Revenue Management & Channel Opt

In an industry focused on amenities, scaling down can be shockingly innovative. Especially when you remove almost everything and get the basics exactly right.

The call came at midnight.

AI is moving so fast it’s really really hard to keep up. One week it’s all about chatbots. The next, it’s local AI agents like OpenClaw executing full workflows on a local device. It’s amazing. But it’s also messy.

This article is based on research including experimenting with a few AI programs myself. The information here is to encourage personal research on the subject. I am not an expert in this area, just an author. The information here is presented to create awareness and provide a few tips.

At first glance, quantum physics and revenue management should never meet.

Algorithm-based applicant tracking systems (ATS) have been in place for over 20 years. Recruiters have generally come to rely on the algorithms to find the most qualified talent for the specific roles that are being filled. AI is exposing the weaknesses in ATS applicant ranking and selection. The odds are that top candidates are being ignored because of this strategy and sent to the “Thank you for applying” waste field of untapped talent buried in the applicant database. Talent acquisition strategies and tactics need to have a human intervention that mines the forgotten treasure of talent that is sitting in ATS platform databases.

Luxury hotel marketing has become increasingly sophisticated — better creative, more channels, smarter automation — yet growth remains fragile. Direct bookings plateau. Customer acquisition costs rise. Dependency on intermediaries deepens.

You could call it the Monday morning problem. You open your device and stare at the firehose of information: pick-up, pace, compset shifts, event calendars, rate reports, reviews, demand curves, flight data, and that’s before your first coffee. We’ve never had more data. But we’ve also never had less time to make sense of it.

Circa 2009. Late September. I’m the regional controller for five hotels. Sitting at my desk minding my own business, doing my own work when the phone rings.

For centuries, hospitality has been rooted in a simple but powerful principle: make people feel welcome, valued, and understood. From a handwritten note waiting in the guestroom to a concierge remembering a favorite table at dinner, the industry has long relied on human connection as its defining strength. But today, the way hotels deliver that sense of personalization is quickly and permanently evolving.