So happy to have you today.
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Great to be with you again.
So we're at the CERV conference and we thought we'd take some time to sit down and dive into what you all are doing at CVG.
What is your past and your history and what do you see as the trends and technology shaping the future of aviation?
So first off, just tell me a little bit about you and how did you get into this role at CVG?
(00:40):
Sure. But a few questions in there.
What's the type of them we're at at the time?
Where do I start?
So I went to Embry-Wiertel University to become a pilot.
How can, unfortunately, back then the pilot shortage didn't quite come to fruition.
We were going through economic upheavals in the U.S. and frankly around the world.
(01:02):
So several airlines went out of business.
As we know, the industry is incredibly volatile, which will have some implications to where we go later on in this conversation.
But ultimately, the pilot aspect did not work out.
However, I came home and started working with a fledgling new airline, a relatively new airline,
(01:23):
that was the launch customer for the RJ, the 50C passenger aircraft.
Back then, it just became wildly successful.
The airline just went to the moon.
Very fortunate that continued to promote throughout my career to the point where it was so popular, so successful at that airline.
(01:44):
Unfortunately, again, economic upheaval, it's still in the airline went out of business.
I kind of saw the end coming, so I jumped to the airport side.
Always at the same airport, frankly, so very fortunate, 34 years.
That's absolutely amazing.
And I don't even think we, of course, know what you do, but if you want to tell our business,
(02:04):
have you had a progression at that airport?
And you want to...
So back then, in the US, particularly for HUDs, the airports, and we were once up,
the focus was more on, from a customer aspect, it was more from the marketing department.
And that was working with the airline to talk about the airline brand.
(02:24):
So it really wasn't about an airport.
I came on board and was the first customer experience vice president for the airport.
And it really started to pivot because we were no longer at that hub.
We really had to diversify and recognize there were multiple carriers flying there.
How to really wing back the customers that were driving to other surrounding airports.
(02:48):
So that was my first step.
And then ultimately, because of, again, economic challenges,
we frankly found solutions in the startup.
Interesting.
So really, we were innovating before we technically were officially innovating.
I think anyone can identify at some point in their career that they were looking for
something different.
(03:10):
They took on that very challenging task.
They were successful.
So, to some degree, my entire career has been filled with those scenarios and successful
to the point where we decided to create an innovation.
Oh, and you guys are so well known for being so innovative.
Yeah, it's always amazing seeing guys speak at conferences.
(03:30):
Obviously, here there's a panel that you're going to be talking about automation and, of
course, some of the exciting things that we're doing in this space.
But as a whole, what have you been seeing as the trends in the technology space at your
airport and across the globe?
There's certainly trends, but I do want to roll back a little bit and say, what do we
see as a trend that frankly could catch people off guard?
(03:55):
So if you look back at our history and frankly, my career trajectory, recognizing the industry
is so cyclical, we know what's going to happen again.
So how are we insulating ourselves?
And frankly, any Fortune 500 company should be doing that as well.
So from that perspective, we've just really tried to focus on, is it labor?
(04:18):
To our benefit, we're the Sixth Largest Hub in North America for Cargo and 18th around
the world.
When we brought on our second cargo partner, Amazon Air, incredibly fortunate from that
perspective, but we also recognized we could get in a scenario where labor is kind of heading
towards the cargo sector, not necessarily on the customer side.
(04:41):
How do we not take a detriment to that experience?
So labor, automation, how do we fill labor gaps, not replacing labor by any chance?
And frankly, that's how we started to find organizations like yours.
So that kind of leads us to, I guess, some work that we're touching on.
So of course, you know, Aurrigo, baggage handling and cargo vehicles and moving baggage and
(05:06):
cargo airside CVG.
It's been really exciting because the weather there lately has been extremely cold.
I'm in Ottawa, Canada.
It's a couple of days where it was actually colder than it was where we were at, because
we were shooting a couple of our teammates out there to check things out.
But I think it's always really exciting to have these innovative partners that recognize,
(05:27):
you know, you can't simulate every single situation and you need to be on the ground
with these innovative airports and you need to test in all of these types of conditions
and you need to start to familiarize this technology.
And I know you've been going out and we actually have an upcoming presentation together.
Yeah, a passenger terminal expo.
So stay tuned for that.
You and Miles will be kind of sitting down and chatting about, you know, what were the
(05:50):
trials and tribulations of getting this up and running.
And if you can tell me a little bit, how did that, I mean, that's a big innovation in its
mouth.
It's a big step.
But then saying, we want to bring these self-driving vehicles airside in these heavily regulated
environments.
You know, what were some of the challenges that you faced getting into that space?
Well, you certainly touched on them.
(06:12):
And there are deliverables to be expected throughout our statement of work, as we're familiar
with.
But again, let's back up a little bit.
The innovation aspect, the term innovation just means so many different things for so
many different people, right?
And frankly, there's an aspect from, I would say, the general public, our frontline staff
(06:33):
that is it the team that works with just the cool new stuff?
And are they actually delivering anything or are they just looking at the cool new stuff?
However, it's totally recognizing that frontline staff that is making it happen every single
day.
Back from the customer side, what are we doing to make sure that our staff is ready to go
(06:55):
armed with the best to deliver the best possible experience?
Now, on the vehicle itself, again, we recognize there might be a day where we're challenged.
And when I say we, it's a collective.
If you remember, in the US, we don't own that type of equipment as the airport.
So we jumped out when before we go, we ended up being the first airport in the world to
(07:20):
actually have an operating autonomous vehicle around employees and airframe.
So the biggest out of there is lessons learned.
We knew that it could be done.
So let's continue that cadence.
Let's continue to help to the point where now we're very fortunate.
Our regulatory agencies reached out asking us for our help and understanding what do
(07:44):
we need to do to prepare?
What are regulations on the back end?
And ultimately, how do we integrate this into our world?
Yeah.
And integration is a big key.
We talk about automation, but even like you mentioned, taking it a step back, moving towards
net zero goals, we talk about just electrification in general.
And it seemingly comes hand in hand with newer tech automated vehicles.
(08:06):
But as you just start to have manually driven vehicles that were diesel switching over to
electric, have you guys run into any challenges in particular with trying to understand what
does that space look like for charging and being able to support this movement into the
space?
100%.
And frankly, that's why we're at this conference.
So the electrification future of ground mobility, the key for us is particularly at this conference,
(08:35):
we're not just an airport, we're a port.
So there are various threads that we can pull.
But first and foremost, just like a Rigo, we have tenants right now that are operating
that are saying we would love to bring electric vehicles, but the infrastructure is not there.
So they're kind of getting handy downs of traditional ice.
(08:56):
That can't necessarily work for the long haul.
So we have got to figure out how do we address those concerns?
Where does that come from?
And then secondly, is it into really mobile solutions until we determine what's the ward
and air structure and when?
It's the partnership aspects.
So it's one thing to have a wonderful working relationship with all of our tenants, but
(09:20):
what are we doing with big energy?
To also sit with them to say, what's your crystal ball?
Where are you at?
And frankly, those conversations have just really started to transpire where what's the
not just this little segment, the passenger operation.
So if we can look at that grand scheme to figure out
(09:40):
what's the total and then just start reducing.
And the full race now we've watched.
Not just, yeah.
I mean, there's so many government grants
that are going out for electrification
that you often see people taking advantage
and almost just doing steady at the wall
and getting a charger here, a charger there,
versus really thinking through
what does that look like over time?
Of course, we saw that as some issues
(10:02):
with some of our previous partners
that we've been trying to work with them
to develop software to actually plan this out.
But I don't even know if that's really being done
as much even for automotives in general.
Like obviously we're talking about ABA issues,
but you really need to start looking at that for the grid.
And I think when you talk about partnerships,
what's interesting, I don't know your thought on this,
but you have great relationships with your partners,
(10:25):
but it's not necessarily true
that the individual airlines have great partnerships
with each other, with this space.
So you think they have their fleet
and they want an X amount of chargers,
but if you could find a way to have everybody
collectively start to organize their fleet needs
and then say, how do we do this as a team?
It's just so much more beneficial.
(10:47):
You can basically have less chargers,
you can free up more space.
So it'll be interesting to see how they work together.
I completely agree.
In fact, that was one of our initial conversations, right?
It was good, better, best.
Good is how do we get the equipment in and in place
and in working better is, all right,
(11:08):
how do we start really trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
That third tier is exactly as you described in the US.
The traditional model is freedom brings their own equipment.
However, we'll spoke city and we're a spoke city now.
In a spoke city, it's just large peaks and large valleys
and there's a lot of activity.
(11:29):
Does it make economic sense for everyone
to continue to make those massive capital investments,
including the airport, ask of the airport
to include all of that massive capital expense
related to infrastructure when if we just partner,
it really works strategically to say,
wait a minute, out of all of this moving ground equipment,
(11:52):
could we pool some of those?
It's like there's a collective where we're all sharing the equipment
and then you throw in automation.
So if those basic milk runs, as we kind of call them,
from spot A to spot B,
is that really the highest best use of the individual today
that's driving a vehicle or do we put them plain side
(12:14):
for weight and balance?
It's super, super important, obviously, and super safety.
Or better yet, do we put them right in front of the customer
and we re-engage with the consumer
to really make them feel valued for that brand experience,
but on the backside with all of that automation and the opportunity,
streamlining the operation and now we're back to
(12:37):
who made those capital investments
and ultimately is it significantly value-ad
for the tenants to operate and my tenants airlines
to operate out of that airport
because the overall cost of operation has been dramatically reduced.
And you speak about bringing the customer experience back to the forecl.
I feel like we do all of this technology
(12:58):
so that the passenger experience is enhanced.
But at the same time, some tech is having the opposite effect
and I won't say what airport I was at, but I recently went to an airport
and I'm not, I'm sure you're the same.
I don't get to the airport three or four hours early.
I get there with enough time to move things through
and I was a little bit extra early once
(13:20):
and the people weren't even there to check me in.
And there was no like piosks, so the tech wasn't there,
but the airline was obviously struggling and no one was there
until like moments before I was actually kind of really hustling to get to the gate
and I was quite shocked and I looked into feedback
and it was very much so, you know,
(13:40):
while we're trying to make the passenger journey better and,
but where it began was me being so frustrated
that I actually got to an airport early
because I was told it was going to be extra busy
and no one was there to check me in.
So I might be that guy that shows up three to four hours in advance
to see what the competition's doing
and what should we be on the lookout for?
(14:01):
I'm sure you look at things so differently now, like you travel.
It's a very different eye.
Yeah, me too.
But kind of we still sit down today with,
frankly, starting with our startups.
In the course of the conversation, we asked them,
your travel journey, tell us about it.
How was that? That's been great.
If you could change something about aviation
because there's probably a frustrating point at some point,
(14:23):
what would you like to see that would be vastly different
than today's experience?
So we really do try to incorporate, you know,
the feedback and feelings of men.
And then I would also touch on, you know,
I think the missed opportunity, frankly, is,
are we working with our frontline staff enough
to actually put the tech in their hands first
(14:44):
so that they can help understand
it's more about change management
as opposed to here, make this work.
And frankly, that's where we have failed sometimes.
I appreciate you speaking that.
And I feel like, I feel like that is kind of an overall synergy
that you start to see because, you know,
especially in the automation space,
often these trials start as a proof of concept
(15:05):
and it's not done at the ground handling level
in our instance, right?
So in, you see this across multiple VOCs though in tech.
So oftentimes, as opposed to those people
that it would benefit most, being able to be a part of it,
they are almost looking through the window
trying to understand, you know, why they aren't involved.
And I think that collaboration
(15:26):
is really going to be key moving forward,
bringing people in sooner,
obviously speaking about things sooner.
You mentioned that you talk one-on-one, you know,
and ask, ask these questions.
What would you say over the past year has been like,
either the coolest or most innovative piece of tech
that you've seen at a conference or heard maybe
from someone in an interview?
So someone just touched on it.
(15:48):
And I'm not sure if you picked up on it,
but ask about data setters.
We're at a transportation conference.
Yes.
Interesting, yeah.
So that the key is,
and very few people have really seen this,
there's been such a drumbeat around EVs or hybrids,
taking such a drain on the grip.
(16:09):
However, this thing called AI
is just exponentially...
Oh, picking over it.
Picking over it.
Right.
So we're technically two years plus into chat GPT world.
Obviously there are other large learning language models.
However, that AI, it's taking a tremendous amount of power.
(16:34):
A tremendous amount of power
that makes EVs or hybrids just a little bit more
just a fraction of what the AI world is talking about.
So if you look at any of the big tech firms,
they're making their investments in data setters.
Just keep pulling that thread of,
is there an opportunity for data centers at airports?
(16:55):
And is there an opportunity with those data centers
and the power that's being generated,
can some of that power be fluctuated throughout the day
to support the operation?
Very interesting.
Think about the resiliency
of such a critical asset like an airport
that the resiliency always isn't there right now
for all of our systems.
So you start adding a layer of benefit
(17:16):
to the resilient grid.
And then do we really, as a campus,
offer an opportunity as a backup to the grid
to the traditional big energy company?
Any number of scenarios that you can pull throughout?
That's very cool.
Yeah, I think that's a new one that I think people often go to
things like specific automation
(17:37):
or things that they see at CES and robotics
and sharing trends.
But I think really that one is powerful
and we're gonna see so much more coming up about it.
Of course, you know,
politically we're hearing a lot of things in data centers.
And so it'll be very interesting to see
how that starts to happen and unfold in the US
and of course globally as well.
I think my last question is,
being that you want it to be a pilot,
(17:58):
do you have your own pilot's license
or did you kind of circle back?
Do, there's dust on the pilot's license.
So yeah, I'm a certified flight instructor
in student rated and certified commercial.
So we want you on the plane in case that, you know,
well, incidentally, you could maybe take over.
I'd be able to figure out most of the buttons.
(18:18):
I don't think I've ever seen so many buttons in one place
than in a cockpit, but thank you so much for joining.
Very cool to have you on
and I think you provide some amazing insights.
So stay tuned for the next episode.
Thanks for following and hopefully we'll bring you
something new and exciting in a couple of weeks' time.
Brilliant.
Thanks, here's the stuff.
Take care.
Hello and welcome to the next episode of Take Off, a podcast where we dive in through the stories of innovation told by the people driving the future of mobility with insight on aviation, automotive, automation, and some funny things thrown in for good measure.
(00:14):
How's it going Brian? So happy to have you today.
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Great to be with you again.
So we're at the CERV conference and we thought we'd take some time to sit down and dive into what you all are doing at CVG.
What is your past and your history and what do you see as the trends and technology shaping the future of aviation?
So first off, just tell me a little bit about you and how did you get into this role at CVG?
(00:40):
Sure. But a few questions in there.
What's the type of them we're at at the time?
Where do I start?
So I went to Embry-Wiertel University to become a pilot.
How can, unfortunately, back then the pilot shortage didn't quite come to fruition.
We were going through economic upheavals in the U.S. and frankly around the world.
(01:02):
So several airlines went out of business.
As we know, the industry is incredibly volatile, which will have some implications to where we go later on in this conversation.
But ultimately, the pilot aspect did not work out.
However, I came home and started working with a fledgling new airline, a relatively new airline,
(01:23):
that was the launch customer for the RJ, the 50C passenger aircraft.
Back then, it just became wildly successful.
The airline just went to the moon.
Very fortunate that continued to promote throughout my career to the point where it was so popular, so successful at that airline.
(01:44):
Unfortunately, again, economic upheaval, it's still in the airline went out of business.
I kind of saw the end coming, so I jumped to the airport side.
Always at the same airport, frankly, so very fortunate, 34 years.
That's absolutely amazing.
And I don't even think we, of course, know what you do, but if you want to tell our business,
(02:04):
have you had a progression at that airport?
And you want to...
So back then, in the US, particularly for HUDs, the airports, and we were once up,
the focus was more on, from a customer aspect, it was more from the marketing department.
And that was working with the airline to talk about the airline brand.
(02:24):
So it really wasn't about an airport.
I came on board and was the first customer experience vice president for the airport.
And it really started to pivot because we were no longer at that hub.
We really had to diversify and recognize there were multiple carriers flying there.
How to really wing back the customers that were driving to other surrounding airports.
(02:48):
So that was my first step.
And then ultimately, because of, again, economic challenges,
we frankly found solutions in the startup.
Interesting.
So really, we were innovating before we technically were officially innovating.
I think anyone can identify at some point in their career that they were looking for
something different.
(03:10):
They took on that very challenging task.
They were successful.
So, to some degree, my entire career has been filled with those scenarios and successful
to the point where we decided to create an innovation.
Oh, and you guys are so well known for being so innovative.
Yeah, it's always amazing seeing guys speak at conferences.
(03:30):
Obviously, here there's a panel that you're going to be talking about automation and, of
course, some of the exciting things that we're doing in this space.
But as a whole, what have you been seeing as the trends in the technology space at your
airport and across the globe?
There's certainly trends, but I do want to roll back a little bit and say, what do we
see as a trend that frankly could catch people off guard?
(03:55):
So if you look back at our history and frankly, my career trajectory, recognizing the industry
is so cyclical, we know what's going to happen again.
So how are we insulating ourselves?
And frankly, any Fortune 500 company should be doing that as well.
So from that perspective, we've just really tried to focus on, is it labor?
(04:18):
To our benefit, we're the Sixth Largest Hub in North America for Cargo and 18th around
the world.
When we brought on our second cargo partner, Amazon Air, incredibly fortunate from that
perspective, but we also recognized we could get in a scenario where labor is kind of heading
towards the cargo sector, not necessarily on the customer side.
(04:41):
How do we not take a detriment to that experience?
So labor, automation, how do we fill labor gaps, not replacing labor by any chance?
And frankly, that's how we started to find organizations like yours.
So that kind of leads us to, I guess, some work that we're touching on.
So of course, you know, Aurrigo, baggage handling and cargo vehicles and moving baggage and
(05:06):
cargo airside CVG.
It's been really exciting because the weather there lately has been extremely cold.
I'm in Ottawa, Canada.
It's a couple of days where it was actually colder than it was where we were at, because
we were shooting a couple of our teammates out there to check things out.
But I think it's always really exciting to have these innovative partners that recognize,
(05:27):
you know, you can't simulate every single situation and you need to be on the ground
with these innovative airports and you need to test in all of these types of conditions
and you need to start to familiarize this technology.
And I know you've been going out and we actually have an upcoming presentation together.
Yeah, a passenger terminal expo.
So stay tuned for that.
You and Miles will be kind of sitting down and chatting about, you know, what were the
(05:50):
trials and tribulations of getting this up and running.
And if you can tell me a little bit, how did that, I mean, that's a big innovation in its
mouth.
It's a big step.
But then saying, we want to bring these self-driving vehicles airside in these heavily regulated
environments.
You know, what were some of the challenges that you faced getting into that space?
Well, you certainly touched on them.
(06:12):
And there are deliverables to be expected throughout our statement of work, as we're familiar
with.
But again, let's back up a little bit.
The innovation aspect, the term innovation just means so many different things for so
many different people, right?
And frankly, there's an aspect from, I would say, the general public, our frontline staff
(06:33):
that is it the team that works with just the cool new stuff?
And are they actually delivering anything or are they just looking at the cool new stuff?
However, it's totally recognizing that frontline staff that is making it happen every single
day.
Back from the customer side, what are we doing to make sure that our staff is ready to go
(06:55):
armed with the best to deliver the best possible experience?
Now, on the vehicle itself, again, we recognize there might be a day where we're challenged.
And when I say we, it's a collective.
If you remember, in the US, we don't own that type of equipment as the airport.
So we jumped out when before we go, we ended up being the first airport in the world to
(07:20):
actually have an operating autonomous vehicle around employees and airframe.
So the biggest out of there is lessons learned.
We knew that it could be done.
So let's continue that cadence.
Let's continue to help to the point where now we're very fortunate.
Our regulatory agencies reached out asking us for our help and understanding what do
(07:44):
we need to do to prepare?
What are regulations on the back end?
And ultimately, how do we integrate this into our world?
Yeah.
And integration is a big key.
We talk about automation, but even like you mentioned, taking it a step back, moving towards
net zero goals, we talk about just electrification in general.
And it seemingly comes hand in hand with newer tech automated vehicles.
(08:06):
But as you just start to have manually driven vehicles that were diesel switching over to
electric, have you guys run into any challenges in particular with trying to understand what
does that space look like for charging and being able to support this movement into the
space?
100%.
And frankly, that's why we're at this conference.
So the electrification future of ground mobility, the key for us is particularly at this conference,
(08:35):
we're not just an airport, we're a port.
So there are various threads that we can pull.
But first and foremost, just like a Rigo, we have tenants right now that are operating
that are saying we would love to bring electric vehicles, but the infrastructure is not there.
So they're kind of getting handy downs of traditional ice.
(08:56):
That can't necessarily work for the long haul.
So we have got to figure out how do we address those concerns?
Where does that come from?
And then secondly, is it into really mobile solutions until we determine what's the ward
and air structure and when?
It's the partnership aspects.
So it's one thing to have a wonderful working relationship with all of our tenants, but
(09:20):
what are we doing with big energy?
To also sit with them to say, what's your crystal ball?
Where are you at?
And frankly, those conversations have just really started to transpire where what's the
not just this little segment, the passenger operation.
So if we can look at that grand scheme to figure out
(09:40):
what's the total and then just start reducing.
And the full race now we've watched.
Not just, yeah.
I mean, there's so many government grants
that are going out for electrification
that you often see people taking advantage
and almost just doing steady at the wall
and getting a charger here, a charger there,
versus really thinking through
what does that look like over time?
Of course, we saw that as some issues
(10:02):
with some of our previous partners
that we've been trying to work with them
to develop software to actually plan this out.
But I don't even know if that's really being done
as much even for automotives in general.
Like obviously we're talking about ABA issues,
but you really need to start looking at that for the grid.
And I think when you talk about partnerships,
what's interesting, I don't know your thought on this,
but you have great relationships with your partners,
(10:25):
but it's not necessarily true
that the individual airlines have great partnerships
with each other, with this space.
So you think they have their fleet
and they want an X amount of chargers,
but if you could find a way to have everybody
collectively start to organize their fleet needs
and then say, how do we do this as a team?
It's just so much more beneficial.
(10:47):
You can basically have less chargers,
you can free up more space.
So it'll be interesting to see how they work together.
I completely agree.
In fact, that was one of our initial conversations, right?
It was good, better, best.
Good is how do we get the equipment in and in place
and in working better is, all right,
(11:08):
how do we start really trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
That third tier is exactly as you described in the US.
The traditional model is freedom brings their own equipment.
However, we'll spoke city and we're a spoke city now.
In a spoke city, it's just large peaks and large valleys
and there's a lot of activity.
(11:29):
Does it make economic sense for everyone
to continue to make those massive capital investments,
including the airport, ask of the airport
to include all of that massive capital expense
related to infrastructure when if we just partner,
it really works strategically to say,
wait a minute, out of all of this moving ground equipment,
(11:52):
could we pool some of those?
It's like there's a collective where we're all sharing the equipment
and then you throw in automation.
So if those basic milk runs, as we kind of call them,
from spot A to spot B,
is that really the highest best use of the individual today
that's driving a vehicle or do we put them plain side
(12:14):
for weight and balance?
It's super, super important, obviously, and super safety.
Or better yet, do we put them right in front of the customer
and we re-engage with the consumer
to really make them feel valued for that brand experience,
but on the backside with all of that automation and the opportunity,
streamlining the operation and now we're back to
(12:37):
who made those capital investments
and ultimately is it significantly value-ad
for the tenants to operate and my tenants airlines
to operate out of that airport
because the overall cost of operation has been dramatically reduced.
And you speak about bringing the customer experience back to the forecl.
I feel like we do all of this technology
(12:58):
so that the passenger experience is enhanced.
But at the same time, some tech is having the opposite effect
and I won't say what airport I was at, but I recently went to an airport
and I'm not, I'm sure you're the same.
I don't get to the airport three or four hours early.
I get there with enough time to move things through
and I was a little bit extra early once
(13:20):
and the people weren't even there to check me in.
And there was no like piosks, so the tech wasn't there,
but the airline was obviously struggling and no one was there
until like moments before I was actually kind of really hustling to get to the gate
and I was quite shocked and I looked into feedback
and it was very much so, you know,
(13:40):
while we're trying to make the passenger journey better and,
but where it began was me being so frustrated
that I actually got to an airport early
because I was told it was going to be extra busy
and no one was there to check me in.
So I might be that guy that shows up three to four hours in advance
to see what the competition's doing
and what should we be on the lookout for?
(14:01):
I'm sure you look at things so differently now, like you travel.
It's a very different eye.
Yeah, me too.
But kind of we still sit down today with,
frankly, starting with our startups.
In the course of the conversation, we asked them,
your travel journey, tell us about it.
How was that? That's been great.
If you could change something about aviation
because there's probably a frustrating point at some point,
(14:23):
what would you like to see that would be vastly different
than today's experience?
So we really do try to incorporate, you know,
the feedback and feelings of men.
And then I would also touch on, you know,
I think the missed opportunity, frankly, is,
are we working with our frontline staff enough
to actually put the tech in their hands first
(14:44):
so that they can help understand
it's more about change management
as opposed to here, make this work.
And frankly, that's where we have failed sometimes.
I appreciate you speaking that.
And I feel like, I feel like that is kind of an overall synergy
that you start to see because, you know,
especially in the automation space,
often these trials start as a proof of concept
(15:05):
and it's not done at the ground handling level
in our instance, right?
So in, you see this across multiple VOCs though in tech.
So oftentimes, as opposed to those people
that it would benefit most, being able to be a part of it,
they are almost looking through the window
trying to understand, you know, why they aren't involved.
And I think that collaboration
(15:26):
is really going to be key moving forward,
bringing people in sooner,
obviously speaking about things sooner.
You mentioned that you talk one-on-one, you know,
and ask, ask these questions.
What would you say over the past year has been like,
either the coolest or most innovative piece of tech
that you've seen at a conference or heard maybe
from someone in an interview?
So someone just touched on it.
(15:48):
And I'm not sure if you picked up on it,
but ask about data setters.
We're at a transportation conference.
Yes.
Interesting, yeah.
So that the key is,
and very few people have really seen this,
there's been such a drumbeat around EVs or hybrids,
taking such a drain on the grip.
(16:09):
However, this thing called AI
is just exponentially...
Oh, picking over it.
Picking over it.
Right.
So we're technically two years plus into chat GPT world.
Obviously there are other large learning language models.
However, that AI, it's taking a tremendous amount of power.
(16:34):
A tremendous amount of power
that makes EVs or hybrids just a little bit more
just a fraction of what the AI world is talking about.
So if you look at any of the big tech firms,
they're making their investments in data setters.
Just keep pulling that thread of,
is there an opportunity for data centers at airports?
(16:55):
And is there an opportunity with those data centers
and the power that's being generated,
can some of that power be fluctuated throughout the day
to support the operation?
Very interesting.
Think about the resiliency
of such a critical asset like an airport
that the resiliency always isn't there right now
for all of our systems.
So you start adding a layer of benefit
(17:16):
to the resilient grid.
And then do we really, as a campus,
offer an opportunity as a backup to the grid
to the traditional big energy company?
Any number of scenarios that you can pull throughout?
That's very cool.
Yeah, I think that's a new one that I think people often go to
things like specific automation
(17:37):
or things that they see at CES and robotics
and sharing trends.
But I think really that one is powerful
and we're gonna see so much more coming up about it.
Of course, you know,
politically we're hearing a lot of things in data centers.
And so it'll be very interesting to see
how that starts to happen and unfold in the US
and of course globally as well.
I think my last question is,
being that you want it to be a pilot,
(17:58):
do you have your own pilot's license
or did you kind of circle back?
Do, there's dust on the pilot's license.
So yeah, I'm a certified flight instructor
in student rated and certified commercial.
So we want you on the plane in case that, you know,
well, incidentally, you could maybe take over.
I'd be able to figure out most of the buttons.
(18:18):
I don't think I've ever seen so many buttons in one place
than in a cockpit, but thank you so much for joining.
Very cool to have you on
and I think you provide some amazing insights.
So stay tuned for the next episode.
Thanks for following and hopefully we'll bring you
something new and exciting in a couple of weeks' time.
Brilliant.
Thanks, here's the stuff.
Take care.
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