Who Wins When Everything Changes: Why Culture Determines Who Capitalizes on AI

📌 Key Takeaways

• AI will create new opportunities at each stage of the guest journey

• The companies with a strong culture and the right people in each seat will turn disruption into opportunity

• The winners will be crystal clear on the experience they want to deliver and have teams positioned to capitalize on every interaction

Today's insight from Agnelo Fernandes, CEO of Cote Hospitality, on why culture determines who wins in a rapidly changing industry. Listen to the full conversation →

AI is going to change everything about how hotels operate.

Agnelo Fernandes isn't debating that. Content creation, AI search visibility, the entire guest journey from discovery to loyalty—all of it is being disrupted. "If we thought that the last few years were bad, I think what's coming up is even more complicated," he told me.

But here's what Agnelo keeps coming back to: The disruption is the same for everyone. What separates winners from losers is whether you have the culture and people to take advantage of it.

"Culture has to be at the root of everything we do," Agnelo said. "You can have the best systems of record. You can have the best systems of intelligence. You can have the best systems of actions. But if you don't have the right people, that's where things get challenged."

Disruption Creates Opportunity—For Some

The guest journey has fundamentally changed. "It's not where it used to be from awareness to loyalty," Agnelo explained. "People have different ways to book."

AI search visibility is reshaping how guests find hotels. Content studios can now produce at scale what used to take entire teams. Direct booking strategies finally have tools that can compete with OTAs.

Every one of these shifts is an opportunity. But only if you're positioned to move on them.

That's where culture becomes the differentiator. When your team is aligned on the experience you're trying to create, every new tool becomes ammunition. When they're not, every new tool becomes another system nobody uses properly.

The Labor Reality Nobody Escaped

Here's the context that makes culture even more critical: the labor challenge isn't going away.

"It was there before COVID," Agnelo said. He joined the HSMAI Foundation specifically to address talent issues in sales, marketing, and revenue. That was years before the pandemic. The problem never got solved.

"I don't think labor is going back to where anybody thinks it was normal. It's only going to get more and more challenging."

This is why culture matters so much right now. You're not going to solve disruption by throwing bodies at it. You need the right people, aligned around a clear vision, equipped to capitalize on change. That's a culture question even more than a technology question.

Be Crystal Clear on What You're Building

Agnelo's approach at Cote Hospitality starts with brand clarity. "I believe our brand is going to be built around those signature moments," he said.

Signature moments. The experiences guests remember and talk about.

When you're crystal clear on those moments, technology becomes a tool for enabling them. AI can surface guest preferences so your team can personalize. Content tools can tell your story at scale. Automation can handle the friction so your people focus on what matters.

But if you're not clear on the experience you want to deliver? All that technology just makes you faster at being mediocre.

The Winners Formula

Agnelo put it simply:

Not the hotels with the most AI tools. Not the biggest technology budgets. The ones with culture so clear that every new capability accelerates what will make them stand out.

Think about what that requires:

• Clarity on the guest experience you're building

• The right people who believe in that vision

• Systems that remove friction instead of adding complexity

When disruption hits—and it will keep hitting—that foundation lets you move ahead. You're not scrambling to figure out what you stand for. You're deploying new tools in service of something you already understand.

The Question Worth Asking

Agnelo has watched hospitality technology cycles come and go. The AI moment is real, and he's investing in it—content studios, AI-ready platforms, search visibility strategies.

But he keeps returning to the same truth: "If we don't have the right people on board, it doesn't matter what technology you have."

The companies that win the next five years won't be the ones that adopted AI fastest. They'll be the ones who knew exactly what they were building, had the culture to execute it, and used every disruption as fuel.

Three Questions for Hospitality Leaders

1. Can your team articulate the signature moments that define your brand? If they can't, no amount of AI will help you stand out. What's the experience you're actually trying to create?

2. Is your culture positioned to capitalize on disruption—or just survive it? When new tools emerge, does your team see opportunity or overwhelm? That's a culture signal.

3. Are you solving for technology or solving for people? The labor challenge isn't going away. Are you building systems that make excellence easier for the team you have?

AI will change the game. Culture determines who wins it.

This insight comes from our conversation with Agnelo Fernandes on building hospitality brands through disruption. Listen to the complete interview →

Agnelo Fernandes is CEO of Cote Hospitality and former chair of the HSMAI Foundation.

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