Fifteen years in hospitality technology, and what I'm seeing now.

I’ve spent 15 years in hospitality technology - and the last two have been the most interesting of all of them.

I started as Lead Engineer at ResDiary, worked my way through CTO and CEO, and led the business through two acquisitions. Most recently I held commercial accountability for the combined reservations portfolio at Access Group, including ResDiary and DesignMyNight.

What I saw at Access - and what I’m seeing across the industry - is a fundamental shift. AI isn’t just a feature any more. It’s at the heart of how software companies are building products, running customer support, driving sales, and making decisions. The whole operating model is changing.

The problem is that operators are on the receiving end of this whether they’re ready or not. New features, higher prices, bigger promises - at a time when hospitality is still genuinely difficult. Most operators I speak to don’t yet have the framework to know what’s real, what’s marketing, and what questions they should even be asking.

That’s why I’m writing this series. Not to add to the noise, but to try and help operators understand what’s actually happening, what it means for their businesses, and how to navigate it.