Airbus Appoints Netra Gowda as VP for HR Transformation, Digital & AI

Airbus has appointed Netra Gowda as Vice President, HR Transformation, Digital & AI, bringing an experienced transformation leader back to the aerospace company.

Gowda returns to Airbus following a leadership role at Stellantis, where she served as Vice President, Strategy, Planning and Portfolio. Her new role at Airbus places her at the intersection of human resources, technology and artificial intelligence, reflecting the growing importance of digital capabilities in shaping the future of work.

Returning to Airbus

Gowda is no stranger to Airbus. She previously spent more than a decade with the organisation, holding a range of strategic and transformation-focused positions.

During her earlier stint, she worked with Airbus Defence and Space and was involved in initiatives spanning advanced analytics, AI and cloud acceleration. Her previous responsibilities also included serving as Chief of Staff to the Digital Transformation Officer and leading culture change initiatives linked to digital transformation.

Her earlier assignments at Airbus included roles such as Corporate Innovation Manager and Group Strategy & Analysis Manager.

The return gives Airbus a leader with an existing understanding of its business environment, transformation priorities and organisational culture.

Bringing HR and technology closer together

Gowda’s new mandate comes at a time when artificial intelligence is changing how companies approach talent, skills and organisational design.

Her responsibilities bring together three increasingly connected areas — HR transformation, digitalisation and AI.

For organisations adopting AI at scale, technology implementation is only one part of the transformation. Companies also need to prepare employees for changing roles, build new skills, redesign processes and manage cultural shifts.

Gowda’s role is therefore expected to focus not only on technology adoption within HR but also on how digital and AI capabilities can support broader workforce transformation.

Experience across strategy, AI and digital transformation

Gowda brings a career spanning technology, strategy, innovation and transformation.

Before returning to Airbus, she was part of Stellantis, where her work focused on strategy, planning and portfolio management.

Her previous Airbus experience included leadership responsibilities around digital transformation, advanced analytics, AI and cloud technologies. She also gained technology-sector exposure during her time at Intel.

Beyond corporate leadership, Gowda has been associated with the Atlantic Council as a Millennium Leadership Fellow and has contributed to academic discussions around digitalisation as a guest lecturer at Sciences Po.

This combination of corporate, technology and policy exposure adds breadth to her latest leadership mandate.

AI reshapes the HR agenda

The appointment reflects a wider evolution in the role of HR within large organisations.

As AI becomes embedded across functions, HR leaders are increasingly expected to participate in decisions around workforce redesign, digital skills, employee adoption and organisational readiness.

This has created demand for leadership roles that understand both people and technology — particularly in global organisations undergoing large-scale transformation.

For Airbus, Gowda’s appointment strengthens leadership around these priorities by bringing together HR transformation with digital and AI capabilities.

Preparing the workforce for the next phase

Airbus continues to operate in an industry where engineering, advanced technology and innovation are central to long-term competitiveness. As digital tools and AI become increasingly integrated into business operations, workforce capabilities will need to evolve alongside them.

Gowda’s appointment signals Airbus’ focus on making that transition more structured by connecting technology-led transformation with its people strategy.

Her return also represents a continuation of her earlier transformation journey at Airbus, this time with a broader mandate covering HR, digital and AI.

As businesses move from experimenting with AI to embedding it into everyday operations, leaders responsible for connecting technology adoption with workforce transformation are likely to play an increasingly important role in shaping enterprise strategy.