Hospitality is now a technology business

The hospitality industry is at an inflection point. AI is everywhere. Every vendor has a roadmap. Every hotel group is being told that if they don't move fast, they will be left behind.

And yet, in a conversation with Mike Rawson, CIO of citizenM, a very different philosophy emerged, grounded not in speed or novelty, but in clarity, control, and intent.

Hospitality businesses cannot exist without technology anymore

One of the clearest statements in the conversation reframed the entire discussion: technology is no longer a support layer in hospitality. It is the business.

You can't do a business without tech these days. So my final view is that the CIOs and CTOs will essentially… are the big callers over the next five to 10 years. The CIOs and the CTOs will move into the CEO role.

Mike Rawson, CIO, citizenM

This is not about tools or systems. It is about leadership. When technology underpins every guest interaction, every operational workflow, and every decision, the role of technology leaders fundamentally changes. CIOs and CTOs are not just servicing, supporting, or enabling the business. They are shaping its future.

For hotel brands, this means strategy, guest experience, and technology are no longer separate conversations.

The industry is drowning in AI promises

AI is moving fast, but not always thoughtfully. Mike does not shy away from calling this out directly.

We're drowning in AI. AI promises, and I just don't think at the moment anyone's really spent a lot of time thinking about the security and privacy elements that needs to occur to basically support it.

Mike Rawson

AI adoption without a clear understanding of risk, privacy, and data exposure is not innovation, it is debt. And in people-centric, real-world industries like hospitality, that debt snowballs into liability quickly. citizenM's perspective is refreshingly sober: enthusiasm without responsibility does not scale.

The real AI question is control, not capability

Much of the AI conversation focuses on what models can do. citizenM focuses on what they are allowed to do.

What are you enabling the AI to do? How much power has it got? How do you control the changes that it's got? How do you back it out?

Mike Rawson

These questions go beyond product features. They touch governance, trust, and accountability. AI that is not bounded by permissions, workflows, or oversight introduces operational and reputational risk. citizenM's approach suggests that the future belongs not to the most powerful systems, but to the most controlled ones.

Capability without intent is dangerous. Capability with guardrails can be transformative.

Security and privacy must come before scale

Rather than racing ideas into production, citizenM prioritises discipline with a clear process: proof of concept, then pilot, then rollout.

The first thing it would do is be checking the stuff that wants to go to production.

Mike Rawson

Experimentation is encouraged, but production is earned. New capabilities do not scale by default; they pass through scrutiny. This mindset is especially important as AI systems become more autonomous and interconnected. For hospitality leaders, this is a reminder that trust is built before scale, not introduced as an afterthought.

The business is simpler than the technology

One of Mike's more subtle but important points is that complexity in hospitality often comes from the technology layer, not from the business itself.

I believe that the business, it's not as complex as the tech, and therefore you can't do anything without the tech.

Mike Rawson

Hospitality at its core is relatively simple: sell rooms, serve guests, resolve issues, create a good experience. What makes it feel complex is the accumulation of systems, integrations, and tools layered on top over time. If the technology becomes more complex than the business it supports, it stops being an enabler and starts becoming friction.

The implication is clear: technology should reduce perceived complexity, not amplify it.

Intentionality over adoption

Even though Mike is convinced that AI will be the number-one disruptive factor in the hospitality industry over the next 10 years, the conversation is not a manifesto about AI. It is a conversation about intentionality.

citizenM's approach suggests that the future of hospitality technology will not be defined by who adopts the most tools, but by who asks the hardest questions before adopting any at all. That gives CTOs and CIOs a pretty big role these days. And with that role comes great responsibility.