---
title: "Scaling AI Through Data Fluency"
description: "Aer Lingus is redirecting a significant share of its IT and change spending from traditional maintenance toward a Databricks-powered data foundation, addressing legacy systems that trap information in departmental silos. Dave O’Donovan says the airline spent the past 18 months prioritizing platform development, governance, data quality and data literacy rather than chasing each new AI product. Databricks was selected for a unified lakehouse architecture, with data warehousing, Genie’s plain-English querying and real-time operational data intended to broaden access beyond specialist teams. At Aer Lingus’s Operations Control Center, combining sensor and operational inputs gives teams a fuller real-time view for disruption decisions, while commercial teams use live insights to adjust pricing. The transformation also includes a Data Literacy Academy, a 75/25 capacity split between foundational work and innovation, a 20-person Continuous Improvement team, and experiments with agents for business-case development and CFO review."
---

# Scaling AI Through Data Fluency

[Databricks](https://yomu.fyi/company/databricks) · Aly McGue · Jun 10, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

Aer Lingus is redirecting a significant share of its IT and change spending from traditional maintenance toward a Databricks-powered data foundation, addressing legacy systems that trap information in departmental silos. Dave O’Donovan says the airline spent the past 18 months prioritizing platform development, governance, data quality and data literacy rather than chasing each new AI product. Databricks was selected for a unified lakehouse architecture, with data warehousing, Genie’s plain-English querying and real-time operational data intended to broaden access beyond specialist teams. At Aer Lingus’s Operations Control Center, combining sensor and operational inputs gives teams a fuller real-time view for disruption decisions, while commercial teams use live insights to adjust pricing. The transformation also includes a Data Literacy Academy, a 75/25 capacity split between foundational work and innovation, a 20-person Continuous Improvement team, and experiments with agents for business-case development and CFO review.

## Context

Aer Lingus’s 90-year history has left it with legacy systems, departmental data silos and manual extraction processes. The airline also faces growing expectations for digital-first customer experiences and increasing pressure to understand and apply AI effectively.

## Approach / What changed

Aer Lingus is building a unified Databricks lakehouse with emphasis on platform foundations, governance, data quality and data literacy. Its program includes a Data Literacy Academy, real-time operational data use, Unity Catalog governance, a 75/25 allocation between foundational work and innovation, a 20-person Continuous Improvement team, and early agentic workflows for business-case development.

## Takeaways

- Aer Lingus uses a 75/25 capacity split: about 75% supports long-term data foundations, quality and Unity Catalog governance, while 25% supports innovation and near-term market value.
- The Operations Control Center combines data from operational sensors into a real-time view, supporting current-data decisions about flight cancellations, delays and customer disruption.
- A planned agentic workflow would help employees write business cases, then use a CFO agent to identify likely review questions and stress-test the case before approval meetings.

**Tags:** [AI](https://yomu.fyi/topic/ai), [AI Literacy](https://yomu.fyi/topic/ai-literacy), [Databricks](https://yomu.fyi/topic/databricks), [Lakehouse](https://yomu.fyi/topic/lakehouse)

- Source: [Databricks](https://www.databricks.com/blog/scaling-ai-through-data-fluency)
- Source URL: https://www.databricks.com/blog/scaling-ai-through-data-fluency
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-08-30T17:03:32.124Z

[Read original post](https://www.databricks.com/blog/scaling-ai-through-data-fluency)