AI Revolutionizes Training for Aviation’s Modern Technicians

Based on the presentation of Jeff Gray, CTO, Gemini Plus, Inc.

The aviation maintenance world is at a tipping point. As seasoned technicians retire and a new generation enters the hangar, the way we teach and learn is undergoing a seismic shift. At EATS 2025, Gemini Plus CTO Jeff Gray laid it out bluntly: “What got us here won’t get us there.” 

From AI-driven learning to seven-second attention spans, Gray’s message is clear—technology alone won’t save aviation training. Culture, leadership, and smart implementation will. 

Culture Comes Before Technology 

Gray began with a truth that cuts across industries: “Culture determines the success or failure of implementation.” He offered a simple formula that guides every transformation project he’s led—from IBM to defense and energy to aviation: 

“Leaders drive culture. Culture drives engagement. Engagement drives results.” 

Without leadership buy-in, he warned, even the best tools fall flat. “If the leaders aren’t bought into the overall strategy,” Gray said, “results are not going to be met.” 

This cultural foundation is essential as organizations face a flood of younger workers who think, learn, and solve problems differently from previous generations. 

 

Meet the Modern Learner 

Most conference rooms, Gray observed with a grin, are filled with Gen Xers. “We can handle long-form, procedural text. We can read a manual cover to cover.” But the incoming workforce—millennials and Gen Z—“live in a micro-literacy world. They’ve never known life without the Internet.” 

Today’s technicians are digital-first and multimodal. They learn through microbursts, videos, and on-demand searches rather than hours of classroom instruction. “They’re used to finding information, not memorizing it,” Gray explained. “Learning happens in the flow of work.” 

That shift has massive implications for training design. Formal learning now represents less than 1% of a worker’s week—about 30 minutes. “Most things drift out of alignment,” Gray warned. “To keep them compliant and safe, you need to make sure they always have the right information at the right time.” 

 

The Seven-Second Expectation 

In the age of AI, patience is extinct. “Less than seven seconds,” Gray said, “that’s how long modern learners expect to wait for an answer.” Whether it’s ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity, users have come to expect instant results. 

Twenty years ago, a spinning loading wheel was tolerable. “Now, if it doesn’t answer in seven seconds, people assume it’s broken,” he joked. 

This “seven-second rule” has changed not just how learners search but how they think. “They’re not looking for resources anymore—they’re looking for answers.” 

 

The Knowledge vs. Acquisition Shift 

Gray described what he calls the “knowledge vs. acquisition” paradigm shift. “Ask a young technician, ‘Why don’t you remember that procedure?’ and they’ll tell you, ‘Because I know where to find it.’” 

Retention has been replaced by retrieval. “They’re not asking what to know—they’re asking where to go to know it.*” 

This mindset doesn’t mean they’re lazy; it means the world they grew up in is different. Training must now focus on developing search fluency, context awareness, and accuracy validation—skills that align with AI-assisted work. 

 

AI: The New Co-Worker 

Artificial intelligence isn’t coming—it’s already here. “By 2030, 85–90% of workers entering the workplace will bring their own AI,” Gray predicted. “They’ll have what we call a ‘swarm of agents’—personal support systems they use to do their jobs.” 

Technicians will turn to AI tools—even unsanctioned ones—for help with diagnosis, reference, or repair. “They’re going to go to ChatGPT or their own model, even if you didn’t provide it,” Gray said. “They’ll build their own solutions.” 

That reality poses a question for aviation organizations: How do you manage a workforce bringing its own intelligence? Governance, consistency, and security must evolve alongside this new behavior. 

 

How AI Transforms Maintenance Training 

Gray outlined several ways AI already improves aviation maintenance learning and operations. 

1. Managing Change and Complexity 

“When the AMM changes,” he explained, “AI can track impacts across dozens of documents and hundreds of videos—down to the minute a wrong statement appears.” This capability dramatically reduces the risk of outdated procedures circulating in training systems. 

2. Decision Support and Situational Awareness 

In high-stakes settings like defense operations, AI is proving invaluable. “If I’m getting shot at, I don’t have 45 minutes to find an answer,” Gray said. “AI can predict likely problems after a few diagnostic questions instead of 37.” 

3. Object Recognition and Augmented Reality 

Using nothing more than a tablet, technicians can point their device at an aircraft part and immediately retrieve relevant videos, manuals, and service bulletins. “You don’t need special hardware,” Gray emphasized. “This is available now, off the shelf.” 

These examples illustrate how AI can support “just-in-time” learning—empowering technicians to learn and act simultaneously. 

 

The Four Pillars of Modern Content 

From two decades of digital transformation experience, Gray distilled what he calls the          “ Accessibility-Context-Relevance-Accuracy (ACRA) framework.” Any training content that misses one of these elements, he warned, will fail. 

1. Accessibility 

“You can have all the content in the world, but if you can’t get to it, it means nothing,” he said, quoting a Cisco executive: “If content is king, infrastructure is God.” 

Training materials must be available anytime, on any device, in multiple formats. 

2. Context 

“Think about YouTube,” he noted. “It’s powerful because you can use it anywhere—whether you’re baking a cake or fixing a plane.” 

For technicians, that means information must be available at the point of need—not hidden in a classroom or portal. 

3. Relevance 

“If I search for a Mexican restaurant, I don’t want results in another city,” he said. “Same goes for training—if I’m working on a specific aircraft, show me that model’s data.” 

Content must filter by who the learner is, where they are, and what they’re working on. 

4. Accuracy 

Finally, the information must be trustworthy and up to date. “If it’s not accurate, people won’t use it,” Gray said. He recalled Home Depot’s once-award-winning virtual training platform: “It took seven to nine months to make one change. It looked great—but it was useless.” 

 

Lessons from the Oil & Gas Industry 

Gray shared a sobering reminder from his experiences working in the oil and gas industry: when critical information isn’t easily accessible, safety and performance erode. In many operations, required procedures were stored in systems or locations that were inconvenient enough that workers had to stop what they were doing and spend significant time tracking down the information they needed. 

Over time, many simply abandoned the formal process. Instead of consulting official procedures, they turned to the nearest colleague for guidance—an easy shortcut that gradually pulled teams away from established standards and SOPs. That’s how drift happens.  

Nothing drifts into alignment—only out. 

The lesson for aviation: accessibility isn’t a convenience issue; it’s a safety imperative. 

 

Avoiding the ‘Technology Trailer Park’ 

One of Gray’s most colorful warnings came when discussing poor digital governance: “A lot of companies without a clear strategy end up building what I call technology trailer parks—a bunch of tools, systems, and platforms that don’t talk to each other.” 

The fix? Strong leadership and unified strategy. “You need governance,” he urged. “Set standards, make integration a priority, and resist shiny-object syndrome.” 

 

The Road Ahead 

For Gray, the message is urgent but optimistic. “We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results,” he concluded. “We have to adapt—but do it with purpose and efficacy.” 

That means recognizing that today’s technicians: 

• Learn in micro-moments, not classrooms 
• Value access over memorization 
• Expect answers in seconds 
• Bring their own AI assistants 

Success won’t come from technology alone. It will come from leadership that shapes culture, aligns strategy, and builds training ecosystems grounded in accessibility, context, relevance, and accuracy. 

The AI revolution isn’t about replacing technicians—it’s about empowering them to work smarter, safer, and faster in an age where information moves at the speed of thought. 

 

Interested in practical AI and digital training strategies? 

Join industry experts at WATS 2026 in Orlando, Florida (May 5–7), where innovators will explore AI, VR/AR, and the future of aviation learning. 

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