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For an industry built on timetables, status tiers and the occasional optimistic weather forecast, the travel sector has always prided itself on a certain reverence for the human touch. The handshake with a hotelier, the knowing look from a seasoned corporate agent, the travel manager who remembers that you detest the bulkhead row, these small acts of civilisation have long separated the joy of travel from the tyranny of logistics.

So it’s no small moment, then, that artificial intelligence has begun quietly and in some cases noisily moving into the day-to-day routines of the people who steer the travel industry. Ahead of The Phocuswright Conference 2025 in San Diego, industry leaders have opened up about how AI now shadows their working lives: sometimes boosting their productivity, occasionally challenging their instincts, and more often than not reminding them that the future rarely checks for permission before it lands.

What emerges isn’t the usual Silicon Valley bravado. Instead, there is something far more grounded, a blend of curiosity, caution and old-fashioned pragmatism.

A new assistant, but not quite the boss

Eric DeLange, Industry Director and U.S. Head of Finance and Travel at Reddit, says he’s found value in Reddit’s own AI-powered conversational product, Reddit Answers.

“It’s been helpful to get deeper into the human conversations that are happening on the platform,” he says, adding that the tool keeps him plugged into the chatter shaping his categories and clients.

It’s a reminder that, even in 2025, executives don’t view AI as clairvoyant technology, more like a particularly studious intern who knows how to collate thousands of opinions before lunch.

Engineering precision meets everyday chaos.

At Spotnana, Founder and Chief Product Officer Sarosh Waghmar says the company is leaning heavily into AI for both front-line and back-end operations. His team uses AI agents for virtual travel support and automated disruption handling — areas where precision is welcome and patience is finite.

“Our approach to AI is to focus on highly practical, high-value applications,” Waghmar explains.
“The goal is to have AI play a major role in our development process.”

If airlines had adopted this level of pragmatism decades ago, lost-baggage rooms might have been reduced to quaint museum exhibits.

From constant learner to digital tinkerer

Civitatis Chairman Mariano Dima admits that AI now threads through nearly every corner of his workday, though he maintains a healthy respect for its limits.

He uses AI for searching, prototyping, brainstorming, and even improving communication flow across teams.

“It is embedded in my everyday life… Still, there is so much to learn,” he notes.

There speaks a man who, like many leaders today, realises the first rule of AI is simply accepting you’ll never reach the last chapter.

The invisible layer of daily convenience

For Jeff Kim, CEO of Yanolja Cloud and Chief Strategy Officer of Yanolja Group, AI is so woven into his day that he barely notices it anymore.

“I use AI every day, often in ways I hardly notice,” Kim says.
“These tools save time and let me focus on higher-value work.”

His real fascination lies in scaling those small conveniences into vast traveller-facing systems, a sort of industrial-grade version of the holiday-planning shortcuts the rest of us employ.

“What excites me is seeing how the efficiencies I experience personally with AI can be scaled… to connect the entire travel ecosystem.”

If Kim has his way, the industry’s digital plumbing may soon run as smoothly as most hotel showers.

AI as advisor, not overlord

Casago CEO Steve Schwab remains firmly anchored in reality.

“AI informs decisions, it doesn’t make them,” he cautions.

His interest lies in using AI to pre-empt problems: spotting properties at risk of underperforming, catching guest friction before review sections explode, and summarising client communications so teams aren’t trapped in dashboard purgatory.

It’s a refreshingly sober view in a world where some executives speak as though AI will soon replace their board.

In the classroom, AI passes the test.

Recep “Richie” Karaburun, Clinical Associate Professor at NYU’s Tisch Centre for Hospitality and Tourism, uses AI to bring the industry’s constant churn into the classroom.

“It helps me bring real-time industry developments into the classroom and make discussions more engaging,” he says.

He’d like to see its predictive capabilities grow not to replace the human insight of tomorrow’s travel leaders, but to nudge them in the right direction before they wander off course.

Creativity, with guardrails

Festive Road CEO Caroline Strachan takes a particularly human view.

“I have a love-hate relationship with AI,” she confesses.
“I don’t want to lose my critical thinking ability, so I focus AI use on all the stuff I’m useless at… image creation to tell a story, for instance.”

Her honesty is a refreshing counterpoint to those who pretend to be digital Leonardo da Vincis.

Sharper communication for modern executives

Kayak’s General Manager and SVP for North America and Asia Pacific, Paul Jacobs, admits AI has infiltrated his writing — reluctantly.

“Much of my job is communication… I think I’m pretty well spoken, but I have reluctantly started having AI rewrite things for me,” he admits.
“Turns out, I can be shorter and punchier.”

A confession countless executives would echo if only they could find the right words with or without algorithmic polishing.

Creative engines at internet scale

At TikTok, where trends move faster than most aircraft rotations, AI is viewed as a creative backbone rather than a novelty.

Director David Hoctor says:

“AI is a powerful tool that allows us to level the creative playing field… At TikTok, we’ve built TikTok Symphony, a suite of generative AI tools that help with creative ideation, production and adaption.”

It’s hard to imagine a platform more suited to rapid, AI-enabled creativity than the one responsible for global choreography blips and travel inspiration wormholes.

Reimagining queues, corridors and security lines

Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, sees AI’s most significant value in re-engineering the journey itself.

“Picture TSA lines that adapt in real time to passenger volumes,” he suggests, “or customs officers deployed where bottlenecks are about to form.”

If even half of this becomes reality, airport queues could become almost tolerable, a victory that future generations may well celebrate.

A future where hotels think for themselves

Cloudbeds CEO Adam Harris uses AI as a “thought partner,” synthesising information and refining decisions.

But his deeper excitement lies in the prospect of AI-trained internal property experts.

“Imagine an internal ‘hotel sage’ that can answer any question about your property,” he says.

If such a creature existed during the early years of hotel websites, guests might have finally received truthful answers about pool availability.

AI takes centre stage at Phocuswright 2025

This year’s theme, Game On, is less a slogan than a declaration. The competitive field is shifting, and leaders know it.

Phocuswright’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Eugene Ko, puts it plainly:

“AI is becoming the operating system of travel.”

The conference will delve into everything from AI-first OTAs to the rise of TikTok as a discovery engine, predictive analytics, payments innovation and the next generation of AI-influenced booking models.

These aren’t side topics. They are the blueprint.

A traditional industry stepping cautiously into the future

What’s striking in all these conversations is not the enthusiasm, but the balance. Leaders are excited, yes, but they’re also wary, determined not to surrender judgment, creativity or instinct to a machine.

AI may be rewriting the rulebook, but these executives seem intent on ensuring the margins, footnotes and final decisions remain unmistakably human.

And perhaps that’s the most significant sign of responsible progress: not rushing headlong into the future, but walking steadily, thoughtfully, suitcase in one hand, scepticism in the other.