Mews at Skift Data +AI Summit 2026

Skift Data + AI Summit 2026

THE ARGUMENT

Valtr said hotel CEOs have finally begun to take technology seriously in the past two to three years, but the AI conversation has stalled at cost reduction. The bigger opportunity, he said, is revenue: front-desk staff selling experiences, arrivals and departures used to build loyalty, services plugged into the guest flow. Both prizes are blocked by the same problem. Hotel data is too fragmented and too coarse for AI to work on top of. CRM, PMS, and distribution don’t talk to each other; room categories that lump west-facing and south-facing rooms together aren’t precise enough for personalization. Fix the data first, he argued.

THE SO WHAT

If your AI investment is being justified internally as labor savings, you’re underselling the revenue case and overselling what’s possible. The constraint is data architecture, not model choice. AI bolted onto a fragmented CRM, PMS, and distribution stack won’t deliver either.