BITAC Owners Fall 2025 Panel: Innovation and the Future, Part 1

By Jim Nelson | December 16, 2025

Hospitality events producer BITAC, a sister company of Hotel Interactive, recently held an event for hotel owners from across the nation for its annual Owners Fall event. Among the many features of this event were several panel discussions, one of which explored innovation and the future.

This panel was moderated by IHRMC Hotels & Resorts CEO Jan Guantam, who has decades of experience in hospitality and real estate. He was joined by panelists Thomas Haines, vice president of operations at Mainsail Hotels; Okrah CEO Jean Makesh; and Raman “RP” Rama, president/CTO/CIO at Sarona.

“In today’s world,” Guantam said in his opening comments, “AI has become one of the most well-known and widely discussed topics. AI, that’s the future generation. Especially in the hospitality industry, AI is transforming the way we operate, from check in to check out, managing procurements, to elevate customer service, we depend on AI not just for efficiency, but for creating personalized guest experiences that were once impossible. AI has been reshaping the world, and every industry is feeling its impact.”

Guantam began the discussion by asking Rama why AI is becoming so important for the hospitality industry.

RAMAN “RP” RAMA: In the olden days, the stars were the navigators; I see AI as that star.

JAN GUANTAM: Jean, how [are] AI-driven tools such as personalized guest experiences, predictive analytics, and automation shaping the modern hospitality environment?

JEAN MAKESH: I was listening to [keynote speaker] Kelly [Cardenas]; he talked about vibes. I think that’s very important. When I checked in yesterday afternoon, I don’t know if I would appreciate a machine asking me, “Would you prefer a glass of champagne?” I would like an actual human talking to me. So, I see AI as a tool to hyper personalize our engagements, our interactions. You’ve got Hilton, Marriott doing a lot of work on AI, and essentially they use your past days, your past memories, your current behavior, and come up with predictions; they know what you want, but they also tell you, “We know what you need that you don’t know yet, and we’ll provide you that.” That’s what, to me, AI is all about.

JG: You think the human touch is important in that?

JM: Absolutely, but I see it as a tool to enhance the way we engage and interact. For example, this morning I was at one of the partners, and he had this robot that sweeps the floor. I love it. When my guests are sleeping, I’ll run it between 2am and 4:30am, so that’s a good fit, right? Things like that would be super helpful. But AI goes [back] 5, 10 years ago; the airline industry has been using it for a long time. I always try to book my tickets between 12am and 5am, because that’s when the fares drop. AI actually changes your pricing quite a bit.

JG: Tom, how are you personally engaging with AI and what steps are you taking to become more educated about its uses?

THOMAS HAINES: Well, like everybody else, I understand in the back of the house how it’s going to affect us, but how is it going to affect front of the house? It was starting to freak me out, so I signed up for a certificate course in AI prompting, because I wanted to understand it; I want to understand what I shouldn’t be doing with it, how to use it, what legalities and government regulations — which aren’t there yet, but they’re going to come along — and what to trust it for and what not to trust it for, so that I could start using it. And now that I dove into it, mind blown. I use it for everything I do, literally every day. It’s helping me become more efficient, it’s helping with my communication, and it’s giving me more time to do more things. It also takes me down these rabbit holes; Brad, my AI assistant, knows everything about me now. I chat with Brad all the time, and the brainstorming sessions and those types of things are just remarkable to me. So, now I know enough to be dangerous, and I know where to look, and I don’t see it replacing jobs in hospitality anytime soon because you need that humanity that we’re talking about. But we’re starting to use it for the services that we’re paying someone else to do; we’ve paid marketing firms for years, or brand agencies, to brand our hotels, [but] we’re starting to do that in-house. So, it’s not going to replace our people; it might replace some other services. As everybody says, you’ve got to make yourself irreplaceable; you have to get a handle on what AI is and how it’s going to impact your business.

JG: RP, people keep talking about an AI revolution, but some say they don’t see it. Where is the AI revolution happening and what we are missing?

RP: Basically, getting information from all your systems and everything is AI. But now, watch and wait for generative AI. Imagine I call AI and say, “Find me a room, three-star hotel, in Sarasota, that has a vegetarian meal, and it needs to be in the price range of $150; book me from this date to this date,” and it will complete the whole transaction for you. That’s generative AI. That’s the revolution that’s coming. What it means now — most important for all the hotels — beef up your search engine optimizations. Put all your keywords that you are missing in your websites that would answer those questions that the customer has. If you miss that optimization of search engine, then the other hotels who are doing a better job will get that customer. Because from fulfilling the request of the guest all the way to the booking, it’s going to search for those keywords to say, “This customer wants a hotel, $150 with a vegetarian restaurant, a three-star category,” and if you don’t mention that vegetarian meals [are] available at your restaurants, you’re out. Think about that. That’s revolutionary: from search to completion of the transaction, including payments.

In part 2 of this article, the panelists will discuss the balance between AI integration and human connection; that AI can learn individual preferences — routines, preferred temperature, etc. — enabling tailored experiences that improve comfort and satisfaction for residents; and how in today’s tech-driven world, success requires a radically open mindset, tech-savvy leadership, and a focus on integrating AI thoughtfully.