GCP – How ChromeOS propelled Korean Air’s digital transformation

Editor’s note: Today’s post is by Choi HeeJung, Chief Information Officer for Korean Air, one of the world’s top 20 airlines, serving 117 cities across 40 countries on five continents. Renowned for its commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction, Korean Air—named AirlineRating’s 2025 airline of the year—chose ChromeOS to further elevate its exceptional 24/7 global customer service.

“Our move to ChromeOS was about more than just replacing old hardware. It was a strategic step in our journey to remove dependencies on legacy systems like Active Directory and build a more agile, secure, and efficient IT environment.“

Snapshot:

• Improved efficiency: Agents have become significantly more productive, saving 5-7 minutes in boot up time with Chromeboxes.
• Stronger security and easier IT: Built-in security and centralized management freed up IT time and reduced vulnerabilities.
• Future ready and innovative: Agents have been able to utilize Gemini to search for information in Google Drive, get help drafting customer emails and even assist with translating inquiries from different languages.

Over the last ten years, Korean Air has been on a remarkable journey of digital transformation. Our CEO set a clear vision to modernize our infrastructure and empower our employees with the best tools available. This vision led us to deploy a full-scale adoption of Google Workspace, a decision that proved crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to Google Workspace, our teams could work remotely and collaborate seamlessly, fostering a more open and democratic culture that continues today. But this was just the beginning. Our next big challenge was to modernize our end-user computing, starting with the heart of our customer interactions: the contact center.

Outdated systems in a 24/7 Environment

Our Seoul contact center, the largest of our five global centers, operates nearly 24 hours a day. Our legacy based solution presented significant hurdles. The devices were slow, sometimes taking five to seven minutes to boot up. In a fast-paced environment where every second counts, this was a major drag on productivity. We were also constantly dealing with forced updates and the dreaded “blue screen,” which interrupted operations and frustrated our agents.

From a security standpoint, we were exposed. Because our contact centers operate 24/7, we couldn’t perform necessary updates and security patches as frequently as we needed to. This left us vulnerable to malware and other security threats. Furthermore, the bulky hardware took up valuable desk space, making it difficult for agents who needed multiple monitors to handle increasingly complex customer inquiries. We knew we needed a solution that was secure, efficient, and designed for the modern, cloud-based world we were building.

A seamless transition to ChromeOS

Our move to the cloud and web-based applications made ChromeOS the logical next step. We decided to deploy 670 ASUS Chromeboxes for 700 users in our Seoul contact center. ASUS was able to manufacture a custom Korean keyboard specifically for us and Google, and Megazone, Google’s partner, was able to help us educate agents on ChromeOS native keyboard shortcuts prior to the launch. By providing training and working with our partners, we ensured a smooth transition for our agents.

Thanks to zero-touch enrollment, our ChromeOS devices were ready to use straight out of the box, making deployment effortless for both IT and our agents. The immediate speed was the first thing everyone noticed; the devices boot in seconds, providing an instant start to the workday that became a celebrated advantage. The compact Chromebox design was another huge win, freeing up valuable desk space and enabling the multi-monitor setups essential for effective multitasking. This newfound efficiency empowers our agents to handle more calls per minute, directly boosting customer satisfaction.

For our IT department, the benefits have been just as profound. Managing this fleet is now incredibly efficient. Using the Google Admin console, our small IT team can centrally manage policies and troubleshoot issues with ease. We no longer have to worry about running antivirus software or scheduling downtime for security updates, as security is built into the core of ChromeOS. This has not only improved our security posture but has also led to significant cost savings, and allowed us to redeploy valuable IT resources to strategic projects vs. low value maintenance, like updates.

AI-powered agents and a company-wide vision

With the foundation of ChromeOS firmly in place, we are now focused on the next wave of innovation: AI. We rolled out Google Workspace with Gemini to our second-level agents—the Korean Air staff who handle the most complex customer issues. Our goal is to empower them to serve customers with even greater confidence. With Gemini, they can instantly search for information across Google Drive, get help drafting replies to customer emails, and even assist with translating inquiries from different languages.

Leveraging Amazon Connect, a Chrome Enterprise Recommended partner, we have also redefined our internal quality assurance process. The screen recording application allows us to analyze an agent’s on-screen workflow during customer interactions. This provides insights needed for targeted coaching and process refinement, ensuring we consistently improve our customers’ experience with agents.

The success of our contact center deployment has been so convincing that our leadership has approved a plan to transition the entire company to ChromeOS next year. We are actively working with Google, looking into solutions like Cameyo to ensure that even employees who rely on legacy applications like MS Office or our ERP system have a seamless experience. Our philosophy is not just customer-centric but employee-centric; the user experience is paramount.

Looking back, our move to ChromeOS was about more than just replacing old hardware. It was a strategic step in our journey to remove dependencies on legacy systems like Active Directory and build a more agile, secure, and efficient IT environment. By embracing the cloud and tools from Google, we’re not just keeping pace with change—we’re creating a more innovative and collaborative future for Korean Air.

A seamless transition to ChromeOS

Our move to the cloud and web-based applications made ChromeOS the logical next step. We decided to deploy 670 ASUS Chromeboxes for 700 users in our Seoul contact center. ASUS was able to manufacture a custom Korean keyboard specifically for us and Google, and Megazone, Google’s partner, was able to help us educate agents on ChromeOS native keyboard shortcuts prior to the launch. By providing training and working with our partners, we ensured a smooth transition for our agents.

Thanks to zero-touch enrollment, our ChromeOS devices were ready to use straight out of the box, making deployment effortless for both IT and our agents. The immediate speed was the first thing everyone noticed; the devices boot in seconds, providing an instant start to the workday that became a celebrated advantage. The compact Chromebox design was another huge win, freeing up valuable desk space and enabling the multi-monitor setups essential for effective multitasking. This newfound efficiency empowers our agents to handle more calls per minute, directly boosting customer satisfaction.

For our IT department, the benefits have been just as profound. Managing this fleet is now incredibly efficient. Using the Google Admin console, our small IT team can centrally manage policies and troubleshoot issues with ease. We no longer have to worry about running antivirus software or scheduling downtime for security updates, as security is built into the core of ChromeOS. This has not only improved our security posture but has also led to significant cost savings, and allowed us to redeploy valuable IT resources to strategic projects vs. low value maintenance, like updates.

AI-powered agents and a company-wide vision

With the foundation of ChromeOS firmly in place, we are now focused on the next wave of innovation: AI. We rolled out Google Workspace with Gemini to our second-level agents—the Korean Air staff who handle the most complex customer issues. Our goal is to empower them to serve customers with even greater confidence. With Gemini, they can instantly search for information across Google Drive, get help drafting replies to customer emails, and even assist with translating inquiries from different languages.

Leveraging Amazon Connect, a Chrome Enterprise Recommended partner, we have also redefined our internal quality assurance process. The screen recording application allows us to analyze an agent’s on-screen workflow during customer interactions. This provides insights needed for targeted coaching and process refinement, ensuring we consistently improve our customers’ experience with agents.

The success of our contact center deployment has been so convincing that our leadership has approved a plan to transition the entire company to ChromeOS next year. We are actively working with Google, looking into solutions like Cameyo to ensure that even employees who rely on legacy applications like MS Office or our ERP system have a seamless experience. Our philosophy is not just customer-centric but employee-centric; the user experience is paramount.

Looking back, our move to ChromeOS was about more than just replacing old hardware. It was a strategic step in our journey to remove dependencies on legacy systems like Active Directory and build a more agile, secure, and efficient IT environment. By embracing the cloud and tools from Google, we’re not just keeping pace with change—we’re creating a more innovative and collaborative future for Korean Air.