What and Why AI Matters – A Guide To Navigating And Adopting New Tech

At AIVA Revolution; our team have spent over 20 years experience working at the forefront of technology. From Unified Communications to Full Stack Observability, we have extensive knowledge, and experience of working at the cutting edge of innovation, and now stand with you on the precipice of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We do not know exactly where this journey will take us, but we guarantee two things

1) It will be exciting

2) It will change the way we use technology forever.

We fundamentally believe that AI is the biggest opportunity in our industry since the Internet transformed the way we do business 25-30 years ago. We would like to welcome you to the first in our new a series of Blogs that try to answer one simple question, “Why AI ?”

Our objective is to mix thought leadership and market analysis to help you understand more about the opportunities and challenges upon as, because of the explosion of Artificial Intelligence.

“We stand here together at the start of an exciting journey, please join me as I attempt to de-mystify the complexity, and guide you through the noise of AI.” Neil Miller 2026.

Executive Summary

AI is not a technology trend. AI marks a significant structural shift in how hospitality companies will need to operate, to maintain competitiveness. There are several key challenges facing the world of hospitality that AI can positively impact in a way that no other technology is able to.

“In the future there will be 2 types of Business. Those that embrace AI, and Those that cease to exist” Mark Cuban 2025.

While this quote by American Shark Tank Entrepreneur and Investment Guru Mark Cuban may appear a little extreme, that sentiment may not be far from the reality of life in many sectors, but it certainly rings true in the hospitality sector, for 3 key reasons:

• Guest Expectations are rising rapidly, and access to digital content has never been easier, or more prevalent (In our experience if not perfect, the entire world can know, and quickly).
• Hospitality is both a Margin constrained and Experience Driven industry (Give me more for less $$).
• The gap between AI adopters and Laggards in this space is impacting Competitiveness in a way never seen before. With any new technology, there comes Complexity, and unfortunately many people feel like they are being left behind. Never fear, with opportunity comes support. AI is enabling the rapid creation of new & innovative solutions in a way that we have not seen for a generation.

Allow me to expand further on each area of the above, starting with:

The Modern Guest

Guest experiences are no longer compared to other similar hospitality venues or services such as hotels or restaurants. Guest expectations today have been transformed by technology-driven consumer brands that deliver personalised, instant and intuitive interactions, at the touch of a button.

The Modern Guest Expects:

• Immediate responses 24×7, with self-service options
• Recognition of visit history, across all channels
• Efficient, fast and frictionless interactions
• Pro-active service rather than reactive problem solving

What does this mean for you?

Fundamentally a shift in Guest Experience Strategy is required. Traditional hospitality models which rely heavily on manual processes, siloed information and human memory (attrition and inconsistency not withstanding), will never be able scale in a way to cope with the needs and expectations of “The Modern Guest”.

Therefore, World-Class guest experiences are increasingly being defined by “Intelligence”, and AI provides a generational opportunity to deliver World Class experiences to every guest. That said, intelligence alone is not enough. The personal touch, attention to detail and human interactions are still vital, as we strive to deliver World Class guest experiences.

Existing in the Margin(s)

Hospitality is facing several serious challenges that impact heavily on a sector that already suffers from ever decreasing margins. . .

• Rising costs
• Limited buying power for smaller venues
• Labour Shortages & Reliability challenges
• Wage Inflation
• Energy Costs
• Governmental and Regulatory pressures

Each of these challenges has an incremental impact on hospitality businesses, the combination of which results in the decimation of margins.

It is important at this point to highlight that the hospitality sector employs millions of people globally. This is a huge problem! We all rely on hospitality in one way or another, imagine if there were no pubs, restaurants or hotels! A scary thought

Historically lots of hospitality venues have had to make trade-offs between – Improving Service Quality vs Reducing Costs 

AI removes this trade-off by enabling hospitality venues to become more efficient, by:

• Automation of repetitive tasks
• Optimised scheduling
• Predicting demand
• Preventing operational challenges

What does this mean for you?

AI is the only technology that can move the needle when it comes to both “Improving Service Quality” and “Reducing Costs” at the same time. This has a doubly positive impact on margins, allowing staff to focus on “High Value” guest interactions.

Hospitality vendors need to ensure they are evaluating technologies that can help them make a change positively in each of these areas. AI driven technologies MUST help you to remove the trade-off between Customer Experience and Margin, enabling you to improve both, therefore helping you thrive in the brave new world of AI.

Complexity and the Human Condition

The Modern Guest typically has high expectations as previously mentioned, the booking ecosystem is complex, relies on many disconnected applications and systems, which rely on vast amounts of data to meet demands. Here are some examples of typical hospitality operations that are simply vital to survival, never mind succeed:

• Property Management Systems
• Booking Engines
• Point of Sale
• Loyalty Systems
• Reviews and feedback platforms
• IOT Enabled/Smart facilities

What does this mean for you?

The demands placed on team members because of the speed, scale and complexity of these systems, far exceeds what they can cope with in real time. To deliver World Class experiences your teams, need support.

AI will help to transform this complexity into business insights, by identifying patterns, predicting outcomes while making proactive recommendations faster and more accurately than the humans, applications and services that you rely on today.

Recognition and Loyalty, an asset, not a challenge.

One of the biggest challenges in hospitality is Customer Recognition, which plays heavily into the conversation about Loyalty. Customer Loyalty is vital in today’s world, retaining existing customers and having them return time after time is key for hospitality and event venue owners.

To gain a significant competitive advantage, mastery of your data is vital, as it enables you to:

• Improve every future customer experience
• Reclaim and maintain direct guest relationships
• Personalise offers and communication
• Optimise automated follow up and marketing
• Reduce dependency on third parties

What does this mean for you?

Imagine a world where you have a system that understands the customer history, preferences, feedback, dietaries etc. Where all these things contribute to how the customer is viewed in terms of their sentiment and opinion. It understands whether they are likely to book again, how to re-market to them, and which digital channels to prioritise. That helps you to deliver World Class guest experiences, which in turn increases customer loyalty.

AI certainly has the potential to make this happen, by automating the manual, leveraging intelligence, maximising the returns on technology and data, while supporting your teams with detailed insights. AI can change the game when it comes to customer recognition and loyalty.

Existing Systems and the subtle differences

Many of you have made significant investments in digital technology and systems over the decade and beyond. These technology investments although significantly improving g visibility and automation, have not really changed the game when it comes to how decisions are made.

We are standing in front of the next technological revolutions, and it will be powered by AI. Key improvements in the world of hospitality will include:

• Predicting rather than Reporting
• Optimisation rather than Automation
• Systems of intelligence, rather than Systems of Record

What does this mean for you?

Overlaying AI onto your existing digital foundations can unlock exponentially greater value from your existing technologies, it can help to deliver even greater value from prior digital investments. This will truly help you evolve as you develop greater insights into your customers and prospects while enabling your teams to focus less on Administration and more on Attentiveness.

Famous last words, AI is not for me.

We all know that hospitality is very competitive, and it is not getting any easier to stand out, deliver world class experiences, retain loyalty and increase the bottom line. This is quite the conundrum. AI is already seeing early adoption in hospitality, and early adopters are already seeing improvements in many areas:

• Revenue per room
• Guest satisfaction and loyalty
• Staff efficiency and retention improvements
• Enhanced operational resilience

What does this mean for you?

Organisations that delay or do nothing, risk falling on the wrong side of an ever-widening guest experience performance gap, which becomes increasingly harder to bridge over time. AI adoption is becoming a necessity, not an advantage or differentiator.

In Conclusion

AI matters to hospitality companies because it enables a completely new operating model. One that facilitate the delivery of World Class guest experiences, Stronger fiscal performance, increased competitiveness and resilience in an increasingly complex and noisy world.

The key question facing hospitality leaders is no longer whether to deploy AI, but when can they deploy AI quickly and responsibly, into the core of their existing operations, with as little friction as possible, while ensuring that teams feel empowered and not threatened by it.

As the demands of The Modern Guest continue to increase, service excellence and convenience become vital to success.

Call to action

Here are a couple of things that we recommend you consider:

• Do not ignore AI, 2026 may well be the year it moves into the mainstream, but it is still a few years off from full maturity. We expect to see waves of adoption and maturity for different AI platforms over the next 2-3 years, one thing is certain. AI is coming, and it has unstoppable momentum.
• Remember the trade off? Service Quality improvement or Increased Margins, AI can help you to improve both, rather than one or the other.
• Success relies on a blend of intelligence and people, do not lose sight of that.
• There will be a lot of noise in the marketplace related to technology, try to align your digital needs to the customer journey and solutions to problems you face.
• Talk to your counterparts, focus on your industry trends and do not be scared to ask for help, everyone is in the same position.
• Training and Seminars are your friend, try to attend a couple in the first half of the year.