- Ascott is redesigning its booking systems so that AI “agents” can research and book stays directly without human intervention.
- Ascott’s AI concierge, Cubby, is being upgraded from a simple chatbot to a “personal travel agent” capable of orchestrating entire itineraries.
- To stay visible, Ascott is making its property data “legible” to algorithms, ensuring AI engines recommend its hotels over competitors.
- Collaborations with Accenture (tech architecture), Amadeus (reservation systems), and EHL (staff training) aim to balance high-tech automation with human service.
It’s almost impressive how they managed to squeeze “Agentic Commerce,” “Machine-Readable Brand Information,” and “Model Context Protocol Frameworks” into one press release.
Basically, Ascott (a huge hotel/apartment group) is betting that in the future, you won’t book your own hotel. Instead, you’ll tell your AI agent (like a super-powered version of Siri or Gemini), “Find me a place in Singapore for three days with a kitchen and a gym.” Your AI will talk directly to their AI to book it.
They are essentially trying to “SEO” their hotels for robots rather than for humans.
Robots Booking Rooms
In a move that sounds like science fiction but is rapidly becoming industry reality, The Ascott Limited is shifting its focus toward “agentic commerce.” The company is preparing for a world where the first “audience” for a hotel isn’t a traveler looking at photos, but a software agent scanning data.
By re-architecting their digital core with Accenture, Ascott aims to create a “standardized agentic layer.” This allows AI agents to navigate Ascott’s 1,000+ properties globally, matching guest preferences to specific room attributes—such as a kitchen for a long-stay guest or a specific view for a tourist—with machine-like precision.
Since 2023, Ascott’s AI assistant “Cubby” has handled over 900,000 inquiries. The next phase of development will see Cubby move from “conversation to orchestration.” Instead of just answering questions about check-in times, the agentic version of Cubby will be empowered to compare options, plan multi-city itineraries, and complete financial transactions on the guest’s behalf.
The Human Advantage
Despite the heavy investment in AI, Ascott is partnering with the EHL Hospitality Business School to ensure its staff doesn’t get left behind. The goal is to automate the “snooze-fest” administrative tasks—like lead conversion and pricing logic—to free up hotel associates to focus on what AI cannot do: provide genuine warmth and “heartfelt” hospitality.
As CEO Kevin Goh puts it, “AI can power our operations, but only our people can exercise the judgment that turns a stay into a memory.”
