From food waste detectors to transparent and individualized kiosk screens, every major travel and dining innovation at CES 2024 had one thing in common: AI. However, a wide gap emerged on the show floor between AI ideas and AI-powered products. The AI landscape, and particularly the generative AI landscape, has a long way to go to reach maturity. This provides a golden opportunity for travel, hospitality, and dining brands to harness AI in a way that’s not only scalable, but people-first.
There are three key use cases we observed at CES 2024: the corporate-GPT, AI on the edge, and individualized content. We’ll break down the current state, opportunities, and challenges we’ve noticed, and how restaurants, hotels, airlines, and airports can approach them this year.
"This year at CES, the top players all announced a people-first approach, letting their customers lead their AI, rather than the other way around."
— J F Grossen, Vice President, Global Experience Lead, Travel and Hospitality
The generative AI landscape is still in its infancy, but the potential is massive. According to a first-of-its-kind economic study, generative AI could add up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy. But the path to value is not straightforward.
The biggest challenge for travel, hospitality, and dining brands is not the technology itself, but how to integrate it into the employee workflow. In a Publicis Sapient survey, 70% of employees said they would use generative AI if it was integrated into their daily tools and processes. But only 20% said their company had provided training or guidance on how to use it.
The opportunity is clear: companies that invest in employee experience and change management will be the ones to unlock the full value of generative AI.
"The corporate-GPT challenge is frictionlessly threading new tools into employee workflow, which requires deep and holistic employee experience design. This isn’t an AI problem—it’s a human one."
— Daniel Liebermann, Managing Director, Data and Analytics, Management Consulting
AI on the edge is the next frontier for travel, hospitality, and dining. Edge computing means processing data locally, on the device itself, rather than sending it to the cloud. This allows for real-time decision-making and ultra-fast response times, even in environments with limited connectivity.
For example, a hotel could use edge AI to detect when a guest enters their room and automatically adjust the lighting, temperature, and entertainment options to their preferences. An airport could use edge AI to monitor security lines and dynamically adjust staffing to reduce wait times. A restaurant could use edge AI to detect food waste in real time and adjust inventory orders accordingly.
The challenge is that edge AI requires a new approach to data architecture and security. Brands need to ensure that sensitive data is processed and stored securely, and that AI models are regularly updated to reflect the latest insights and regulations.
"The combination of edge and AI removes current limitations from IoT technology. Now, real-time visibility and decision-making are not only possible in theory, but possible in reality."
— J F Grossen, Vice President, Global Experience Lead, Travel and Hospitality
The most visible use of AI at CES 2024 was in content individualization. Airlines, hotels, and restaurants are all racing to deliver more relevant, personalized experiences to their customers. But the real challenge is not just in generating content, but in making sure it’s the right content, at the right time, for the right person.
Gartner predicted five years ago that by 2025, 80% of marketers who have invested in personalization will abandon their efforts due to lack of ROI, the perils of customer data management, and the growing complexity of regulatory compliance. The industry is now at a crossroads: brands must find a way to deliver individualized content that is both effective and compliant.
At CES, the Rabbit R1 device and other AI-powered kiosks showed how generative AI can create individualized content on the fly, without sending sensitive data to the cloud. But the key to success is a robust data strategy: brands need to invest in data quality, governance, and consent management to ensure that their AI-powered experiences are both effective and trustworthy.
According to a recent Publicis Sapient survey, 60% of consumers said they would be more likely to share their data with a brand if they received a more personalized experience in return. But only 30% said they trusted brands to use their data responsibly.
"Customers are used to engaging in conversation with their airline. Breakthrough applications of generative AI will strengthen this connection and provide a better experience for customers that can drive sales and loyalty."
— Daniel Liebermann, Managing Director, Data and Analytics, Management Consulting
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"The approach to building AI tools looks similar to building other digital technology. It starts with a great concept, rather than starting with the technology and identifying value after."
— Daniel Liebermann, Managing Director, Data and Analytics, Management Consulting
Publicis Sapient is building AI solutions for hospitality and dining brands powered by our unique SPEED formula. Our approach combines strategic growth and business value, modern digital product thinking, next-generation customer experience, engineering, data and AI, all while leveraging our premier partnerships with Microsoft, Google, AWS, and OpenAI.
J F GROSSEN
Vice President, Global Experience Lead, Travel and Hospitality
JF.Grossen@publicissapient.com
DANIEL LIEBERMANN
Managing Director, Data and Analytics, Management Consulting
Daniel.Liebermann@publicissapient.com
Publicis Sapient is a digital transformation partner helping established organizations get digitally enabled, both in the way they work and how they serve their customers. We help unlock value through a startup mindset and modern methods, fusing strategy, consulting, and customer experience with agile engineering and problem-solving creativity. As digital pioneers with 20,000 people and 53 offices worldwide, our experience spanning technology, data sciences, consulting, and customer obsession—combined with our culture of curiosity and relentlessness—enables us to accelerate our clients’ businesses by designing the products and services their customers truly value. Publicis Sapient is the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe.
For more handpicked insights from our experts, visit https://guidetonext.publicissapient.com/outlook-2024/travel-dining