Now more than 18 months since the launch of ChatGPT, early excitement about generative artificial intelligence has shifted to the more challenging work of finding practical use cases, with a focus on ones that drive greater efficiency, automation and, ideally, cost-savings or even revenue- generation, for companies.

But where and how to begin – particularly when new capabilities seems to come out every week – can be challenging.

Cesc Vilanova and Riky Vittoria have both been working with artificial intelligence and its application to travel for many years. In 2014, Vilanova co-founded Sam, an AI-powered virtual travel assistant that was acquired by Flight Centre Travel Group in 2018. In 2015, Vittoria co-founded 30SecondstoFly, an AI-powered booking engine that Amex GBT acquired in 2020.

Last year both started new companies focused on helping companies put AI to work – Vilanova’s Agent Studio and Vittoria’s Acai Travel, a PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2024.

In a conversation in the PhocusWire studio at Phocuswright Europe, Vilanova and Vittoria offer practical tips for travel industry stakeholders who are determining how to put AI into action.

“What really delivers the best ROI in the smallest amount of time is to select these smaller wins that can be highly deployable,” Vittoria said.

The two also share their take on autonomous agents – “The expectation is that more and more software products won’t require users to click on buttons,” Vilanova said.

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The importance of small wins in developing a long-term AI strategy