The Columns

I’m still buzzing a bit from a recent event. I was at the Hospitality Design Awards in Vegas—the big night for the architectural, interior design, and product community. These are…

A few years ago, I worried about algorithms deciding what movie I should watch on Netflix. Today, Silicon Valley apparently considers it too burdensome for humans to perform the ancient…

A few months ago, during a conference, a hotelier told me— with the enthusiasm of a child who had just discovered dinosaurs: “In five years, we won’t need half our…

Here’s a revolutionary idea to deliver an excellent hospitality experience with a lean, efficient operation: let’s just not train anyone. Ever. In fact, let’s go further and drop the whole…

I’ve always found technological capitalism at its most entertaining when it tries to present itself as neutral. There’s something almost poetic about it: billionaires in hoodies talking about “empowerment,” platforms…

There’s no doubt the talk is exotic. Everyone’s hot and bothered about the promise of Artificial Intelligence—the tantalizing opportunity to get deeper insights than we ever could wrestling with our…

A few days ago, I stumbled across yet another online trend with strong incel-adjacent energy: young men literally hitting themselves in the jaw with hammers in the hope of becoming…

Let’s clear the air on a job title that’s been abused more than a hotel buffet at breakfast. “Consultant.” It looks serious on a business card, doesn’t it? Implies wisdom,…

Some of my takeaways from Google I/Os announcements last week. It is totally clear that travel search and inspiration is going to completely change in coming years. I can’t imagine…

There’s something almost Calvinist about the way Silicon Valley talks about productivity. Every repetitive task must disappear. It must be automated. As if repetition itself were a software bug waiting…