📑 In 2015, a group including David and Daria created a chart depicting hotel technology vendors. This chart aimed to visualize how data moves through the hotel industry, with the PMS at its center. Despite having over a thousand PMS solutions globally, the chart highlighted integration points and dependencies in hospitality tech. The author is proud of the chart's evolution, noting that the role of research is to organize information for others to draw conclusions. Hotel tech continues to grow, influenced by data flow.

📈 In the AI-driven marketing landscape, quantity and speed are key, but brand consistency is crucial. AI can produce vast amounts of content—50 headlines, 10 image directions, 20 email subject lines—but risks creating brand leakage, where value and reputation drift from company control. The challenge is maintaining brand identity amidst AI's capability to iterate endlessly. AI must help craft assets that feel consistent, ensuring brand identity remains intact. Emphasizing taste and precision over mere quantity can sustain brand strength in an AI world.

💻 "Open" in hospitality tech is vital, yet its meaning diverges. True openness allows replacing and controlling every stack part freely. This is crucial with AI's rapid evolution, altering needs within 12 months. Apaleo, since its launch, champions an API First architecture, enabling full functionality via API, unlike limited API overlays. Stephan Wiesener explores this in Hotel Yearbook AI Edition 2023. Read more [here](https://lnkd.in/egqZEzXk).

💳 Barcelona, Spain, June 16, 2026 — Shiji expands Stellaris Digital Dine with Open Tab and Pay Only features. Open Tab and Pay Only simplify the dining experience, reducing waiting time for 73% of diners. Pay Only saves up to 15 minutes per cover, enhancing table turnover and reducing staff workload. Both features integrate seamlessly with Shiji's POS system, optimizing operations for over 91,000 hotels globally. With Shiji's solutions, guests enjoy a streamlined "Scan, Pay, Go" process.

💸 Gemini leads major AI chat interfaces in agentic commerce readiness with UCP protocol. Microsoft's Copilot also adopts UCP. Perplexity introduced shopping features but ended them in May. ChatGPT had ACP protocol and Instant Checkout but stopped in March, now at level 2. Anthropic's Claude shows no activity. Google's upcoming shopping carts place it at level 4. ReFiBuy's levels range from basic web search (level 1) to auto-buying (level 5).