Yes, this title is designed to catch your attention. Everyone’s debating whether AI is real or just a bubble. Whether it’s overhyped or transformative. Let me end that debate: AI is real, powerful, and will continue changing everything.
The hospitality industry is already 10-15 years behind in technology. We can’t afford to waste more time on the wrong conversation. The question isn’t whether AI matters. It’s whether you’re building the foundation to make it actually work.
That brings me to James Carville.
In 1992, Bill Clinton’s campaign strategist James Carville posted a sign in the campaign war room. Three phrases. The one everyone remembers: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Not because it was shocking, insulting or clever but because it was true. George Bush had a 90% approval rating after the Gulf War and pundits were talking about foreign policy. Consultants chased distractions. Carville’s job was to keep everyone focused on what actually decided elections. The other two phrases: “Change vs. more of the same” and “Don’t forget health care.”
For the past 3 years, I’ve watched this industry chase AI hype all the while ignoring what actually makes AI work. Everyone’s been distracted by shiny demos and vendor promises. MIT now reports 95% of AI implementations failed to deliver value. The people who bought the hype are wondering what went wrong.
So let me tell you what I’d write on the wall of your war room. Three phrases:
- Change vs. more of the same
- It’s the data, stupid
- Don’t forget the Guest
Change vs. More of the Same
The 95% who failed didn’t fail because AI doesn’t work. They failed because they chose more of the same.
Same vendors. Same closed systems. Same dependency model. Same expectation that you can procure transformation by signing a contract.
These failures weren’t completely random. They were actually quite predictable and followed a pattern.
A vendor showed up with a demo. They waved their hands around, and it looked impressive. You asked AI questions. You got answers. Management got excited. Marketing signed the contract. IT was told to make it work.
Then reality: Dead ends, hallucinations, frustrated users, frustrated management. The chatbot failed. Everyone blamed AI. But AI wasn’t the problem. The foundation was. Or rather, the complete absence of foundation. It didn’t have what it needed, structured in ways AI could actually use. Vendors happily sold you a tool but skipped the small detail: clean, structured data is the only thing that makes AI work. Uploading seventy-five PDFs and hoping AI figures it out isn’t foundation. It’s a junk drawer. AI isn’t magic. It can’t organize your chaos for you.
This pattern repeated across the industry. Thousands of times. Hence, 95%.
This is “more of the same.” You bought a point solution from a vendor who knew it wouldn’t work without foundation but sold it to you anyway. When it failed, they shrugged and offered you a newer model. You’re trapped in the same cycle you’ve been in for decades: dependent on vendors who profit from your dependency.
“Change” means something different. Change means owning your foundation. Change means building architecture that enables AI to actually work. Change means stopping the cycle of buying features and starting the work of building capability.
The 95% chose more of the same. They bought tools. They signed contracts. They expected vendors to deliver transformation.
The 5% chose change. They built foundation first.
Which are you choosing in 2026?
It’s the Data, Stupid
When I say “data,” most hospitality leaders think I mean what’s in the PMS.
That’s maybe 20% of what I mean.
Your data is everything your organization knows, structured so it can actually be used. Yes, it’s transactional data. Reservations, purchases, guest history. But it’s also:
Your Organizational Knowledge
Policies. Procedures. What your spa offers. When the restaurant opens. That you allow dogs under 25 pounds but not cats. That the grand villas have a different cancellation policy than standard rooms. The approved wording for your brand voice. The phrasing your brand would never use. How the concierge answers the phone.
Most of this lives in PDFs, employee handbooks, training materials, or worse, in the heads of long-tenured staff who might leave tomorrow. It’s not accessible to AI. It’s barely accessible to your own team.
Your Property Information
Amenities. Room types. The fact that Room 412 has the best sunset view and you save it for anniversaries. The hiking trail that starts behind the spa. The chef’s name and her background. All of this, structured for machines to read, not just humans. Schema.org. JSON-LD. Formats that AI engines understand.
Your Guest Intelligence
Not just past stays, but preferences learned across every touchpoint. The guest who always asks for extra pillows. The one who mentioned a shellfish allergy in an email two years ago. The family that visited three years running and then stopped. All of this, unified and accessible, not scattered across a dozen systems that don’t talk to each other.
This is data. All of it.
The 95% who failed bought AI tools that couldn’t access any of this. Their chatbots couldn’t answer questions because the answers weren’t available. Their personalization couldn’t personalize because guest intelligence was fragmented. Their automation couldn’t automate because organizational knowledge was trapped in tribal memory.
No foundation. No success. No mystery.
Don’t Forget the Guest
Everything I’ve written so far is about data, architecture, foundation, strategy. It can sound cold. Technical. Like the point is to build impressive systems.
It’s not.
The point is the guest standing at your front desk. The couple celebrating their anniversary. The family on their first real vacation in three years. The executive who needs to decompress. The bride who’s dreamed about this weekend her whole life.
The point is the human being in front of you, hoping for something unforgettable.
Foundation serves one purpose: enabling your team to create those moments.
When your front desk agent knows that the guest checking in celebrated their wedding at your property fifteen years ago, magic becomes possible. When your concierge can see that a guest played Pebble Beach on their last visit and recommend Spyglass Hill this time, connection happens. When your server knows about the shellfish allergy without asking, trust deepens.
This isn’t AI replacing hospitality. This is AI enabling hospitality. Human-led, AI-empowered. Your team creates the magic. The foundation gives them what they need to do it consistently, personally, at scale.
The properties that build foundation properly in 2026 will create experiences their competitors can’t match. Not because they have better people. Because their people have better tools. Better context. Better intelligence at the moment it matters.
The properties that keep chasing point solutions will keep failing. Their teams will keep flying blind. Their guests will keep getting generic experiences. And they’ll keep wondering why loyalty erodes and direct bookings decline.
Don’t forget why you’re building any of this. Don’t forget the Guest.
The Three Imperatives
I’ve been saying this for years. Nothing has changed, what was true three years ago remains true now. AI is just accelerating the need to embrace it.
Own Your Data.
Not manage it. Own it. This means your data sits at the strategic center of your technology architecture. Not trapped inside your PMS. Not scattered across vendor systems. Not held hostage by closed architectures.
This means a hub-spoke model where your data warehouse is the hub and every system connects to it. Guest data, operational data, organizational knowledge, unified and accessible.
When a vendor tells you they need to “own” your data to deliver their solution, walk away. Your data is yours. It’s your most strategic asset. You don’t hand it over.
Own Your AI Strategy
Not your vendor’s AI strategy. Yours.
This means you decide how AI gets deployed across your organization. You build the knowledge base architecture that powers AI everywhere. You don’t buy six different chatbots from six different vendors, each with their own limited knowledge and inconsistent behavior.
One knowledge base. Organization-wide AI deployment. Your strategy, not a collection of vendor point solutions.
Govern Your Technology Architecture
You may not build it yourself. But you must govern it with authority.
This means you understand how your systems connect. You approve integration approaches. You decide whether you’re building open and composable or getting locked into closed vendor ecosystems.
Technology architecture is how the work gets done. If you abdicate this to vendors, you’ve handed over control of your future. You become a passenger in your own car.
The Anchor
Here’s the truth vendors don’t want you to understand: You are the author of the outcome.
You cannot procure success. No software vendor can sell it to you. No chatbot contract guarantees it. Success or failure is in your hands.
You may partner with experts to design, build, and guide. But the ownership stays with you. The authority stays with you. The outcome is yours to write.
The 95% tried to procure success. They signed contracts expecting vendors to deliver transformation. They abdicated authorship.
Don’t be the 95%.
Your War Room
Carville’s sign worked because it was simple, true, and relentless. Every day, the campaign team walked past it. Every decision filtered through it. Every distraction got measured against it.
The AI hype was a distraction. A loud, expensive, three-year distraction. It’s over now.
Here’s your sign:
Change vs. More of the Same
Stop buying point solutions from vendors who profit from your dependency. Start building foundation you own.
It’s the Data, Stupid!
Sorry if this offends. It’s the industry’s greatest weakness. Own your data. Own your AI strategy. Govern your technology architecture. You are the author of the outcome.
Don’t Forget the Guest
Everything you build serves one purpose: enabling your team to create unforgettable human experiences.
Post it on the wall. Make every decision filter through it. Measure every vendor pitch against it.
The hype is over.
Now pay attention.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my hotel chatbot giving wrong answers?
Your chatbot is giving wrong answers because it doesn't have access to the information it needs, structured in ways AI can actually use. Most hotel chatbots fail because organizational knowledge is trapped in PDFs, employee handbooks, or staff memory rather than a properly structured knowledge base. Uploading documents and hoping AI figures it out doesn't work. AI can't organize your chaos for you. The fix isn't a better chatbot. It's building the data foundation your chatbot requires: clean, structured, accessible information about your property, policies, offerings, and guests.
How do I make my resort visible in ChatGPT?
To make your resort visible in ChatGPT and other AI engines, you need structured data that AI can read and understand. This means implementing schema.org markup and JSON-LD on your website with accurate property information, amenities, offerings, policies, and availability. Traditional SEO optimizes for search engine rankings. AI visibility requires machine-readable data in specific formats. Most luxury resorts have little to no structured data implementation, which is why they don't appear when travelers ask AI for recommendations. The properties investing in this foundation now will dominate AI-driven discovery.
Why did our AI implementation fail?
Your AI implementation likely failed because you bought a tool without building the foundation that tool required to work. This is the pattern across the industry: vendor demos look impressive, contracts get signed, then reality hits. The chatbot can't answer questions because it can't access your data. Personalization can't personalize because guest information is scattered across disconnected systems. MIT research shows 95% of AI implementations failed to deliver value. The common thread isn't bad technology. It's absence of foundation: clean, structured data and unified systems.
What data does a hotel need for AI to work?
AI needs far more than what's in your PMS. It needs your organizational knowledge (policies, procedures, brand voice, how staff should respond), your property information (amenities, room types, dining options, activities, structured for machines via schema.org), and your guest intelligence (preferences, history, and context unified across all touchpoints). All of this must be clean, structured, and accessible. Data scattered across disconnected systems or trapped in PDFs won't power effective AI. The foundation matters more than the tool.
Should I buy an AI chatbot for my resort?
Not until you have the foundation to make it work. Most resort chatbots fail because they're bought before the data infrastructure exists to support them. Vendors will happily sell you a tool without mentioning that clean, structured data is the only thing that makes AI work. Before buying any AI tool, ask: Is our organizational knowledge structured and accessible? Is our guest data unified? Can this tool actually access what it needs? If the answers are no, you're buying a car without roads. Build foundation first, then deploy AI that can actually deliver value.
How do luxury resorts use AI for guest experience?
The most effective luxury resorts use AI to empower staff, not replace them. AI provides context so your team can create unforgettable moments. When a front desk agent knows a guest celebrated their wedding at the property fifteen years ago, magic becomes possible. When a concierge sees a guest played Pebble Beach last visit and can recommend Spyglass Hill, connection happens. This requires unified guest intelligence, accessible organizational knowledge, and proper data architecture. AI handles the data. Your team creates the experience.
How can AI help hotel front desk staff?
AI helps front desk staff by giving them instant access to guest context they'd otherwise never have. Past stays, preferences, special requests, dietary restrictions, celebration occasions, previous issues and resolutions. Instead of asking guests to repeat information, staff can greet them with recognition and relevance. AI can also handle routine questions (what time is breakfast, what's the wifi password) so staff can focus on high-value interactions. The key is building the knowledge base and data infrastructure that makes this context accessible in the moment.
How do luxury resorts use AI without replacing staff?
AI in luxury hospitality should be human-led and AI-empowered. Your team creates the magic. AI gives them what they need to do it consistently, personally, at scale. AI handles data retrieval, routine queries, and information synthesis. Staff handle relationships, judgment calls, and the human moments that define luxury service. When your server knows about a shellfish allergy without asking, that's AI enabling hospitality, not replacing it. The goal is staff empowerment through better tools and context, not automation of human connection.
How do I structure hotel data for AI?
Structure hotel data by category: transactional data (reservations, purchases, guest history) in a central data warehouse, organizational knowledge (policies, procedures, brand standards) in a properly architected knowledge base, and property information (amenities, offerings, details) in machine-readable formats like schema.org and JSON-LD. The key principle is hub-spoke architecture: your data warehouse is the hub, all systems connect to it, and AI tools access unified, structured information rather than scattered silos. Don't just upload documents. Structure information for how AI needs to consume it.
Should my resort use a data warehouse?
Yes. A data warehouse should be the strategic center of your technology architecture, replacing the outdated model where your PMS sits at the center. Hub-spoke architecture means your data warehouse is the hub and every system (PMS, CRM, booking engines, F&B, spa, activities) connects to it. This gives you unified guest profiles, accessible organizational data, and the foundation AI requires to actually work. Without a data warehouse, your information stays trapped in silos and every AI initiative will struggle to access what it needs.
Why do hotel AI projects fail?
Hotel AI projects fail because organizations buy tools before building foundation. Vendors sell features without explaining what those features require to work. The pattern repeats: impressive demo, signed contract, then dead ends, hallucinations, and frustrated users. The chatbot fails because it can't access clean, structured data. MIT reports 95% of AI implementations failed to deliver value. The common thread is absence of foundation, not bad technology. Success requires owning your data, owning your AI strategy, and governing your technology architecture before deploying AI tools.
