AI Experimentation in Hospitality and Beyond: Practical Ideas for Immediate Impact - Chris Kluis

Jul 14, 2025

Chris Kluis, VP of Product Operations & Data at Actabl, shares insights from his family's inspiring legacy in AI. He emphasizes why experimentation is crucial for leveraging AI in hospitality. Chris discusses practical AI applications, from enhancing advertising to digitizing workflows. He encourages hoteliers to treat AI like a new employee for maximum impact. The conversation also touches on effective prompting for AI and the balance between technology and human oversight, shaping a dynamic future for the industry.

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ANECDOTE

Family Roots in AI

Chris Kluis shares his family's deep history with AI, including a knighted aunt pioneering AI law frameworks.
He feels like an imposter, yet experiments heavily with AI in practical ways.

ANECDOTE

Accidental Hospitality Tech Journey

Chris accidentally started his career in hospitality tech after meeting a gaming contact needing help with SaaS.
This led to a role helping a company grow and eventually becoming VP of product.

INSIGHT

AI as Evolving Non-Deterministic Human

AI acts like a non-deterministic human, capable of unpredictable answers but powerful pattern recognition.
Unlike humans, once trained, AI retains knowledge forever, improving rapidly over short time frames.

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In this episode, Chris Kluis, VP of Product Operations & Data at Actabl, discusses his family's unique history with artificial intelligence, how early curiosity sparked his career journey, and why experimentation matters more than theory. Chris provides practical advice for hospitality professionals looking to start leveraging AI today, shares lessons from implementing AI at scale, and explores how digitization, effective prompting, and careful data management can unlock real business value.

We cover:

0:00 – Intro
01:35 – How it started: Chris’s family history with AI
07:33 – What is AI? Definition and how it works
09:54 – Use case: AI for advertising
11:58 – Starting with personal AI use cases
13:43 – Encouraging curiosity and learning
14:57 – Personalized podcasts with NotebookLM
16:21 – AI podcasts replacing humans?
17:21 – Trust and AI
19:08 – Importance of “Human in the loop”
20:22 – HITEC 2025: AI in hotel tech today
23:21 – Can AI expand opportunities?
25:36 – Hoteliers: Start by digitizing workflows
29:13 – “Treat AI like a new employee”
33:17 – Higher-order thinking and AI
35:51 – Building repeatable AI systems
36:56 – ChatGPT vs Gemini vs other LLMs
39:56 – What makes a good AI prompt?
41:26 – Juxtaposition of new vs old
44:21 – Skills to develop to stay relevant
46:18 – Personal and professional next steps
49:03 – Voice-powered AI
50:50 – Corporate AI policies
51:58 – Where Chris learns about AI
54:26 – How AI will shape life and work

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Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands