How Cathay uses GitHub
Cathay embraces AI-powered development to deliver securely at scale.
Location: Hong Kong SAR
Industry: Travel
Key results
- 4.4/5 developer satisfaction NPS score
- 40% improvement in YoY tech debt fixes
- 63% reduction in mean time to remediate security fixes
The challenge
Cathay Pacific operates as a global airline with more than 30,000 employees and operations in 100 destinations. With unpredictable weather, shifting regulations, supply chain disruptions, and global events causing uncertainties, dependable software is crucial to their operations.
However, the organization faced significant roadblocks scaling innovation: a fragmented, outdated toolchain was eroding the developer experience and slowing delivery, while late-breaking security vulnerabilities posed serious risk to business-critical systems. Without better tools and alignment, it was difficult to prioritize customer experience and maintain the security posture required for a digital leader in aviation.
Modernize development at scale
Cathay adopted the GitHub platform as its end-to-end development environment. With code hosting, CI/CD, security, and AI all in one place, the team streamlined workflows and elevated the developer experience.
Developers embraced GitHub Copilot for code completion and adopted GitHub Copilot agent mode—a real-time, autonomous collaborator to perform multi-step coding tasks across their codebase. Developers now receive real-time suggestions in the IDE to speed up everyday tasks, while agent mode handles more complex changes, indexing hundreds of files and executing multi-step prompts across the codebase.
With less time lost to manual edits and routine decisions, the team can move faster and focus on building higher-impact solutions. This shift contributed to a 40% year-over-year improvement in tech debt fixes.
Cathay rolled out GitHub Copilot to more than 1,000 developers in just one week, who have since accepted over four million lines of code. This adoption drove a noticeable lift in developer sentiment, with satisfaction and NPS scores rising to 4.4/5.
"GitHub Copilot has been a game changer," said Rajeev Nair, General Manager - IT Infrastructure & Security at Cathay. "It's more than just a tool. It's a collaborative partner that helps us stay focused on meaningful work instead of repetitive tasks."
"It's impressive how agent mode can identify exactly where changes are needed," said Naveen Jaisankar, DevSecOps Practice Lead at Cathay. "It's the kind of intelligence that speeds us up without sacrificing control."
Secure from the start
Building on its success with GitHub Copilot, Cathay expanded its use of the GitHub platform to strengthen security across the development process. With GitHub Advanced Security, they embedded security checks directly into developer workflows—enabling faster fixes, earlier detection, and fewer handoffs between teams.
Developers are now able to identify and remediate vulnerabilities as they work, which virtually eliminates the delays caused by late-stage fixes. This shift to proactive security led to a 63% decrease in the Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) security fixes. Features like real-time code scanning and secret detection allow teams to catch issues early and resolve them quickly.
Copilot Autofix detects vulnerabilities and suggests secure code changes in real time, without disrupting developer flow. This shift helped change the perception of security from a bottleneck to a shared responsibility.
"The most rewarding part has been seeing that 'wow' moment from our developers," says Nair. "GitHub Copilot and Advanced Security aren't just more tools or extra work—they have changed how we build software and the culture around it. Watching our teams embrace that mindset and feel empowered by it has been incredibly fulfilling."
"Copilot seamlessly integrates security into the development process, making it a shared responsibility without adding friction," says Nair. "The result is a secure, efficient, and enjoyable environment for building software."
Create space for innovation
For Cathay, GitHub is the foundation for future innovation. With GitHub Copilot, agent mode, and built-in security, the airline is ready to scale its DevSecOps practices.
"GitHub helps us ship faster and meet customer demands in a fast-changing aviation landscape," says Jaisankar. "It's a one-stop shop for developers, integrating everything we need into a single platform."
This unified development experience helps Cathay's developers accelerate time to value and deliver great customer experiences, all while maintaining compliance and security.
"GitHub Copilot gives us the foundation to adapt, innovate, and deliver securely at speed and at scale," says Jaisankar.