AI and the Future of Work: From Conversation to Execution
Your best source of marketing insight may already be walking the property. They just don’t have time to write.
James Hague
10/9/20265 min read
Peak Hospitality / James Hague
Your best source of marketing insight may already be walking the property. They just don’t have time to write.
It might be the general manager who understands why guests choose the hotel, what they ask about when they arrive and which parts of the stay they remember. That knowledge grows through conversations, decisions and years of paying attention. Asking the same person to sit down and write a blog can be a difficult fit with the day they are already managing.
A marketing provider may begin with a brand guide, photographs and a list of amenities. Learning the destination, the guests and the particular character of the property takes time. A thoughtful marketer can develop that understanding through good questions and a close relationship with the team. The challenge is keeping that exchange connected to what is actually happening on the property.
I’m interested in how AI could make that exchange easier, so an operator’s fresh observations have a practical route into the work.
What changed for me on October 8
I spent much of October 8 talking through ideas on my phone, sharing hospitality experiences and reflecting on what I had learned. Voice calls with my AI assistant weren’t working, so I used voice-to-text instead.
As the conversation developed, the ideas began taking shape as articles. The assistant created editable review files and, through the connected computer I had left running, worked on website drafts. I continued giving direction, correcting details and approving particular actions.
I found it remarkable to see something I could explain in conversation become work I could read, refine and use. The experience and the point of view came from me. The conversation helped give them shape and carried them into a draft.
The newsletter build was still in progress, and the work continued to need review. Even at that stage, I could see how much shorter the distance between an idea and its execution was becoming.
For a busy owner or general manager, that could be significant. A useful contribution might begin with a few minutes of conversation while an experience is fresh, rather than finding an uninterrupted afternoon to write about it.
A conversation after walking the property
Imagine a general manager taking a walk around the hotel, or sitting down after dinner, and talking through something they noticed that evening.
Perhaps families had gathered around a firepit to make s’mores. The manager could describe the setting, how people used it and what the team had done to make the evening possible. A few follow-up questions could draw out why that moment mattered to the experience the property wanted to offer.
Did the seating make it easy to gather? Had guests asked for an activity they could enjoy together? Was the team introducing the firepit naturally, or were people finding it themselves?
Those details give a writer something specific to work with. They can help a future guest imagine an evening at the property and understand why it might suit the stay they have in mind. The resulting story should stay faithful to what was observed and what guests actually said, with permission for identifiable stories or photographs.
The same opportunity exists beyond the GM. A housekeeping leader might explain a room detail that guests appreciate. A front desk colleague might notice a question that keeps coming up. Their contribution could improve a piece of content, clarify arrival information or reveal something in the operation that needs attention.
I would keep the first workflow simple:
A colleague records a short observation, including when it happened and any facts that need checking.
AI asks a few useful questions and prepares a draft using the property’s current information and brand guidance.
A marketer shapes the story for its intended audience, checking it with the person who contributed the observation.
The designated approver reviews the finished piece before publication, then the team follows the response.
Clear responsibilities would help this fit into a working day. The person contributing should know what happens next and have an easy way to correct the draft. The marketing lead should be able to choose the useful stories without turning every observation into another post.
Making timely information useful to a guest
There is a further possibility here for communication during a stay.
Imagine a beach attendant sharing a photograph and a short description of the evening. With approved connections, a system could combine that observation with verified weather information and prepare a suggestion for guests who had asked to hear about beach activities or sunset experiences. A colleague could check the recommendation before it went out.
I have not implemented that live connection between staff observations, hotel records and guest messages. It is a practical direction I would like to test.
Segmentation would matter because the same message will have different value to different guests. A business traveller may appreciate clear breakfast and departure information. A leisure guest may welcome an activity suggestion. A group organizer may need communication coordinated around an agreed programme.
Relevant knowledge could include stated interests, activities guests have asked about, recorded preferences they knowingly shared, and past purchases or visits the property is permitted to use for that purpose. People should be able to update those preferences, choose their channels and opt out easily. Quiet hours and frequency limits would help keep the communication considerate.
Any access to reservation or customer records would need an approved integration and limited permissions. Recommendations involving surf conditions would also require current official information, local advisories and qualified human judgment. Wind alone cannot establish safe conditions, and the message would need to acknowledge uncertainty and change.
The purpose would be to make a useful suggestion at a moment when the guest might appreciate it. Their interest and the operation’s ability to deliver would guide the decision to send.
Where I see the work going
For marketers, I see an opportunity to become better at drawing out the knowledge already present in a business. Understanding the audience, choosing the story and protecting the voice of the property would remain central. Drafting and moving approved material between systems could require less manual effort.
That could also create a valuable body of property knowledge over time. Recurring observations might help explain what guests value, answer common questions and inform experience design. Its value would depend on the quality of the contributions and the care taken in selecting and checking them. More content alone would prove very little.
I would want to measure the full effort, including the team’s contribution, editing and corrections. We could then look at whether the work helped guests understand the stay, generated useful enquiries or contributed to attributable bookings, using a baseline and a fair comparison. Guest feedback and unwanted interruptions would matter alongside commercial results.
October 8 showed me how readily I could contribute when I could talk through what I knew. I’m interested in making that possible for the people whose understanding of a hotel is built through daily experience. A short conversation after walking the property could give a marketer richer material and a guest a clearer sense of what awaits them.