AI Is Reshaping Hotel Operations From Within

2025-05-27•Kanchi Jain•4 minutes read

Hospitality

Innovation

Kurien Jacob, a veteran of the travel, tech, and software sectors with over four decades of experience, now leads Highgate Technology Ventures (HTV) as a partner and MD. He has invested in forward-thinking hospitality startups like SevenRooms, LodgIQ, and Laasie.

At the upcoming Skift Data + AI Summit, Kurien is set to reveal why the real AI revolution in travel isn’t just guest-facing; it’s operational, structural, and accelerating fast. With his session just around the corner, Kurien Jacob shared his candid thoughts on where the travel industry is missing the mark with AI and what trends he's betting on next.

The Current AI Misconception in Travel

Kurien Jacob believes the travel industry often misunderstands the true potential of AI. He stated, “The travel industry still treats AI mostly as a sales and support tool – pushing deals or running chatbots – this is going to be transformative across the industry. This is the only technology that may not require you to be a treasure of experience. I think this is going to kill experience in favor of knowledge, thought processes, intelligence, and a clear open mind for adaptation. This transformation is going to be so fast that your head will spin and non-believers will be left in the dust.”

Key AI Trends Redefining Hospitality

Jacob is closely watching several emerging trends in AI and data that he believes will significantly impact the hospitality sector:

Generative AI: He describes this as an outcome from the core AI engine, emphasizing the importance of its integration with foundational AI capabilities in computing, mathematics, and image recognition.
AI Agents: According to Jacob, “The biggest impact is going to be for travel, accommodations, restaurants as there is a lot of answering questions and doubts. Once you win the trust with Q and A then you focus on task completion such as booking a flight, hotel, restaurant, and activity.”
B2B Applications: “Using AI to tailor experiences for B2B customers is key,” Jacob notes. “How do we pass on AI-completed products for customers? In fact, the biggest business shift will probably be SaaS to AI solutions for productivity and software all in one. Companies who get this will be faster to win.”

AI's Game Changing Potential for Travel's Future

If he had to place a big bet on one AI breakthrough that could reshape travel, Jacob highlighted several interconnected developments:

Customer Interaction: “Autonomous AI Agents or software connected to personal AI assistants around the world asking questions, wanting to book travel. Ask anything and request execution. That’s where commerce may come in.”
Operational Transformation: “Entire back office of travel or hospitality would be replaced. No longer talking to humans but machines. 95% will be answered by machines and 5% could be touched by humans.”
New Basis for Competition: “Travel and hospitality would be boring as most functions would be done through AI and the differentiation would be with creativity, intelligence, and humor.”
Magnitude of Change: “Think about the internet and multiply it by 10 for this tech. You want to write descriptions for an AI to discover. And here there are no static web pages. It’s interactive. We have moved to a conversational age!!”

Discover More at the Skift Data AI Summit

Kurien Jacob is one of the sharpest minds shaping the future of operational AI in hospitality. His session will be a deep dive into the forces already rewriting the industry’s playbook. Register now to join the conversation that’s redefining travel tech from the ground up.