A Smarter City
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Integration of AI in the hospitality sector
Research reveals that despite widespread AI usage across the retail and hospitality sectors, a major barrier still exists which prevents organisations from integrating the technology effectively.
The survey of retail and hospitality leaders, released in a report from retail tech platform Rotageek, found that while AI use is common in these industries, challenges remain when it comes to its successful adoption. The findings suggest that unless these are addressed, businesses risk seeing their AI investments under-deliver, making action both urgent and essential.
Investment
According to the findings, nearly nine in ten retail and hospitality organisations are already using AI to some capacity within workforce management processes such as forecasting, scheduling and analytics. A further eight in ten are planning to increase their investment in AI adoption in the next year.
The report shows that confidence in AI’ s potential is strong: nearly half of the leaders surveyed believe that it has a‘ very high’ potential to improve workforce performance, and leaders are buoyant about the benefits they expect AI to deliver. Nearly half believe AI could save managers five to nine hours per week, whilst a third expect a six to ten per cent increase in labour cost efficiency or productivity.
Barrier
Yet despite recognising its potential value, the research reveals a critical barrier which is preventing organisations from realising these benefits: people. Two thirds of respondents said‘ the biggest challenge with AI is people, not technology’, whilst 70 per cent admitted that whilst‘ AI adoption is viewed positively, understanding is limited’.
Leaders also identified a range of practical challenges when it comes to AI adoption. Over a third cite a lack of internal skills or expertise as the main barrier to effective AI use in their workforce management processes. A similar proportion report concerns about trust, transparency and explainability, followed by issues surrounding data quality and integration, and regulatory concerns.
These findings indicate that while organisations are actively using and investing in AI systems, they are underinvesting in the human skills required to integrate and leverage them effectively. Closing that gap- not deploying more technology- is what will unlock the returns leaders are seeking.
Seamless integration
Chris McCullough, co-founder and chief revenue officer at Rotageek, commented:“ The retail and hospitality sectors are at a pivotal crossroads when it comes to AI adoption. Its power to transform workforce management is no longer in dispute. But what separates businesses who see real returns from those experiencing marginal gains is their willingness to invest in education, training and the cultural shift required for seamless integration.
“ That starts with people. Our research shows that the biggest barrier to AI isn’ t technology; it’ s people’ s understanding and expertise. From here, leaders must demystify AI by grounding it in realworld outputs that matter to employees- for example, how smarter demand forecasting can directly shape their shift patterns.
Judgement
“ Leaders must also push beyond people’ s technical know-how and build genuine AI fluency- the ability to know when to rely on AI and when human judgement should override it. This blend of technological insight and human decision-making is what moves organisations from surface-level adoption to genuine integration. It’ s also what gives leaders the confidence to redesign roles and trust employees to focus on activities that deliver the greatest value, such as customer engagement and strategic decision-making.”
www. rotageek. com