Everything AI in Travel

Everything AI in Travel by Tony Carne

In this companion podcast to the Everything AI in Travel weekly newsletter, we speak to the makers, shapers and buyers of AI technology in the travel inustry.

  1. May 27

    Everything AI in Travel chats to Bethany Reitsma of the Travel Tech Association about startup funding in the age of AI

    In this episode of the Everything AI in Travel podcast, Tony Carne sits down with Bethany Reitsma from the Travel Technology Association to explore the fast-changing world of travel tech startups, AI-native companies, angel investing, and the future of innovation in travel. Bethany shares how the Travel Technology Association evolved from representing major industry players like Booking, Expedia, and TripAdvisor into building a growing startup ecosystem focused on helping founders get connected, get advice, and get funded. They discuss: Why AI-native travel startups are emerging faster than everThe challenge of fundraising in travel tech todayHow angel investors are approaching AI and travel startupsWhy proprietary data and integrations matter more than everThe rise of hyper-personalized travel experiencesHow Travel Tech Association helps founders connect with investorsThe importance of founder communities and peer learningEmerging startups like Drifter AI and Pintours AIHow AI is changing travel discovery and trip planningWhy travel startups can now build more with less fundingWhether you’re building a travel startup, investing in travel technology, or simply trying to understand where AI is taking the industry next, this conversation offers a valuable inside look at one of the most important ecosystems shaping travel innovation. Guest: Bethany ReitsmaOrganization: Travel Technology Association

    22 min

  2. Apr 6

    Everything AI in Travel chats to John Taylor Garner from Odynn on their recent capital raise

    They raised money in AI travel…which already makes Odynn one of the rare ones.In this episode of the Everything AI in Travel Podcast, I sit down with John Taylor Garner, founder of Odynn, to unpack what they’re building at the intersection of travel, loyalty, fintech, and AI.We get into:Why John left a top trading desk at Merrill to start building in travelWhat he learned from his first startup, Card CuratorWhy dynamic loyalty pricing broke the old modelHow Odynn powers travel portals, rewards, and loyalty infrastructure for banks, fintechs, and travel companiesWhy the financialisation of travel is still one of the biggest opportunities in the sectorWhere Hopper, Expedia, Booking, and the neobanks fit into the landscapeWhat Odynn is doing with its new raise, and where the company goes nextIf you care about where loyalty, payments, AI, and travel distribution are headed, this is a great one.👇 Subscribe for more conversations with the builders shaping AI in travel

    31 min

  3. Mar 24

    Everything AI in travel chats to Jason Swick of SwixAI on orchastrating the AI workspace for DMOs

    In this episode of the Everything AI in Travel Podcast, I sit down with Jason Swick, a longtime Simpleview leader who spent more than 15 years deep in destination marketing before launching Swix AI.We get into:Why DMO teams have a capacity problem, a speed problem, and a knowledge problemWhy most AI adoption today is still tactical, not strategicThe real issue with tools like N8N and Make for most tourism teams…How Swix is trying to make AI usable across every skill level in an organisationThe difference between chatbots, assistants, automations, and true agentsWhy the future isn’t one “AI champion” inside the business — it’s shared systems the whole team can useIf you work in destination marketing, tourism ops, or travel tech, this one is a smart look at what AI adoption inside an organisation actually needs to look like.👇 Subscribe for more conversations with the builders shaping AI in travel. Looking for the Videreo information? You can find the case study here

    36 min

  4. Mar 18

    Egor Karpovich built 12 AI agents in 5 weeks… …and now they’re running parts of his travel company without sleeping.

    Egor Karpovich built 12 AI agents in 5 weeks……and now they’re running parts of his travel company without sleeping.In this episode of the Everything AI & Travel Podcast, I sit down with Egor Karpovich from Travel Code to unpack one of the most fascinating AI setups I’ve seen in travel so far.Egor explains how he and his team went from no-code workflows to a real agent workforce inside their bootstrapped corporate travel SaaS business — including:A lead agent coordinating the othersLegal, partnerships, sales, SEO, PR, analyst, and dev agentsAgents creating tasks for other agentsMCP servers, APIs, browser tools, and shared memoryHow his team now works with agents day to dayWe also get into:Why Eastern Europe’s travel distribution model is so differentWhy they pivoted away from travel agents and into corporate travelWhat building a $9M GMV travel business without outside funding actually looks likeWhy Egor thinks solo founders with 50 AI agents are coming sooner than people expectIf you want to understand what “agentic travel” actually looks like in the real world — not just in demos — this is the episode.👇 Subscribe for more conversations with the makers, shapers, and buyers of AI in travel. If looking for the Videreo information, you can find it here: https://gamma.app/docs/Creator-Marketing-gets-measured-in-Palau-oicfv54zvjq0ckb?mode=doc

    30 min

  5. Mar 3

    Everything AI in Travel chats digital identities with Robert Cole

    In this episode of Everything AI & Travel, I sit down with Robert Cole (Rock Cheetah) — Cornell hotel grad, ex-Four Seasons marketing leader, Sabre/Travelocity-era hotel distribution veteran, and a longtime Phocuswright analyst.We get practical on what “AI readiness” really means for travel businesses:Why digital identity becomes the foundation for the agentic worldThe difference between traveler identity vs hospitality entity identity (hotel ≠ just a building…)Why “standards” are hard in travel (and why the tech world solved this decades ago)How Robert uses Claude / Gemini / OpenAI (and his “reasoning gauntlet” to rip drafts apart)What small operators should do now (security, schema, sources of truth…) before agents arriveIf you’re a hotelier, tour operator, DMO, or travel tech builder trying to understand what’s coming next — this is one to save.👇 Subscribe for more AI-in-travel conversations💬 Comment: what’s your biggest worry about agents + trust?

    33 min

  6. Feb 18

    Everything AI in Travel chats to John Lyotier (again)!

    John Lyotier is back — and we go deep on the .BOT future.AI has moved from “tools” to agents, and John’s building at the sharp end: hundreds of AI-built travel brands, an agentic network underneath, and now a big bet on .bot domains (trip.bot, hotels.bot, ski.bot…).We talk: Why .bot could become the identity layer for agent-to-agent commerceWhat “agentic search” means for travel distributionGEO/AEO: what’s real, what’s hypeMarriott + Google’s AI selling moves — threat or opportunity?The coming “return to real” in travel: tech scaffolding, human soul Subscribe for more AI x Travel builders & operators.To get your hands on your free trial of Videreo, check out our most recent case study with details on the free trial here.

    33 min

  7. Feb 10

    Everything AI in Travel chats to Jason Bryant from Oracle

    This week I’m joined by Jason Bryant, VP Strategy (Consumer Applications) at Oracle and founder/former CEO of Nor1. We talk about: How Nor1 started (perishable inventory + willingness-to-pay for upgrades) What changes when a startup gets absorbed into a Fortune 500 (risk profile, security standards, speed) Why the next phase of AI in hospitality is orchestration, not “the next best model” Why unified data platforms are a prerequisite for personalization The real reason “AI pilots fail”: not tech, but execution, workflow design, and measuring P&L impact If you’re in hotels, travel tech, or building AI products, this is a practical conversation about what actually works in 2026. See the Videreo case study and start your free trial here: https://gamma.app/docs/Creator-Marketing-gets-measured-in-Palau-oicfv54zvjq0ckb

    29 min

  8. Jan 20

    Did we nail our 2025 predictions? Christian Watts returns to give the 2025 prediction scorecard

    Welcome to 2026 and the first episode of the year on Everything AI in Travel. As tradition now, I’m joined by returning guest Christian Watts to do something most people avoid: we revisit our predictions from last year and grade them. Christian ran our 2025 predictions through an AI scoring system (he swears he didn’t rig it), and we go point-by-point on what actually happened: Search changed, but Google didn’t die LLMs reshaped how people plan (even if they still “Google” quick stuff) “Agentic AI” became the buzzword, but real-world booking is still messy OTAs didn’t collapse, but the “dumb pipes” conversation got loud Authenticity vs AI-generated content became a cultural fault line And yes, we argue about whether AI is already mainstream… or just mainstream in our bubbles We also get into the uncomfortable part: which predictions were genuinely wrong, and what that tells us about forecasting in a year where the platform shifts don’t slow down. If you want the written predictions, watch on YouTube where they’re on-screen.

    34 min
See All (72)

About

In this companion podcast to the Everything AI in Travel weekly newsletter, we speak to the makers, shapers and buyers of AI technology in the travel inustry.

Information

  • Creator
    Everything AI in Travel by Tony Carne
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Everything AI in Travel by Tony Carne
  • Show Website
    Everything AI in Travel

You Might Also Like