The debate over proprietary vs. open AI is a symptom of a deeper issue: whether hospitality is willing to collaborate to truly move forward together. At Alliants, the path is open—not about building walled gardens. Distrust of tech vendors has pushed many large hotel brands to build in-house, often because people weren"t listening to one another openly. Innovation rarely happens in a closed room.

It's flawed to let a handful of executives or the biggest vendors dictate AI's future. Tools that work require the people who use them every day at the table: line-level staff alongside GMs, new voices next to industry veterans, and all developers, not just the familiar few.

Standards matter, but they must enable the flexibility hospitality demands, not stifle it. You can copy a hotel building across the street, and it will still operate differently. The same is true for AI-enabled tech stacks.

Ultimately, it's the people who make buildings and technology come alive. Collaboration must be inclusive and grounded in real operations, with empathy at the core. Technology should serve people—guests and staff—enhancing the human act of service, not replacing it. Forget that, and we lose the guest, no matter how smart the AI is.