'I’m still talking to everybody,' Tony Fernandes on what data can't tell you

For Tony Fernandes (pictured), staying ahead is not simply about adopting the latest technology or finding the next big idea. It is about knowing when to trust data, when to rely on instinct, how to use technology without losing human connection, and how to keep a business flexible enough to change with its customers.

That philosophy has shaped Fernandes’ approach to AirAsia, which has evolved from an airline with two Boeing 737s into a business that has expanded well beyond its core aviation operation.

Speaking during a fireside chat at DMA Singapore 2026, the Capital A CEO reflected on how COVID-19 accelerated that process, forcing the group to reassess its assets, capabilities and relationship with customers. During the period, passenger aircraft became cargo capacity, while its engineering capabilities, customer data and brand opened opportunities beyond aviation.

For Fernandes, the lesson was not simply about diversification, but recognising that an established business may already have the raw materials for its next opportunity.

At the heart of all of its innovation and agility, remained AirAsia's data play. Fernandes said:

I didn’t predict this data revolution, but I always kept all our data to ourselves. I always wanted that connection with the consumer.

Fernandes outlined that AirAsia’s customer database became one such asset. Its brand, meanwhile, evolved beyond an airline into what Fernandes described as “a culture” and “a set of values”, with associations that could be extended into other categories.

That thinking has led to AirAsia Next, with the company now exploring brand licensing across categories including hotels, luggage and mobile phones.

Don't miss: AirAsia X takes off with AirAsia Group identity

Currently, AirAsia is navigating a new set of challenges and making headlines for growing financial pressure, as rising fuel costs, foreign exchange losses and debt burdens weigh on the low-cost carrier. The airline reported a RM830.5 million net loss in Q2 2026 and has been cutting capacity, returning aircraft to lessors and suspending selected routes to manage costs.  It is also seeking fresh financing to refinance existing obligations.

Amidst the news headlines around the fate of the brand, social channels continue to be flooded with passionate opinions on the Malaysian government’s involvement to aid the airline. When asked how Fernandes makes decisions amidst the noise, he said:

Ultimately, you have to live in the truth, right? People can say whatever they want - whether it's rubbish or true. My philosophy has always been to be as transparent as possible.

“We have all these news articles out there, and I just went out and did a two-hour press conference. I went to meet all my staff in Thailand, and I'll do it in Malaysia. So, transparency, honesty is the only way I know how to deal with it. Even in the worst circumstances,” he said.

Data can inform the decision, but not necessarily make it

While data remains crucial to growth of companies, Fernandes’ also argued that measurement should not eliminate instinct or lived experience - and the power of brand building.

“You can supplement [your marketing and growth] with data, but there’s got to be a bit of both,” Fernandes said.

He pointed to AirAsia’s decision to launch flights to Kazakhstan as an example. Fernandes said that the available data did not initially make the market an obvious opportunity. But his lived experience reasoning came from the many real world conversations with everyday people and passengers that many people in Southeast Asia had never experienced snow, and Kazakhstan could offer that experience at a lower cost than destinations such as Japan.

But the point is not to choose either analytics or instinct. It is to find the middle ground and understand what data cannot easily capture.

Fernandes was similarly direct when asked what marketers are getting wrong.

“Sometimes marketers of this digital age are stuck behind their computer too much, and they don’t go out and understand the market like we old people used to,” he said.

His answer was not to abandon data, but to put it alongside direct observation.

“There’s a balance of data, and there’s a balance of going out there and getting a feel,” Fernandes emphasised.

After all these years, I’m still talking to everybody. I’m still asking questions, and I think you shouldn’t lose that.

AI should increase productivity, but culture still needs people

Fernandes’ enthusiasm for AI comes with a similar tension. He described himself as “a big fan of AI” and said AirAsia is encouraging employees to use the technology to improve productivity.

But his approach to AI sits alongside a strong belief in physical workplaces and human interaction, arguing that remote working or working in silo with simply a machine to banter with, can weaken organisational culture and connection.

So while the company is pushing AI and automation deeper into its operations, it is also deliberately preserving forms of human interaction that many digital-first organisations have tried to reduce.

Fernandes said the company is giving employees room to experiment rather than imposing heavy restrictions on the technology.

The implication for marketers is that AI adoption is not simply a technology question. It is also a question of how an organisation creates the conditions for people to use the technology effectively without losing the culture and human interaction that make an organisation work.

Automation should remove friction, not create more of it

That philosophy becomes more complicated when applied to customer experience.

Asked about complaints around AirAsia’s chatbot, Fernandes acknowledged that its digital customer service is not perfect, but argued that automation is necessary at the scale of an airline.

“I would love to be able to answer every question with a human being, but it's impossible. It would cost us too much money, and airfares would go up even higher,” he said.

AirAsia receives hundreds of thousands of messages a day, according to Fernandes, with disruptions such as typhoons and volcanic eruptions creating additional spikes in demand. As such, the company has moved towards a more sophisticated large language model-based system - while accepting that it will need continuous improvement.

You’re never going to get perfect. So, I really work on an agile basis. That will just keep improving.

He put AirAsia’s current resolution rate at around 70%.

The discussion also points to a wider challenge for marketers. Digital convenience is not automatically the same as customer experience. Automation, including in upselling, can increase capacity and reduce costs, but if it gets in the way of what customers actually need, efficiency for the company can become frustration for the consumer.

Fernandes acknowledged that tension, adding that there needs to be a balance between upselling and making the experience simpler.

“If you make your product too difficult, someone else is going to do it better.”

The brand has to survive its founder

Perhaps the most significant part of Fernandes’ discussion was not about AI, but what happens when the person most closely associated with a brand eventually leaves.

Fernandes shared candidly with the audience his initial plans to step back before COVID-19 but stayed to help navigate the crisis. He has since moved away from day-to-day leadership after stepping down as AirAsia’s CEO, with Bo Lingam taking over as group CEO, although Fernandes remains involved through Capital A.

For a brand built closely around its founder’s personality, succession becomes a marketing problem as much as a leadership one. Fernandes said the objective is to ensure that AirAsia’s culture does not depend on him personally.

“The brand will live on way past me,” he said. He described the company’s culture, including transparency, openness and giving employees opportunities to advance, as an asset that needs to survive leadership changes.

The goal is to give [the next generation] an opportunity to turn them from a raw diamond into a diamond, to unlock that potential, to allow them to believe they can do anything they want to do, and to empower them, not just with taglines, but to really do it.

“That's why when many times people have predicted the end of us, we just get better.”

Taken together, Fernandes’ comments point to a view of disruption that is less about predicting what comes next and more about building a business capable of responding when it arrives.

For AirAsia, that has meant repurposing existing assets, balancing data with instinct, using AI to increase productivity, empowering its people and automating at scale without losing sight of what matters.

Technology may reshape how businesses operate, but the enduring advantage lies closer to the ground: understanding the customer, knowing the product and building a culture of people willing to adapt before change forces them to.

Related articles:
Is AirAsia flying into hospitality next?
Did AirAsia just flip a flight fiasco into a brand win?
Malaysia’s Digital Ministry puts AirAsia's Aireen Omar at helm of AI Malaysia