This week we continue our deep dive into what we know so far about AI, and how it’s being used, being disruptive, being overestimated and perhaps underestimated across the travel ecosystem. In our last episode we spoke to two startup founders who have incorporated AI into their applications to get the perspective of the early-stage company and how AI is changing the landscape for these new players.

Today we talk to two leaders from the other end of the spectrum, Marilyn Markham of AMEX Global Business Travel, and Shane O’Flaherty of Microsoft, to hear how the big guys are tackling the opportunities presented by AI. While they may have far more resources than the startups we talked to, they face many of the same questions on where and how to deploy AI, what use cases are best suited for it, and finding the discipline to treat AI as one of many tools in the toolkit.

The build vs. buy vs. partner question is front and center with these larger enterprises. While they may have considerable resources to deploy toward building their own proprietary AI-based solutions, it’s not always the most efficient path given opportunity costs, skill sets, and layers of organizational prioritization that have to be navigated. This creates some interesting opportunities on the buy and partner side of that decision where smaller startups and specialists can find traction (and our guests share some good tips for making that process work!)

Finally, datasets, frameworks, governance, talent and learning processes are all of paramount importance for mapping out an AI strategy — whether you’re a massive enterprise or a lean startup.

Follows:

Gilad Berenstein - host

Cara Whitehill - host

Marilyn Markham - guest

Shane O'Flaherty - guest

Go Deeper:

• How Travel Companies Can Use Generative AI as a Strategic Advantage - PhocusWire
• AI: How Carriers Are Using Artificial Intelligence To Optimize Cost Reductions & Operational Efficiencies - Simple Flying
• The Monk Who Thinks the World Is Ending - The Atlantic [$]
• Air Canada Ordered to Pay for Its Chatbot’s False Info - Skift
• 5 ways CIOs can help gen AI achieve its lightbulb moment - CIO