How Hotel CEOs Are Really Using AI, From Voice Agents to a Digital Hyatt CEO

Photo Credit: Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian, left, at Skift Global Forum in New York City in September 2026. Skift The five hotel company leaders who took the stage at Skift Global Forum in New York last week never debated one another. When it came to AI strategy, their answers rhymed: AI needs to make hotel employees better. They split on how many jobs it will displace, how to guide organizations in responding, and whether to be everywhere travelers shop with AI. Here are the highlights: Displacing Workers? Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta was most emphatic that the front desk isn't going away, even at limited-service hotels. "You're never taking all the people out," he said. "In the end, we're a business of people serving people." Future Hampton staff, he argued, will know more about each guest and will fix problems faster. "They can know so much about a problem the customer's having without the cust