From Fragmentation to Future-Ready: How Hospitality Can Finally Embrace Next-Generation Tech

Hospitality is built on a foundation of service -an industry that prizes comfort, human connection, and memorable experiences above all else. Yet, when it comes to technology, hotels often stand accused of lagging behind. Many properties struggle with fragmented, outdated tech stacks that weigh down operations and hinder guest satisfaction. In a recent long-format HNtv INSIDERS discussion, Michael Cohen (Managing Partner at GAIN) and Matt Welle (CEO of Mews) explored why so many hoteliers feel stuck in legacy systems, and how new innovations—particularly AI—are helping them leapfrog into a more efficient, guest-centric future. Here are some of the conversation’s key takeaways and why they matter now more than ever.

The Legacy Lockdown

Hoteliers often find themselves managing a puzzle of systems—Property Management Systems (PMS), Central Reservations Systems (CRS), Point-of-Sale terminals, phone systems—many of which were installed decades ago. For years, the common refrain was, If it isn’t broken, why fix it? While that mentality saves on headaches in the short run, it leads to long-term friction that stifles growth. Hotels become locked in a cycle where each new system has to be painstakingly retrofitted to the old infrastructure. The result? Operational inefficiencies, lost revenue opportunities, and a subpar guest experience.

Far too often, hoteliers remember painful conversions or broken promises from past technology rollouts. A new system would be touted as “revolutionary,” only for it to disrupt front-of-house procedures and generate more problems than it solved. This institutional “scar tissue” often causes management to default to doing things the way we’ve always done them. In effect, many hotels stay stuck in archaic processes because of fear that an upgrade will be even more disruptive than the status quo.

Yet, in today’s market—where guests expect personalized, connected services, and staff shortages demand more efficient workflows—this risk-aversion is becoming a liability. Hotels that fail to modernize their tech risk alienating younger, tech-savvy travelers and staff. If the industry aims to remain competitive, leadership must decide that waiting isn’t an option.

Overcoming the Inertia: Start With Outcomes

Both Cohen and Welle emphasize that success depends on reframing the conversation away from “features and functions” and toward desired outcomes. Rather than approaching system upgrades with endless bullet points—we need this feature, and we need that interface—hoteliers should begin by answering fundamental business questions:

What do we want to improve about the guest journey?
How do we want to grow our revenue?
Where do we hope to see operational efficiencies in 6, 12, and 24 months?

Starting with outcomes not only keeps attention fixed on what truly matters—it also ensures buy-in from the organization’s key stakeholders. When hoteliers root the conversation in concrete goals, it becomes clearer how modern technology might help achieve them. A front-desk system that supports online check-in, digital keys, or advanced personalization suddenly becomes more compelling when managers and owners see it as the catalyst for increasing ancillary revenue or elevating the guest experience.

AI: The Tsunami of Change

If legacy fragmentation has historically slowed hospitality down, the rise of artificial intelligence offers a chance to leap forward. AI is not just the latest buzzword; it represents a paradigm shift similar to the invention of the internet or the smartphone. As Welle notes, It’s coming whether we like it or not, and it’s coming faster than we think.

In practical terms, AI-driven solutions can tackle the laborious, repetitive work that ties down staff. For instance, AI can sift through a guest’s profile to produce a succinct summary—a tweet-sized biography—so front-desk agents know at a glance that this guest is on their fifth trip, prefers certain amenities, or celebrates a specific milestone during their stay. Free from mundane data entry and manual checklists, hotel employees can spend more time doing what humans do best: providing warmth, creativity, and personalized service.

But widespread adoption requires a culture shift. Hotel teams need to stop viewing AI as a technical curiosity and start seeing it as a tool that can automate administrative work, enhance upselling, and refine marketing strategies. Embracing AI on an organizational level means not just plugging in new software, but reimagining daily workflows and empowering staff to innovate.

Personalization, Privacy, and the Power of Data

One of the most thrilling possibilities of AI is hyper-personalization—something the industry has talked about for years but has never fully realized. In the conversation, Welle mentions a hotel stay where, on the second morning, he opened the minibar to find lactose-free milk—an unexpected but delightful personal touch. While personalization at that level once required extensive legwork by a single concierge, AI now makes it scalable. From automated note-taking to facial recognition-assisted check-in, technology can learn guest preferences in real time and deliver them in tangible ways.

Yet, these capabilities naturally invite a discussion about data privacy. Some guests may love being greeted by name, while others will balk at any suggestion of data mining. The key, as Cohen and Welle stress, is guest choice. Hotels can provide options: Would you like us to remember your dietary preferences for next time? Are you comfortable with facial recognition for faster check-in? The technology should be flexible enough to respect a guest’s comfort level, from super-private to fully engaged.

Ultimately, personalization is at its best when it is unobtrusive and optional. By keeping data consent transparent, hotels transform the potential “creep factor” into a valuable service that nurtures loyalty and brand affinity.

From Admin to Ambassador: Balancing Tech and Human Touch

Despite the rise of automation, the industry’s beating heart remains human interaction. In fact, advanced technology—when used properly—often frees up staff to focus more on personal connections. Instead of manually checking in a hundred guests a day, front-desk agents could use the time to anticipate special requests or take a moment for warm, authentic welcomes. The same premise applies to housekeeping teams and F&B staff. By offloading mundane tasks like data entry or repetitive restocking checklists, employees have more bandwidth to solve real human problems, such as delighting a guest who just arrived after a harrowing day of travel.

This transformation pushes hoteliers to reimagine job roles. Today, employees are forced to juggle paper forms, multiple logins, or spreadsheets. Tomorrow, they could be “experience ambassadors,” using real-time insights to connect with guests in creative ways. Think of it as the digital upgrade of the traditional concierge: once an exclusive amenity in luxury properties, it’s now a possibility for midscale brands, limited-service hotels, and beyond.

Cultivating an AI Council: Engaging the Next Generation

One tangible step that emerged from Cohen and Welle’s conversation is creating what they call an “AI Council.” Such a council would bring together forward-thinking employees—often from younger generations but not exclusively—from various departments. The task is simple but profound: identify inefficiencies, brainstorm how AI can solve them, and then spearhead pilot projects.

By tapping into employees who are already digitally savvy, hotels can alleviate the concerns of more hesitant managers or owners. This council can propose solutions in housekeeping, F&B, front-of-house, and even sales or marketing. Importantly, it also gives enthusiastic team members a seat at the table, encouraging them to champion change and to demystify AI for the rest of the staff. In an era when hospitality struggles to attract and retain talent, empowering employees with meaningful innovation can spark new levels of engagement and career development.

Embracing the Leap

For decades, hoteliers have wrestled with archaic systems that slow everyone down. But the conversation between Cohen and Welle demonstrates that this frustration can become a springboard for long-overdue transformation. Cloud-based systems have lowered the barriers to try-and-see approaches, allowing a hotel to pilot or swap in new solutions with minimal risk. AI acts as both a magnifier and unifier, blending data from multiple sources so staff gain richer insights—and then delivering that data without drowning employees in drudgery.

Still, technology alone isn’t the answer. The true power lies in reorienting perspective: start by defining the outcomes, then back into the technical details. Dream big about how you want to serve your guests, and let that vision guide which tools you adopt. As fragmentation decreases, a more holistic, streamlined, and future-ready hospitality industry takes shape—one that meets the modern traveler’s expectations and frees staff to deliver authentically warm experiences.