AI Transformation: AI for Digital Transformation

By using GenAI, healthcare professionals can improve daily operations, enhance patient care, and accelerate research. Some of the most common GenAI tools for healthcare include Paige, Insilico Medicine, and Iambic. One of the most tedious parts of software development is creating documentation, but it is required for long-term maintainability. Generative AI can simplify this step by automatically composing detailed, accurate documentation based on the code itself. GenAI tools can draft technical documentation, including usage instructions and response formats, ensuring that it is always aligned with the actual codebase. The need for technical expertise is another major barrier to adopting generative AI in business.

• Importance of AI Adoption

  We are entering an era of a “technological revolution” where the future of every company is being shaped by AI.

• This can pose a serious challenge for small and midsize businesses that may not have easy access to such resources.
• AI can analyze consumer data (such as that captured in a business’s customer relationship management (CRM) system) to understand similarities in preferences and buying behavior across different segments of customers.
• AI can be shown the appropriate format for the final product and asked to use the various resources to write the document.

Developing AI models is a complex process that requires a specialized skill in the field, and there’s currently a shortage of qualified AI professionals. Consider investing in training programs or selecting user-friendly AI platforms that make advanced technologies more accessible. Some manufacturers might find integrating AI into existing operations to be a complex process. Learn key strategies to help solve these challenging issues before implementation. Rich is a freelance journalist writing about business and technology for national, B2B and trade publications.

Enhanced Customer Experience and Engagement

Organizations represented in the survey have, on average, used AI to some degree for almost four years, and a large majority believe they are ahead of their competition—30% said significantly ahead while 52% said slightly ahead. Organizations need to be realistic about their achievements and clear-eyed about what their competitors are doing. Many ancient cultures built humanlike automata that were believed to possess reason and emotion. In addition to automating the tedious process of grading exams, AI is being used to assess students and adapt curricula to their needs, paving the way for personalized learning. Here is a sampling of how various industries and business departments are using AI.

Microsoft is a major company that uses its vast resources and cloud infrastructure for the comprehensive integration of generative AI technologies in its product ecosystem. Through its partnership with OpenAI, this company has embedded cutting-edge AI capabilities into platforms like Azure, Microsoft 365, and GitHub. Microsoft Copilot, its AI assistant, helps users with coding and content creation by bringing smart, context-aware suggestions.

A phased implementation strategy can help your business gradually adapt to generative AI systems. Generative AI is reshaping coding and product design processes in numerous industries, including software and manufacturing, significantly reducing time-to-market. In software development, for example, GenAI writes codes based on human prompts, making the process more accessible and efficient.

To realize and scale the technology, AI transformations often require businesses to change their strategies and cultures. Organizations have a justified belief in AI’s potential to transform their business initiatives, but before plunging ahead they need to be aware of the hurdles in the way, addressing issues of data quality, security, and implementation. They also need to pair AI with high-performing employees who have demonstrated skill at using AI but who also demand a high-quality user experience. Improving DEX is key to attracting and retaining those employees, who can greatly help organizations fulfill AI’s potential. The financial sector uses AI to process vast amounts of data to improve almost every aspect of business, including risk assessment, fraud detection and algorithmic trading. The industry also automates and personalizes customer service through the use of chatbots and virtual assistants, including robo-advisors designed to provide investment and portfolio advice.

AI adoption is only successful when employees are well-informed about its ethical use and their roles in supporting responsible practices. Training programs, workshops and interactive learning tools can help employees understand AI technologies, ethical considerations and their importance in ensuring fairness and compliance. Bias in AI models — such as retail video surveillance systems that involve facial recognition — can cause serious damage, both culturally and to your business’ reputation. It’s essential to regularly audit your AI systems to detect and mitigate biases in data collection, algorithm design and decision-making processes.

How Many Companies Use AI? (New Data)

By using AI to analyze data and personalize how they interact with customers, brands can deliver better, more personalized experiences than ever before. At the same time, using AI to make work faster and cheaper by automating simple tasks and improving workflows represents a tangible benefit that’s available right now. AI isn’t a farce, but it’s also not a magic bullet that can be applied to any and every challenge. Rather than applying the technology generally or haphazardly, companies should purposefully harness their capabilities to specific business objectives. Despite the potential benefits, AI integration presents significant challenges and risks.

But for all the AI success stories out there, companies are still struggling to fully integrate the technology into their processes. While this is partially because advances are happening so rapidly that it can be difficult to determine which solution will most improve efficiency and productivity, it’s also because many companies face unanticipated obstacles. Many phone systems use voice-enabled AI to answer questions and direct calls, while tools like voice search can be helpful to customers on the go.

Use data analytics and performance metrics to track key indicators such as accuracy, efficiency, and user satisfaction. One of the most effective ways for you to minimize risks and validate the feasibility of AI integration is to start with a pilot project. Choose a specific use case or workflow that aligns with your business objectives and implement AI solutions on a smaller scale to test their effectiveness and impact.

In 2017, only 20% of companies incorporated AI into their product offerings and business operations. But 72% of those businesses believed AI would have an impact on their business within 5 years. Because of AI’s ability to help small businesses operate more efficiently, the growth potential of small businesses is bright. The report showed that 91% of small businesses currently using AI are optimistic that AI will help grow their brands in the future. With AI’s growing presence, 77% of small business owners said they plan to adopt more emerging technologies like AI and the metaverse. This provisional ranking reflects trends in the overall risks of implementing AI in enterprises, and the actual order varies depending on the needs of the business.

If the training data is biased, then the outputs will reflect those biases, leading to unfair results. The impact of this bias can skew product recommendations and influence hiring and employee evaluations, resulting in discriminatory practices. To prevent this, you must actively identify and eliminate biases in training data and use diverse datasets to ensure fairness. A study from Nielsen Norman Group revealed that the technology improved employee productivity by 66 percent.

A May 2023 survey titled “AI, Automation and the Future of Workplaces,” from workplace software maker Robin, found that 61% of respondents believe AI-driven tools will make some jobs obsolete. But achieving explainable AI is not easy and in itself carries risks, including reduced accuracy and the exposure of proprietary algorithms to bad actors, as noted in this discussion of why businesses need to work at AI transparency. By adhering to the ten tips for overcoming the common mistakes, and leveraging the support of software agencies, your business can fully enjoy the power of AI implementation. Software agencies can also provide expert validation, leveraging their domain expertise to ensure that AI solutions are technically sound and aligned with industry standards. This validation process helps your business steer clear of costly redesign efforts. When companies do not follow this step, they end up with siloed decision-making, user needs misalignment, and change management challenges.

Another example has also been when a chatbot at a car dealership in California gained widespread attention after internet users, seeking amusement, realized they could coax it into saying a variety of peculiar statements. The most memorable one being when the bot proposed selling a 2024 Chevy Tahoe to a user for a mere dollar. “That offer stands as a legally binding agreement—no reversals,” the bot also wrote during the interaction.

This roadmap must include a list of deliverables for baseline and final reporting stages and outline which metrics to measure. For example, two subgroups could include people with a high versus a low self-perceived generative AI proficiency score. Companies can create individual change management strategies for these groups, providing more coaching, training and resources for those who admitted to not being highly proficient with generative AI. Google AI Overviews, a new search feature that uses generative AI to deliver short synopses of topics, shows the continued challenges related to creating reliable and safe AI systems. Rolled out to U.S. users in May 2024, the feature has had its share of glitches, including an AI Overview recommendation to use nontoxic glue as pizza sauce to make the cheese adhere better. The 2024 Microsoft and LinkedIn report found that 45% of professionals worry that AI will replace their jobs.

Scaling AI across a business can present a challenge, requiring decision-makers and stakeholders to invest significant time and energy to outline how the technology will integrate into their organization. As part of an AI transformation, businesses might find themselves managing large volumes of data and needing significant computing power to meet their goals. The AI transformation might also include AI-assisted analysis of enterprise-level business practices, for example through delivering insights about consumer behavior or advanced forecasting.

This strategy can lead to quicker resolution times, an improved customer experience, and a lighter load for customer service agents. AI-powered small business marketing tools and competitive analysis tools help SMBs analyze ample data, providing deeper insights into customer behaviors, product popularity, and market trends. These insights help SMBs tailor their marketing strategies and remain competitive in their respective markets. AI requires more data than traditional business software to be effective, as it needs to be trained on large quantities of high-quality data which can be challenging to obtain. Additionally, algorithms are often quite complex and require specialists to maintain and develop, and legacy technology may need to be updated to support software.

The chart “Key steps for successful AI implementation” lists 13 specific steps to follow, each of which is explained in this blueprint for successful AI implementation. A 2017 survey found that 76% of CEOs worry about the lack of transparency and the potential of skewed biases in the global AI market. When conventional methods of storing and collecting big data fail, AI technology takes the reins and processes the billions of search queries search engines receive daily. Many people worry that AI will continue to take jobs from human workers resulting in a job crisis. 80% of marketers believe that AI technology is not a trend, but a revolution that will revitalize the way in which all industries approach their work.

How Small Businesses Can Use AI Tools

However, like other GenAI tools, Notion AI may produce incorrect or biased information. GenAI solutions drive enterprise revenue and growth by facilitating the creation of new products and accelerating their market introduction. This technology fosters creativity within product development teams, helping to avoid stagnation. By analyzing extensive datasets of threat intelligence, generative AI can help businesses in any industry detect vulnerabilities and recognize attack patterns relevant to their specific sector. GenAI also enables the creation of artificial malware in controlled environments so cybersecurity professionals can study potential threats and reinforce defenses.

• The company’s ongoing reviews ensure that its AI practices align with evolving legal, ethical and societal standards, particularly regarding fairness, privacy and transparency.
• Once this standard is set, it should be shared widely across the company so that all employees know to follow it.
• Legal experts, data scientists, ethicists and business leaders should work together to ensure the policy integrates technical expertise with ethical considerations.

Once we figured out how to make AI work, it was inevitable that AI tools would become increasingly intelligent. Indeed, it will not be long before AI’s novelty in the realm of work will be no greater than that of a hammer or plow. Equally impressive and worthy of enterprise attention is the spate of new tools designed to automate the development and deployment of AI. Moreover, AI’s push into new domains, such as conceptual design, small devices and multimodal applications, will expand AI’s repertoire and usher in game-changing abilities for many more industries. In the near term, AI’s biggest impact on small businesses and large companies alike stems from its ability to automate and augment jobs that today are done by humans.

Business Applications For AI Imaging

Workers, for instance, might find the use of an AI-based monitoring system both an invasion of privacy and corporate overreach, Kelly added. Such situations can stymie the adoption of AI, despite the benefits it can bring to many organizations. Implementing AI is a process riddled with challenges, but by leveraging the expertise of software agencies, your business can overcome these obstacles.

We use IBM Consulting Advantage our AI-powered engagement platform supercharging our expertise with purpose-built gen AI agents, assistants and assets to deliver solutions at scale and realize faster time to value for clients. The first phase of AI transformation identifies and harnesses the raw data that is used to train and tune an AI. Often, organizations are limited by rigid architectures and data silos that require a foundational reorganization. Create clear, actionable policies that align with your company’s values and regulatory requirements.

90% of data is unstructured, meaning that without technology to process the big data, companies are unable to focus on important data points. Natural language processing (NLP) helps computers translate human language into information they understand by manipulating data. Chatbots may still need improvements in natural language processing before consumers are on board. 52% of telecommunications organizations utilize chatbots to increase their overall productivity.

The practical findings from this large-scale implementation can assist organizations as they overcome adoption challenges and craft a company-wide roadmap that scales AI tools, culture and practices. Businesses are adopting AI technologies, altering traditional work practices. The 2024 Work Trend Index reveals that 68% of employees are already using AI tools to boost productivity. However, this rapid adoption brings significant risks, particularly with the rise of “Bring Your Own AI.” A striking 78% of AI users are bringing their own AI tools to work, often without organizational guidance.

These AI systems can generate several versions of an email, customizing product recommendations or promotional offers for different audiences. Marketers can A/B test these variations to see which messaging is the most impactful. McKinsey’s State of AI in Early 2024 report showed that enterprises in the HR, supply chain management, marketing, and manufacturing fields experienced cost reductions because implementing ai in business of generative AI. Through automation and predictive capabilities, generative AI saves time and decreases operational costs by refining business functions in various industries. For example, in HR, GenAI can automate resume screening, interview scheduling, and employee onboarding. In the supply chain sector, it predicts inventory needs, minimizing excess stock and reducing holding expenses.

This technology analyzes user data, including past viewing habits and ratings, to make visuals that highlight aspects of the shows or movies predicted to resonate with certain viewers. By automatically producing these personalized previews, Netflix not only increases the likelihood of users clicking the suggested content, but also elevates the overall platform experience. Manufacturing companies can use generative AI to quickly create multiple prototypes based on particular goals, like costs and material constraints, optimizing the product design and development process. With several carefully-produced design options to choose from, manufacturers can start building innovative products speedily. Personalization is an integral part of successful marketing campaigns, and generative AI takes this to new heights. It can write personalized email campaigns tailored to customer preferences, purchase history, or geographic location.

Researchers and analysts suggest that a collaborative approach among businesses, governments, and other stakeholders is the key to responsible AI adoption and innovation. Companies that have successfully implemented AI solutions have viewed AI as part of a larger digital strategy, understanding where and how it can be instrumentalized to great advantage. This requires considering how it will integrate with current software and existing processes—especially how data is captured, processed, analyzed, and stored.

AI adoption at the enterprise level has the capacity to streamline and augment a business’ core operations. Using AI, businesses can automate the source-to-pay process and manage resource needs, reducing inefficiency and waste. For example, AI tools can triage deliveries, selecting the most cost-effective and environmentally sustainable ways to fulfill orders, or analyze historical data to predict demand. These ChatGPT tools can also provide augmented site reliability engineering for developers and automate testing processes—ultimately streamlining the IT process and allowing employees to focus on more creative and human-centric tasks. Using this clean and organized data, a business can build, train, validate and tune its AI models. With sufficient internal AI engineering talent, this process can be completed in-house.

As a result, some are reworking their policies to allow use of such tools in certain cases and with nonproprietary and nonrestricted data. Here are 15 areas of risk that can arise as organizations implement and use AI technologies in the enterprise. One key aspect that I have witnessed is the expertise in facilitating cross-functional collaboration. By bringing together diverse teams and stakeholders, innovation consultancies can ensure that the AI solutions are well-rounded and validated, thus avoiding the pitfall of siloed decision-making. Your company must engage with end-users, soliciting feedback, and fostering cross-functional collaboration, to ensure that your AI initiatives deliver tangible value and drive organizational success.

Organizations increasingly use AI to gain insights into their data — or, in the business lingo of today, to make data-driven decisions. As they do that, they’re finding they do indeed make better, more accurate decisions instead of ones based on individual instincts or intuition tainted by personal biases and preferences. A positive sign for companies planning to increase AI adoption is that younger generations, which are making up an increasingly larger portion of workforces, are the most comfortable with AI and digital transformations.

According to research by McKinsey, businesses that have adopted AI technology have seen an increase in revenue of 10% on average and a reduction in costs by 20%. Finally, explore available grants, funding programs, and incentives aimed at supporting AI adoption and innovation within your industry or region. Many governments, organizations, and industry associations offer financial assistance, tax incentives, or other forms of support to help businesses integrate AI technologies. Use the findings from your pilot project to refine your AI strategy, iterate on your implementation approach, and build momentum for broader adoption across your organization. By taking a phased approach to AI integration, you can minimize upfront costs, mitigate risks, and ensure a smoother transition to AI-powered workflows and processes.

Corporate leadership should also implement traceability solutions to ensure that employees adhere to these policies. AI can personalize the customer experience and aid marketers by analyzing large data sets to uncover customer behavior patterns. AI models can also assist with forecasting sales trends and market demand, enabling more effective resources and personalized customer interactions.

This allows businesses to offer more personalized recommendations and targeted messaging to these specific audiences. Tools like chatbots, callbots, and AI-powered assistants are transforming customer service interactions, offering new and streamlined ways for businesses to interact with customers. Measurable value should always be the end goal from any technology adoption, and artificial intelligence (AI) is no exception.

You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. ML models allow organizations to gain rich, bias-free insights that can predict future outcomes, whilst NLP can revolutionize omnichannel contact, and boost efficiency, personalization and satisfaction through AI-powered interactions. Meanwhile, RPA can increase customer service teams, and other departments efficiency, by completing mundane, time-consuming tasks that ChatGPT App slow them down. Enterprise AI refers to the artificial intelligence technologies used by companies to transform their operations and gain a competitive advantage. These AI tools include machine learning, natural language processing, robotics and computer vision systems — sophisticated hardware and software that is difficult to implement and rapidly evolving.

Some of the more popular GenAI tools for software development include GitHub Copilot, Tabnine, and Code Snippets AI. Introducing GenAI into established business systems often calls for considerable effort and resources. You must ensure data quality and system compatibility, which are necessary for optimal AI performance. This involves consolidating data from multiple sources and addressing inconsistencies or inaccuracies that could hinder model training. Also, existing IT infrastructure may need expensive upgrades or modifications to support GenAI capabilities.

Will AI Become the New UI in Travel?

For example, if a user is searching for information about visiting Paris, Gemini may choose to offer hotel suggestions and will pull listings directly from the Google Travel hotel feed. These display with links, ChatGPT either to the hotel website or to an OTA. The company intends to further enhance its capabilities in real-time travel support, helping users manage flight changes or other disruptions while in transit.

Hughes flagged cost savings and productivity as the biggest promise of AI in travel. He also highlighted supplier-distributor alignment as a big benefit to the industry that the technology could bring. A new piece of AI is meant to perform computer tasks — including making travel plans — the same way a human would. This work is one step in our broader aim of creating an AI system which can understand Auslan. Panelists from both companies discussed how AI is expected to radically reshape the industry.

What About the Travel Agent Who Knows the Hotel Concierge?

“At Priceline, we’ve always pushed technological boundaries to make travel easier. With Penny Voice, we’re further redefining how people plan and book travel,” said Brett Keller, CEO of Priceline. By the end of the year, the AI assistant will also be able to access not only the information on germany.travel but also to real-time data from the tourism board’s open data project GNTB Knowledge Graph. Germany aspires to set the standard for AI’s future in destination marketing. However, we wonder whether Germany’s new AI influencer can actually build an audience and earn their trust.

The company plans to generate revenue through travel bookings and partnerships with destination marketing organizations, while continuing to develop and enhance its platform. Otto has been designed as a virtual travel agent for planning and booking business trips, with the ability to provide support during trips if flights or plans change. Powered by the latest generative AI models, users will be able to prompt a search with natural language. Steve Singh and a group of industry veterans have launched Otto, an AI-powered trip planner and booking agent for business travel.

An evolutionary approach that adopts a test-and-learn mindset may be best suited as teams and organizations navigate the maturing of AI over the coming years. To provide a deeper understanding of the transformative role of AI in the hospitality and travel sectors, please explore the highlights from the recent presentations at the BAE event below. For those interested in delving into the specific case studies and expert discussions, all presentations are available on demand ChatGPT App through the event platform here. And the venture capital — something most of Mindtrip’s small competitors don’t have — allows the startup to build a thorough product from the ground up with an experienced team, he said. We are going to start with flights, but it’s definitely

possible we can go do this for hotels, for cars and stuff like that, so it can definitely

expand. But what if your hotel could offer an experience so unique that it transcends these factors?

Berlin-based forward earth secures €4.5 million to meet global demand for environmental management software

Also notable, the chatbot didn’t make suggestions for visits that are too far outside of Vancouver. Based on a prompt for activities focused around hiking and cultural experiences, the chatbot gave multiple suggestions for visits in and near Vancouver. Unlike ChatGPT, the Meta AI chatbots are not yet capable of reading images (great for translating menus) or listening to audio (for translating speech).

We’re trying to figure out what makes sense, and

we’re trying to make it as streamlined as possible. Narasimham emphasised that Sabre is accelerating its product innovation and implementation, with a focus on creating products for both the external marketplace and internal users. The future of hospitality is not about fighting for the same guests as everyone else. It’s about creating new values, new experiences, and new possibilities—powered by AI.

A new AI Respond tool provides speedy responses to requests like booking confirmations and alternative options for flight cancellations when a traveler is attempting to rebook during a disruption. I witnessed this demonstration of a live tool Wednesday at the Global Business Travel Association conference in Atlanta. It was one of many examples I saw of how innovations in generative AI are impacting corporate travel. The whole travel tech stack is getting the AI treatment — messaging, policy compliance, expense reports, and even rebooking during disruptions. Generation Z is driving a surge in demand for faith-based experiences.

• For example, while usually helpful, station staff were sometimes too busy to assist.
• There’s no question that travel search is changing with generative AI, but the jury is out on who the big winners will be.
• All of the models powering ChatGPT by OpenAI, Gemini by Google, and Claude by Anthropic are closed.
• Based on a prompt for activities focused around hiking and cultural experiences, the chatbot gave multiple suggestions for visits in and near Vancouver.
• It could only answer general travel questions at that time and search for hotel bookings, not answer questions much more complicated than that.

The two companies shared previews of new use cases, including AI-powered prototypes set to launch this year, or already in the testing phase with customers. One of them is the SynXis Booking Engine Concierge.AI, a conversational tool for hoteliers that personalises guest experiences with tailored recommendations and itineraries. AI is breaking down silos in the travel booking process by enabling seamless integration across multiple channels.

This could in turn harm brand reputation and potentially decrease profits. However, it is easy for businesses in these sectors to overestimate generative AI’s capabilities and use it in roles for which it may be less than ideal. It will be up to travel and hospitality firms to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of generative AI carefully to ensure the technology is deployed where it can provide the greatest benefit. Speakspots is a travel platform that uses proprietary AI and a database compiling 25,000-plus attractions in 100-plus destinations (with new ones added weekly) to generate trip itineraries based on traveller’s individual preferences.

Sabre’s Chief Product and Technology Officer, Garry Wiseman, emphasised the importance of modular and iterative deployment of AI solutions. He noted that products like Sabre’s Air Price IQ, which has demonstrated a 3% increase in airfare revenue, highlight AI’s value. Surprises are also part of a travel experience and not everyone wants to have their trip perfectly planned out.

While generative AI has shown great promise in customer-facing applications, it remains a relatively new technology. Hospitality firms must strike a balance between the growing user demand for this technology and its current limitations. More destinations, more attractions, more available languages – we want our users from all over the world to go all over the world with Speakspots itineraries. We are preparing to incorporate restaurants into the platform by the end of the summer, which is in line with our ambition for Speakspots to be a true all-in-one travel solution. Stayntouch has its first AI hackathon coming up, where software developers will focus on ways to automate internal tasks.

AI can streamline operations by optimizing resource allocation, predicting maintenance needs, and automating routine tasks. This means fewer disruptions and more time to focus on delivering exceptional service. It’s not just about surviving but thriving in an uncontested market space, where AI becomes the catalyst for innovation and growth. Let’s explore how AI will reshape the landscape in ways that are as exciting as necessary.

Today’s travelers are increasingly eco-conscious, and hotels that fail to meet their expectations will be left behind. AI can play a pivotal role in advancing sustainability efforts, from reducing energy consumption to minimizing waste through predictive analytics. It did provide a link to a Google search for a hotel tonight, not in September. Again, it would be easier to just complete a traditional search to find a hotel.

Andrae said AI Sunny is already improving the guest escalation rate to a human by about 40%. That means that for every 100 queries, about 50 used to be escalated, this has now dropped to about 30. “I think by now that’s the general opinion of everyone that it doesn’t make sense to invest. But it goes even farther; we wouldn’t try to build ourselves a database around restaurants or something like this, when we could have that data coming from AI itself.” Amadeus last year released a similar platform with tech from Microsoft and OpenAI.

The article then shifts to how airlines are leveraging the Paris Olympics for brand exposure, with carriers like Delta, Air Canada, and Qantas entering into sponsorship deals. Lastly, the article discusses the United Arab Emirates’ newly published gaming regulations, which require operators to have significant local partnerships. Analysts predict that the UAE casino industry could generate substantial revenue.

Amsterdam-based Epum raises a €1.47 million to reinvent commercial real estate development research

You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. AI Overviews has been available only to U.S. users that opt in, but it’s being released to all U.S. users this week and more countries soon. The travel industry is being advised to adopt flexible AI strategies and hire chief data officers with extensive technical and industry knowledge. LVMH has announced a strategic investment to revive Accor’s Orient Express brand, including expansions into ships and hotels.

Cloudbeds services include AI tools like automatic translation, advertising content generation, and AI-generated drafts of responses to customer reviews, he said. Vivek partnered with the Skift team to host the inaugural Skift Data + AI Summit earlier this month. He has built his career at the intersection of travel, data and technology with recent stints at Expedia Group, IDeaS – A SAS Company, Lighthouse and Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. Realizing its full potential in travel will require bold action within companies and collaboration between them. AI is only as good as the data that feeds it and the human ingenuity that drives it. Travel has a narrow window of opportunity to engage, learn, and invest in data and AI.

• A long-term winning strategy is focusing on providing search engines with optimized, structured data to better crawl and understand your content.
• The tourism board’s influencer network generated 148 million impressions on social media last year, according to the organization.
• “You should expect a lot more in the travel space,” Carrie Tharp, vice president of strategic industries for Google Cloud, told Skift in early April.
• It’s a component of $100 million in savings opportunities the company expects to realize this year.

A survey by marketing company Hakuhodo International Thailand found that over 88% of all Thai generations hold beliefs in the power of sacred objects, but it’s Gen Z that’s pushing this interest into the digital space. The new influencer project comes as destinations expand their investment into generative AI. Last week, Brand USA, America’s destination marketing organization, hired Janette Roush as its first chief AI officer. Roush was previously executive vice president of marketing and digital for New York City Tourism + Conventions.

Travel companies these days are full of stories touting the ways they use AI. Travel tech companies heavily market new tools, sometimes branding themselves as AI companies. As AI continues to evolve, its integration into hospitality and travel promises a future where technology and human experiences are seamlessly intertwined, driving both sectors towards greater heights of efficiency and personalization. Expedia, Google, Tripadvisor, and many others have released beta versions of AI trip planners over the last several months.

We also launched our AI trip planner in 2021 before ChatGPT’s API had gone mainstream. I don’t necessarily see either of those things as challenges we overcame, but as challenging undertakings that were entirely necessary to provide the best possible product. We’ve also had to get creative in order to stay committed to our free-to-use model. Simply resorting to a subscription model after a beta launch was out of the question. We have found affiliate marketing to be the key ingredient that was missing from our secret sauce in order for us to have a sustainable revenue model, while maintaining our service as completely free-to-use.

Adrian Neuhauser, CEO of Abra Group and executive vice chairman at Avianca, expressed a similar sentiment, noting FLYR helps his airlines to deliver the best customer experience. The funding will be used to speed FLYR’s delivery of modern reservation systems, to allow AI-based decision automation and to elevate digital channels for airlines travel chatbot and hospitality brands. The funding round was led by Madrona Ventures, with additional backing from Direct Travel and several angel investors from the business travel industry. How do you design such a complex product as travel in that fraction of time? “We need to make it as easy as possible, as intuitive as possible, for customers.