It was another can to be kicked down the road. An issue to be filed under “too difficult” or “too expensive”.

Times have changed - with even the most analog are onboard. In part it’s been down to the massive cost challenges the industry is facing and the need to find mitigating solutions to cut costs, drive efficiencies and push sales. It’s also about AI being novel and eye-catching, with endless possibilities for streamlining business operations. There’s probably a bit of FOMO in there too. And no bad thing.

Whatever the reason, boardrooms are engaged. As I said in my column back in November, this feels like a real tipping point for tech in hospitality.

Research among senior leaders, from big corporates down to entrepreneurial start-ups, shows near universal enthusiasm for AI, with around a third questioned in one survey believing it will be nothing less than transformational for the industry.

But, as I highlighted last month, while most are curious there’s an acknowledgement among the majority of bosses that they need to know more, much more. Only a tiny minority of the 50 leaders interviewed in the CGA/Sona survey felt well enough informed about potential options for their businesses.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the largest operators were three-times more likely (22% against 7%) to have researched AI’s benefits. AI stands to be another major differentiator in the market unless the majority catch up quick.

This need to learn is echoed in the fact that a lack of technical skill, cited by 78% of bosses, is seen as the main obstacle to AI adoption - not cost (although that is a real worry), not ROI, and certainly not front-line or management resistance. The enthusiasm for AI among the young generally, because they are already using it in some form or other, is a plus that needs to be utilised.

Getting teams involved early in the AI and tech conversation is already seen by many progressive companies as the only way to make change effective. Teams are likely to have plenty of creative ideas of their own about making their work lives more effective and efficient - it’s their world. Get them onside. If you are trying to drive productivity, avoiding potential resistance is always a good idea.

What also comes through loud and clear from all the research is that leaders are more than open to outside support and collaboration, from tech suppliers but also their peers. One of the trademarks of hospitality is the willingness to share ideas, and it’s already happening in this sphere.

Only a handful of companies are so far deploying AI applications across multiple functions - for most it’s just two or three areas of the business. And those areas vary widely from guest feedback, marketing and customer insight to recruitment and scheduling, with finance and training coming up fast, especially among bigger organisations. Improved forecasting, faster decision-making and improved data quality are seen as the big long-term benefits.

Gail’s, for example, is already using AI to assist site selection enabling it to analyse over a 100 different criteria quickly to produce short-lists of suitable sites that the team can then assess in person. 

That diversity of use means that there is already a reservoir of experience, both good and bad, building up in the sector for those wanting to take the next step to tap into - as long as people are willing to share. Most of the time this industry is.

Of course, all this enthusiasm has to be set against the current air of general pessimism pervading the sector. The latest confidence survey from CGA has only 14% of leaders upbeat about the market and just a third even confident about their own businesses.

Just as worrying is that fact that 64% of those surveyed said they will cancel investment, 59% reduce staff levels and 57% reduce employee benefits. The question is which investment and which staff?

Site roll-outs maybe curtailed with the focus moving to existing site profitability, and most senior execs I’m talking to want to hang on to their front-line teams, especially their top performers in front-of-house roles. If that’s the case, job losses are much more likely to be seen at head-office (where AI may be predicted to take up the slack), or even back-of-house (where automation can be deployed), rather than among customer-facing teams. In fact, we are already seeing that happen.

That reality may be why other research undertaken in recent weeks among front-line teams has shown them still fairly upbeat about their career prospects.

There is an understanding that protecting the ‘product’ should be paramount and AI should not be used to replace people or automate that intimate guest experience, but to enhance it and make it even more compelling and personal.

So two final thoughts. First is that those experiences and the learnings than leaders are gaining from their peers and outside experts need to filter through their organisations - especially to those eager front-line teams. It doesn’t always happen, and this isn’t just a hospitality issue, but a wider business problem.

As people expert Siân Harrington, co-founder and editorial director at The People Space, observed at a recent roundtable, UK-wide only 18% of workers are receiving training on generative AI, compared to 50% of leaders. That needs to equal out. 

Second, despite the expectations of positive change that AI might bring there are real dangers, not least around data security and confidentiality. Understanding where the guardrails should be will be as important as marshalling the benefits.

The bottom-line is that hospitality is changing and needs to adapt. It’s now becoming a high-cost environment whether we like it or not, and harnessing technology and the promise of AI are going to be fundamental in navigating that shift.

One thing about AI is that it shouldn’t be ignored. It may be difficult but the most important things are. So, stopping kicking that can down the road and work out what’s on your AI wish-list?

This article first appeared in MCA in February 2025.