HOTELSLIFE : SENSEI ’ S KEVIN KELLY
TEACHING
TECH
What ’ s behind our industry ’ s technology deficiencies ? One is systemic underinvestment , especially in mobile , next-gen and cloud applications . The other is the shortage of hospitality-schooled digital technologists and strategists that can guide adoption .
How many hospitality schools today teach technology courses ? How many offer professional development technology courses and certifications ? Only a few . A few years back , NYU ’ s Tisch Center of Hospitality launched graduate and undergraduate hospitality technology courses and started building a Hospitality Innovation Lab . Les Roches Global Hospitality in Switzerland offers a master ’ s in hospitality strategy and digital transformation . I am privileged to teach at both of these programs , which are a great start to educating future hoteliers and providing our industry with digital technologists .
I am not preaching for hospitality schools to start teaching IT and software engineering , computer sciences or PhD-level data sciences . But we need to create the next generation of technologists who understand hospitality business applications and can assess the tech needs of an organization , devise a strategy and optimal tech stack , evaluate and select the most appropriate solutions , and oversee implementation and ongoing integrations .
Hospitality school graduates should be intimately familiar with how to use technology to improve customer service and operational efficiencies ; lower labor , operational and distribution costs ; and increase revenue .
Today ’ s hospitality industry has to transform itself — whether willingly or unwillingly — into a 100 % digital technology-enabled service industry powered by online , mobile , cloud , the Internet of Things , artificial intelligence , robotics and blockchain tools and applications . It is a very positive sign that digital technology is already making its way into every aspect of some smart hoteliers ’ operations , guest services and communications , revenue management , distribution , CRM and marketing .
This leap into the digital future necessitates the education of a new generation of technologists and strategists who understand the hospitality applications and who can lead the digital transformation of our industry .
MAX STARKOV DIGITAL AND TECH STRATEGIST , HOTELS BLOGGER
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HOTELSLIFE : SENSEI ’ S KEVIN KELLY
HotelsLife is a new weekly interview with thought leaders and disruptors by HOTELS Editor in Chief Jeff Weinstein . Here ’ s just a sampling of what you ’ ll find every Thursday on hotelsmag . com : Kevin Kelly is CEO of The Sensei Way , which applies data-driven knowledge and technology to food , health and lifestyle . Oracle Corp . founder Larry Ellison — who owns nearly all of the Hawaiian island of Lanai , including the Sensei Lanai , A Four Seasons Resort — developed Sensei with a scientist-physician partner and wants to open a health retreat there .
Kelly ’ s role is to turn Sensei into a global wellness company . “ If you think about wellness , it is a collection of biomarkers , the physical aspects of wellbeing ,” he said . “ How do we use technology to more fluidly connect those data points , and then give proper , easy , digestible feedback to our customer ?”
Ultimately , the goal is to shift from information collection to behavioral change . “ You educate , empower , you create experiences , you create tools for people , they absorb them and they decide which of those experiences , knowledge , tools they want to use … Consumers are going to want to go to places that are more serious , capable and have more evidence and science behind their practices . I think that bodes well for us .”
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