PXCom turns to CRM integration and AI for IFE personalization

French firm PXCom, which specializes in developing digital solutions on board aircraft and counts a raft of airlines as clients, has rolled out a browser-based software platform for wireless IFE and inflight connectivity portals which enables carriers to offer a customized entertainment and e-commerce experience to passengers.

Called SkyVerse, the solution integrates airlines’ customer relationship management (CRM) systems with their wireless portal to provide tailored recommendations and targeted messaging to passengers. The information can then be served up via a new AI chatbot which interacts and “converses” with the passenger, and which PXCom claims is an industry first. The solution was shortlisted for a 2025 Crystal Cabin Award.

Explaining SkyVerse to Runway Girl Network at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, PXCom CEO Cyril Jean said CRM data is loaded to the onboard server pre-flight, providing crucial information about the passengers’ past preferences and prior portal engagement, including about their choice of entertainment and onboard shopping habits.

Whilst on board, said Jean, passengers will then have access to what effectively becomes their own “personal travel advisor” with the AI chatbot serving up customized content, shopping and meal options, as well as guiding them to preferred partners for hotels, rental cars, or attractions.

If an airline offers live inflight connectivity it is technically possible for SkyVerse to make recommendations based on real-time browsing, but this functionality is not presently part of the SkyVerse offer. “[T]his is for tomorrow,” said Jean.

Passengers’ interactions are captured in-flight and the data is then used post-flight to further refine recommendations for the next interaction.

Underlining a growing trend in aviation to support super-fast changes to graphical user interfaces, PXCom’s SkyVerse enables wireless GUIs to be updated as often as daily such as with fresh colors and graphics, or indeed with fresh advertising about flash sales of onboard products and new sponsorships. The experience can be further tailored to support route-specific promotions.

Jean emphasized that SkyVerse also allows airlines to bring their own preferred applications to the browser-based solution. “The idea is really for us to be the technical enabler. We are the integrator within the cabin for third party apps.”

The ease at which SkyVerse can accommodate third-party apps could very well prove to be the acid test for this technology.

As ever, honoring EU regulation GDPR, which governs the collection and processing of personal data, is a key consideration when delivering a personalized entertainment experience on airlines serving individuals within the EU.

Related Articles:

• Op-Ed: The perils and promise of personalized IFE
• JetBlue designs Blueprint for sensibly personal IFE experience
• Air Tahiti turns to PXCom for wireless IFE on ATR turboprops
• Inadvia on unlocking the full potential of inflight advertising
• Lufthansa Technik flags GDPR constraint to portal-free IFC in Europe

All images credited to the author, Fintan Horan-Stear