How AI is being used and its potential for the future was the topic at hand during Destination AI 2025: The AI Conference for Hoteliers held in Washington, D.C. last week.
The hospitality industry is in the midst of one of the most dramatic transformations in its history. Quickly moving from theory to reality, artificial intelligence is now being deployed across all hotel operations, including revenue management, guest services and distribution.
As Greg Land, a senior vice president at AWS put it, “2025 is the year of real use cases. Over the last 12 to 18 months, hotel companies have gotten serious about architecting their data so that it can be used by AI, consolidating fragmented data streams into coherent platforms that fuel personalization, revenue optimization, and operational intelligence.”
The Promise of AI Across the Hotel Tech Stack
AI agents (according to AI itself, “a software system that uses artificial intelligence to autonomously pursue goals and complete tasks for a user”) are being embedded into every layer of the hospitality tech stack, from property management systems to guest apps and loyalty platforms. The advantages are wide-ranging, including:
- Revenue Growth: Optimizing pricing strategies and powering direct bookings.
- Reduction of Costs: Optimizing energy consumption through smart building management, improving staff allocation with predictive analytics, and using data to streamline real-time pricing and inventory management.
- Efficiency: Automating repetitive tasks like check-in, booking confirmations, or routine service requests.
- Improved Guest Satisfaction: Delivering faster responses, more personalization, and seamless room experiences.
- Data-Driven Insights: Real-time analysis of guest preferences and operational performance.
- Centralized Control: Integrating operations, marketing, and guest intelligence into a single view.
AI agent systems support functions from revenue management and sales and marketing to guest intelligence, smart concierge services, and even talent recruitment in a labor-constrained environment. Some agents can even help hotels reclaim control of the customer journey from online travel agencies.
Reclaiming Search and the Customer Journey
For decades, OTAs have dominated hotel distribution, capturing up to 60 percent of digital demand and collecting valuable guest data along the way. Hotels have not only paid steep commissions to OTAs, but have lost ownership of the booking journey and guest data. AI now offers a way to reverse this trend.
A variety of new platforms are helping hotels bypass intermediaries, own guest data, and personalize booking journeys. As Brad Brewer, co-founder of Agentic Hospitality, puts it: “It’s about reclaiming the journey from discovery to checkout” and retaining conversion data hotels have been giving away for decades, “Hotels leak their most valuable data daily, guest intent, cart actions, loyalty behavior, while OTAs monetize it. Agentic AI ensures hotels own every click, query, and preference.”
But to get in the game, hotels have to adapt the information they feed into AI search tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Anil Aggarwal, CEO of Milestone, notes that half of all search engine activity could shift to AI-driven platforms by 2026. The rise of agentic AI—autonomous systems that make decisions, plan trips, and book rooms—means that hotels must adapt their visibility strategies. Traditional SEO tactics won’t work in this new environment.
According to Ravi Evani, chief technology officer at Publicis Sapient, AI agents rank hotels not by catchy slogans, but by structured, machine-readable facts. Instead of vague terms like “family-friendly,” hotels must use precise descriptors such as connecting rooms, kids’ menus, step-free access, and cribs available. Similarly, “wellness” should be translated into concrete amenities like saunas, allergen-free bedding, or gluten-free dining.
By making their differentiation legible to machines, verifiable to agents, and irresistible to humans, hotels can win back visibility and booking share.
Improving Guest Satisfaction Through AI
AI is reshaping the way hotels deliver on guest expectations during the stay itself. Smart guest experience software connects Internet of Things devices to ensure seamless comfort and efficiency. Guests can use voice commands, apps, or even wearables to adjust lighting, temperature, or entertainment. AI agents can also use data to personalize experiences and predict needs. AI also plays a crucial role in expediting service requests. It can help ensure faster response times and free staff to focus on higher-value or time-critical interactions.
Still, AI isn’t perfect. Voice agents, for example, sometimes lack the nuance or trust needed for complex requests. This underscores the importance of a hybrid model—where AI handles routine needs and seamlessly passes off to human staff when required.
Why the Human Touch Still Matters
Hospitality, at its core, is about people. AI can automate tasks, but it cannot replicate the human touch. As Aman Shahi, vice president of product for Canary Technologies cautioned, “Don’t architect for zero percent interaction.” Guests still want face-to-face engagement, particularly for high-touch moments.
Perhaps that’s why several industry experts, perhaps overly optimistically, believe AI won’t replace jobs, but will only replace talks. As Matt Schwartz of Sage Hospitality explained, AI-driven automation can take over repetitive back-office functions, enabling staff to move to guest-facing roles.
For example, employees once tied up with phone calls or manual data entry can now spend more time engaging with guests in the lobby, personalizing experiences, and upselling premium services. This human reallocation strengthens loyalty and enhances brand perception.
But to succeed, employees need training. As Harvard Business Review noted: “AI won’t replace humans—but humans with AI will replace humans without AI.” Staff must gain AI literacy, then progress to proficiency, understanding how to use AI as a tool rather than fearing it as a replacement.
David Poprawka, a consultant for Infor Hospitality, emphasizes that giving employees AI skills allows hotels to shift staff from the “back of house to the front of house.” Training ensures that AI is not just a tool for efficiency, but a partner in elevating the human side of hospitality.
How AI Fits Into Overall Business Strategy AI
One recurring theme across industry leaders is the importance of aligning AI deployment with business strategy. Chris Smith, who leads Kipsu’s strategic priorities and day-to-day operations, advises: “Start with the business strategy before the AI strategy. (For example), do you want to reduce costs, or be able to charge a premium?” Similarly, Carrie Spooner, senior vice president of revenue optimization and CRM at Rio Hotel & Casino, stresses finding the real “friction points” in the guest journey and then using AI agents to resolve them.
AI is not an add-on to existing hotel operations—it is a fundamental rethinking of the hospitality stack. From reclaiming visibility in AI-driven search to delivering hyper-personalized guest experiences, hotels that embrace agentic AI and data-driven personalization will thrive in the coming years.
But the industry must not forget its core: hospitality is human. Technology should empower employees, not sideline them. With proper training and AI literacy, hotel staff can spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time creating memorable guest experiences.