SAN ANTONIO — Artificial intelligence may not erase hotel brands or fully autonomous properties anytime soon, but it is already forcing operators, owners and brands to rethink how they attract guests, deploy labor and modernize tech stacks.
At the HITEC Industry Leaders panel, held last week in San Antonio, moderated by Scot Campbell, principal advisor, Integrated Resorts Advisors, executives from across the ecosystem explored how fast—and how constructively—AI will transform hospitality in the coming years. On stage were Keryn McNamara, chief information officer, Aimbridge Hospitality; Floor Bleeker with In2 Consulting and formerly the CTO of Accor; Scott Strickland, chief commercial officer at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts; and Another Star CEO Lennert De Jong, who was CEO at citizenM prior to its sale to Marriott International. Another Star now owns and operates citizenM hotels in key global gateway cities in Europe and the United States through a long-term franchise agreement with Marriott.
Changing Relationships
The panel opened with a question many in the hallways are asking quietly: How will AI change the relationship between guests, brands and distribution platforms over the next five years?
De Jong argued that AI is already altering shopping behavior by acting as an intelligent intermediary between travelers and inventory. Instead of starting on an OTA or a brand website, more guests will begin their journey with an AI interface capable of processing rich, natural‑language queries and returning curated hotel options.
Still, he sees loyalty as a durable counterweight. Travelers with elite benefits, upgrades and recognition will remain heavily influenced by their programs, even if AI helps them transact. “That’s still going to be a force of nature,” he said.
Strickland framed AI less as a competing channel and more as a new entry point into existing channels. Guests might initiate trip planning via an AI assistant but will need to complete the transaction on brand.com or in an app to earn points and preserve status. As the technology matures, he expects that entire journeys will be completed in one seamless conversational flow, with loyalty embedded into it.
Bleeker took a broader view, arguing that AI is steadily democratizing distribution, loyalty and revenue management. If many of the analytical advantages once reserved for big brands become accessible through AI‑driven tools, he asked, “what is the value that a big brand offers to an owner?” His conclusion: Brands will need to rethink and expand their value proposition beyond traditional flags and points.
McNamara focused on frictionless and highly descriptive shopping. She pointed to a shift from six‑word to 25‑word search behavior as guests increasingly describe exactly what they want from a stay. AI, she said, will “bring our guests closer to what they’re actually after,” aligning expectations and delivery in a way that benefits both sides.
Removing Friction
Despite years of tech investment, several panelists were blunt about the state of the guest experience.
Bleeker noted that a traveler from 100 years ago would recognize much of today’s stay, from check-in queues to inconsistent service. “We’ve barely been able to move the needle when it comes to the guest experience,” he said, calling many employee–guest interactions “disappointing,” regardless of segment.
For him, AI offers a chance to take out low‑value friction—particularly at the front desk and in repetitive back‑office tasks—so that human interactions can focus on moments that truly matter.
McNamara expects the biggest gains from AI to be hyper‑personalization for both guests and staff. Systems that distinguish between a guest traveling solo versus with family, understand preferences in each context, and surface those insights to associates can enable “guest experiences above and beyond what we do today,” she said. If AI simultaneously strips out back‑office inefficiencies, staff regain time to “get back to customer service.”
There was, however, clear resistance to the idea of people‑free hotels. McNamara said she does not want to see fully autonomous properties in her lifetime, even if certain brands and segments pursue highly automated, low‑touch models. Strickland suggested a portfolio approach: Some brands could emphasize self‑service and automation, while others double down on high‑touch, experiential hospitality.
Labor and New Skills
The discussion then turned to labor. McNamara agreed that AI will eventually reduce headcount, but emphasized that today’s deployments are about augmentation, not replacement.
In call centers and front‑desk contact flows, Wyndham is already using AI agents to intercept calls, answer routine questions and even book rooms. Strickland said those AI agents are delivering not only higher efficiency but a 14 percent uplift in ADR compared with traditional front‑desk reservations.
Bleeker raised a concern with AI: As AI absorbs the repetitive “junior” work that once trained new graduates, the industry risks creating a pipeline problem. Without rethinking education and early‑career pathways, hotels could find themselves lacking leaders who have truly “learned the trade.”
Strickland sees parallels to the cloud era, when data center staff evolved into cloud engineers. Today, he said, contact‑center agents and operations staff willing to learn can become AI supervisors, orchestrators and internal tool builders. McNamara said her organization is already pairing digital natives—people with strong prompting and data skills—with seasoned operators to blend technical and hospitality expertise.
Most agreed that new roles—such as an “AI supervisor” responsible for monitoring AI agents and ensuring quality—are likely to appear across hotel organizations.
The C‑Suite in Flux
The role of the CIO came under scrutiny as well. Strickland noted that the position has “gone through three or four evolutions” – from CIO or CTO to chief digital officer and chief data officer, and now to chief AI and digital officer in some organizations. His view: whatever the title, technology leaders must coordinate, engage and embrace new waves like AI, propagating them through the business rather than resisting them.
Bleeker argued that in an environment where both core platforms and AI capabilities are heavily outsourced, the most valuable technology leaders are less about deep technical implementation and more about business model design and value creation. The CIO of the future, he suggested, must be someone who rethinks operating models with AI at the center, not just automates existing processes.
McNamara expects more chief AI officers to emerge from the CIO ranks and wonders how long traditional distinctions between CIO and CTO titles will last.
Platform Solutions
Regarding technology infrastructure in hotels, the panel acknowledged the hard limits of aging systems. Campbell cited properties still running on legacy PMS platforms and outdated networks while exploring advanced AI.
Strickland cautioned that while “you can do almost anything” with technology, not all AI overlays on legacy stacks are sustainable or P&L‑positive. Some level of modernization, such as structured data, cloud‑enabled, scalable platforms, remains essential. AI initiatives are now serving as a catalyst to redesign tech stacks and the business processes.
De Jong countered that, particularly for independents and smaller groups, AI can sometimes act as a shortcut around technical debt: Automating tasks that previously required expensive integrations. Bleeker added that AI could accelerate complex transitions such as large‑scale PMS migrations by learning repetitive patterns across thousands of properties.