A lot of hoteliers today will feel like they are treading water, grasping for clarity over what kind of impact AI agents will ultimately have on their businesses.

Fortunately for them, they won't have to wait long to find out – this change is coming thick and fast.

AI agents will forever change the way people plan and book their travel. This could sideline those hotels that have traditionally been slow to modernize their tech stacks while accelerating the success of those that invest in the foundations today. The OTAs can sink as much money as they want into their own AI projects, but – make no mistake – hotels that play their cards right can use AI agents as a golden ticket to bypass the middlemen and connect directly with guests.

The one thing hotels should do today is ensure their infrastructure is flexible enough to incorporate the innovations of tomorrow. Hotels running on rigid and traditional systems will struggle. While those with truly open technology will be quicker to adapt, integrating with AI agents performing specific functions, such as business intelligence tools with real-time alerts for missed targets, or a marketing and sales agent that specifically manages promotion marketing based on seasonality.

We're already seeing how modern hospitality brands like citizenM, easyHotel, and Limehome are thinking ahead and future-proofing their businesses with API-first systems that can directly connect with emerging AI-driven tools. Others must seize the moment and build a tech foundation fit for the AI era.