Greg Oates

💡 Destination Canada hosted 130+ staff in Vancouver for the DC Connects event, demonstrating AI agents from Matador Network. Using OpenClaw, they prototyped a DMO for 2026, creating a SaaS platform, Kondo, for tourism boards. The platform matches travelers with local experiences, focusing on accessibility and community benefits. The target market is cities with 100K-500K people, priced at $40-100K USD/year. The AI prioritized locals, suggesting a community-first approach with "anti-recommendations" when areas are stressed.

🚀 Presently, The Matador AI Roadmap is being implemented with Visit Mesa, Tourism Richmond, and The Florida Keys & Key West. CEOs are sharing insights to enhance AI strategy integration. Slack reports workers spend 41% of their time on menial tasks, prompting AI utilization for efficiency. GuideGeek V2 dashboard was launched to gain deeper visitor insights. AI agents are reducing grunt work, delivering ROI. Mastercard describes agentic commerce in which AI agents complete tasks with minimal input.

🤖 Last week, Hubspot's AI assistant Fiona impressed a client by providing seamless, human-like CRM assistance. Despite concerns that AI may dehumanize interactions, Fiona offered valuable insights, resulting in a $108 yearly subscription purchase. Slack research shows that AI could reduce the 41% of time desk workers spend on menial tasks. While some perceive AI as a threat, "agentic commerce" is becoming popular, offering speed and reliability in business interactions.

💻 Leslie Bruce, CEO of Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, stresses AI as a change management tool. In 2011, IMEX America in Las Vegas showcased event tech like Social Tables, illustrating AI's potential. Banff & Lake Louise Tourism's task force identified 21 AI initiatives, enhancing strategy and workflow. Bruce emphasizes educating partners on AI, aiming for a cross-functional approach. With board support, they aim to steer AI's role in tourism, considering it integral to future business strategy.

📊 At SXSW 2025, company leaders highlighted a significant gap in AI understanding between executives and teams, alongside strategies to leverage AI for improving productivity and streamlining processes. Atlassian's report surveyed 12,000 workers and 200 executives, revealing 96% of executives think their teams don't know how to adopt AI despite its potential to transform work. Slack's survey of 5,000 workers found 30% are "AI maximizers" while 20% use AI secretly. Upwork data showed freelancers use AI twice as much as full-time employees, citing bureaucracy and livelihood as reasons. Annually, 2.4 billion hours are wasted in Fortune 500 companies searching for information, and 77% of employees feel AI increases their workload. Panelists at SXSW discussed AI's potential to save time, reduce duplicative efforts, and unlock human intelligence. Atlassian and Slack have developed AI platforms like Rovo and Slack AI to synthesize company information and streamline workflows.