The risk of sleeping through hospitality’s AI distribution shift

What inspired you to launch the AI Hospitality Alliance, and what gaps did you feel the hospitality industry was facing when it came to understanding and adopting AI?

I launched the Alliance because I saw that our industry was simultaneously panicking, overhyping, underreacting and overreacting to AI… all at the same time.

Hospitality is going through a massive reset. AI will eventually sit somewhere in the middle of all interactions. But when I looked around, I saw a lot of noise, fragmented conversations and people (and organizations) trying to figure this out in silos. But this moment is moving too fast for everyone to sit in separate corners trying to reinvent the wheel. What felt missing was a neutral, independent place where the industry could come together to not only talk about AI, but actually shape where this is going. There are several gaps AIHA is trying to address.

One is collaboration. Hospitality is fragmented by design—brands, owners, operators, tech vendors, educators, associations, consultants, academics. Yet AI affects all of us, and we need a place where those groups can collaborate instead of operating in parallel universes.

Another is representation. AI platforms are rapidly reshaping discovery and commerce, but hospitality has not historically shown up with one voice when major technology shifts happen. If travelers increasingly plan trips through AI assistants, we need a seat at the table helping shape how hotel distribution evolves instead of waking up one day wondering, “Wait, when did this happen?”

I care deeply about helping hoteliers regain more control of their distribution and direct relationships. For years, we’ve watched distribution become increasingly intermediated and fragmented. AI could actually create an opportunity to reverse some of that, but only if we engage early and intentionally.

And finally, clarity. Hospitality leaders are being hit with 700 AI announcements before breakfast. Every tool promises to revolutionize everything. One of AIHA’s goals is helping people filter through the noise and focus on what drives operational value versus what just sounds exciting on a keynote slide.

In short: less hype, more clarity, more collaboration, more action.

What advice do you typically give leaders who want to embrace AI without losing the human side of hospitality?

Easy: don’t confuse efficiency with hospitality. Just because something can be automated does not mean it should be. The best use of AI in hospitality is removing friction, so teams have more time and mental bandwidth to actually be hospitable. Nobody got into this business dreaming of manually updating spreadsheets, answering the same repetitive questions 300 times or hunting through systems for information. If AI can remove the operational clutter, people can focus more on guests.

I always tell leaders: don’t ask, “Where can I add AI?” Ask, “Where are my guests or employees (or the owner of my property) frustrated, and can AI help remove friction?”

And remember: hospitality is a feeling business. Guests rarely remember whether your workflow was efficient. They remember how you made them feel. AI should support that, not sterilize it.

As someone working across education, consulting and technology, what shifts do you expect to see in how hospitality professionals approach innovation and AI adoption over the next few years?

We’re moving from experimentation to “this is real now.” And we’re moving there pretty fast. Not everyone is noticing, but this is already happening and scaling. Over the next few years, AI will become embedded into everyday workflows—operations, finance, guest messaging, pricing, distribution, marketing, decision-making, workforce planning. It’ll stop feeling like “the AI project” and start feeling like electricity; just part of how work gets done. Asking “How do you implement AI?” is the same as asking, “How do you implement electricity?” It’s everywhere. Just plug it in when it hurts the most.

I also think the skillset of hospitality professionals is going to shift dramatically. We’re moving from software users to orchestrators of systems. People will need to understand workflows, automation, data, governance, AI reasoning, prompting and how to collaborate with digital teammates.

And speed is changing. Historically, hospitality tech adoption has moved at the pace of a hotel renovation budget. Thoughtful, cautious, occasionally painful. AI is compressing timelines dramatically. Leaders will need to become more comfortable testing, learning, iterating and adapting faster. Education will have to evolve, too; AI literacy won’t be optional. It will become as fundamental as revenue management or marketing.

What do you hope the AI Hospitality Alliance ultimately contributes to the industry, both in terms of collaboration and the future role AI will play in hospitality operations and guest experience?

I want AIHA to become the place where hospitality figures this out together. Not in theory. Not in endless panels where we all nod thoughtfully and leave with 12 buzzwords and no action items. Actually together.

I want the Alliance to help the industry collaborate across groups that don’t always naturally sit at the same table—hoteliers, vendors, educators, researchers, associations, startups, major platforms—and help move the conversation from fragmented experimentation to coordinated action. I hope we help the industry cut through misinformation, identify what works, create practical education, support research, encourage standards and give hospitality a stronger, more unified voice as AI reshapes travel and commerce.

Most importantly, I hope we help hospitality move from reacting to AI to shaping it. Whether we like it or not, AI will increasingly influence how hotels are discovered, recommended, booked, serviced and experienced. The question is whether hospitality helps shape that future… or sleeps through the meeting and wakes up wondering who made all the decisions.

(Image courtesy of Ira Vouk)