How Naela Is Making KLM’s IT Systems Future-Proof

Software engineer Naela Khan moved from India to the Netherlands a few years ago and found her place in KLM’s IT Operations. Her current project touches nearly every process across the organisation – from baggage handling to crew rostering, and from catering to flight planning. As project manager, she ensures that all of KLM’s systems communicate with one another – and continue to do so seamlessly.

After studying electronics and communications in India and working as a software developer in Amsterdam, Naela found the perfect fit at KLM: “I really wanted to combine technology with management, and this role allows me to do exactly that.” The innovative nature of the airline suits her perfectly. “It’s clear that KLM is constantly reinventing itself – and it has to, with the challenges and opportunities of today. I remember KLM being one of the first airlines to introduce AI chatbots for customer service, just to give one example. I really feed off that forward-thinking mindset.”

Digital Nervous System

Naela is partly responsible for middleware solutions at KLM. It might sound complex, but what does it involve? “All of KLM’s IT systems need adapters to be able to communicate with one another,” Naela explains. “We make sure those connections exist. You can think of us as traffic controllers, keeping everything running smoothly at a busy junction.” Thanks to these middleware adapters, the baggage system knows which bags belong to which passengers, and the catering planners know exactly how many meals are needed for each flight. “Almost all of KLM’s systems speak different ‘languages’. Middleware adapters make sure they can still talk to each other.”

Naela laughs: “Mislabelled luggage, not enough crew for a flight, delays – without middleware, a lot of things would go wrong.”

Into the Clouds

As project manager, Naela is closely involved in KLM’s migration to the cloud. “We’re selling our own data centre and moving all applications to Microsoft Azure. That involves over two hundred projects and improvements,” she explains. Outdated legacy systems are being replaced with future-proof, cloud-friendly solutions – and that brings many benefits. “The cloud is scalable, more flexible, and more cost-effective. That means more resources are freed up for innovative projects. Plus, we’re in a much better position to respond to the latest developments – think smarter integrations with SaaS solutions and more efficient operations. In short: it opens a lot of doors.”

For Naela’s team, this is the perfect opportunity to move all the middleware adapters to a newer, better version of the management platform. “We’re gradually hitting the limits of our current system. The new version is cloud-native, provides improved support for modern API standards, and is built for the IT architecture of tomorrow.”

The KLM Mentality

Like every project, this one comes with its challenges. Naela says, “During the migration, you sometimes find there are still adjustments needed. We call those retrofit activities.” But instead of getting stuck, the team focuses on finding solutions. “That’s very KLM,” she says.

What’s special about Naela’s work? When she does her job well, passengers hardly notice a thing – but it’s absolutely essential.