Response to Christian Watts

On Linkedin Christian posted a question:

OK - we're 2.5 years in to AI.
We're 20 years, in if you want to pretend you've been using AI meaningfully before ChatGPT launched.

I'm looking for help from the community for a Phocuswright session and for an article.
What are the best ACTUAL, live use cases of AI in travel so far. As-in cases that are launched / live / in-use / interesting / useful to share with others in travel.
Please add link / tag (tag yourself if you must) / add a quick snippet of what it is / what it does.
Thanks in advance...

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7337470150876504064/ 

My response?

OH Christian... this is very cruel. You know that we are getting close. A neat way for you to be lazy but is this a call to reality?

So, we’re nearly 3 years into the "popular phase" of AI in just about everything. And Travel is no exception, yet… we’re still mostly in the what I would call the "Sniffware" phase, nowhere near any mass deployment. The term “AI” is now so elastic that it risks losing all value. That said, there are glimmers of true utility—mostly in narrow applications, and often deep in the plumbing rather than front-of-house. I have 3 potential areas and here are the ones I think are worth watching - for now:

A) Customer Interaction — The Chatbot Wasteland

Most GenAI bots in travel are still glorified FAQ wrappers with little context or transaction depth. (I personally delight in breaking them). But Replyr.ai, one of the Global Startup Showcase contenders, is starting to push into more meaningful ground with real-time, transactional intelligence layered on top of existing systems. Still early, but promising. I think this is where we will see some of the easiest variations.

B) Agentic AI — The Dream Gets a Demo

Most “AI agents” in travel are still vaporware, but the Azure AI Travel Agent demo from Microsoft: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/massimobonanni_introducing-azure-ai-travel-agents-a-flagship-activity-7334220453462310912-gRwC] is the closest I’ve seen to an integrated, multi-modal assistant that could (eventually) stitch together flights, hotels, and ground into a coherent flow. Still very early stage, but a live working example worth tracking. Despite the hype around OperatorAI nothing deployed as yet.

C) Live AI in the Wild — Hopper’s Pricing Tools

Unlike most, Hopper has deployed AI in production for quite some time. Their Price Freeze, Price Drop, and Best Price Guarantees are underpinned by machine learning models that evaluate pricing volatility and risk, then wrap them in fintech-like upsell services. It’s not flashy, but it’s working—and generating revenue.

So, no “best-in-class” AI in travel yet, but a few contenders in specific areas. Most real value is still buried in optimization and prediction, not in chatbots or “AI agents.” The next year will determine whether any of this breaks out of the lab.

If you were to ask me a different question as to where I think we can be.. I will say that is a very different question and I am deep into that now. 

 

Cheers

Timothy