@Jose Luque Leon Hi! My background is hospitality operations and I'm currently transitioning to an AI career focusing on digitally transforming hospitality businesses. I've been researching the topic for a while and realised that there is huge potential, but there's a reason why the industry is behind others. Firstly, it's a human-centric business, so anything that impacts the way a business operates by effectively using "tech to replace the human" is often met with resistance. For example, automated guest communication may save time, but does it negatively impact brand image and identity? Could it take away the human magic which these establishments create? Hospitality managers may have varied opinions here. But the biggest obstacle in my opinion is hospitality data which is scattered across multiple systems - booking engines, ordering systems, housekeeping platforms, reviews, email, calendar.... the list goes on, I used to use 20+ managing a hotel. For an AI tool to be most effective, it needs to be fed organised, gold-level data which optimises its' recommendations and decision-making. There is a missing data layer, which as far as I know doesn't exist yet, that can facilitate the implementation of AI tools and drastically increase their accuracy. I'm currently working on a project with the goal to build a data product for hospitality businesses. Let me know if you are interested and I'd be happy to discuss :)

@Frank van Bokhorst I would also argue that hospitality data is a key obstacle in AI adoption. Hotels, restaurants, bars etc, store data scattered across multiple systems making it difficult to connect AI tools effectively. For well-run businesses, they may not consider the benefit worth the investment for now - or maybe more so in certain departments like sales/finance, and less so in operations and guest relations. I believe a data layer created specifically for AI tools and optimised decision-making would significantly increase AI adoption in the hospitality industry... as long as it doesn't drastically change the way they operate and keeps the business human-centric :)

@Mathieu Modesto I like this approach - start with "why" rather than "what". Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

@Muhammad Ibrahim Arif I agree with add human in the loop in workflows, especially at the beginning this builds trust for those who tend to be more resistant or more cautious. Thanks for your insights!

@Lê Lan Chi What would you consider to be the best approach from an AI consultant to a client with this concept in mind? What are some key questions which focus on decisions specifically?

@Lê Lan Chi Thanks very much for the tips! I think AI becomes a lot more powerful when you consider it as a tool rather than a thinking replacement. I'll definitely use some of these during my journey 😃