Amala Duggirala Is one of TIME's 2026 Executives of the Year: Tech and Data - Time Magazine

When Delta hired former USAA chief information officer Amala Duggirala in January, the company named her EVP and chief digital and technology officer—a brand-new role overseeing the airline’s recently combined digital and technology organizations, encompassing both the enterprise technology that powers Delta’s global operations and the digital tools it creates for customers and employees. “My primary focus has been using technology as an enabler to improve the whole end-to-end experience of our customers,” she says. 

Since stepping into the role, Duggirala has used her dual responsibilities to help the airline pivot from a reactive way of doing business to a proactive one, with tools like Delta Concierge, an AI assistant that’s available to SkyMiles Members in the company’s app. “Historically, when travel was disrupted, the burden fell entirely on customers to hunt for information and on our employees to scramble across systems to help them,” Duggirala says. “Today, we’re in a much more comfortable spot, anticipating those needs and surfacing options before the customer even asks for them.”