Hospitality Fluency: Service Winners and Whiffs in the Age of AI

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Artificial intelligence is no longer just a tool; it’s starting to resemble an entirely new species. This raises a fundamental question: What remains distinctly human?

In this Keynote, Bruce Tracey, Professor of Management at Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration, and Eric Sinoway ’96, CEO of Pravi, introduce Hospitality FluencyTM as a universal language of human interaction. When technology takes over more of the work, the differentiator becomes how we listen, respond, and connect.

Professor Tracey and Mr. Sinoway bring this concept to life with vivid examples of when people, processes, and technology succeed or fail. The session challenges leaders to determine what can be delegated to AI and what must remain the province of human judgment.

What You'll Learn

• How to leverage AI’s scalable intelligence while ensuring judgment, strategic decisions, and accountability remain human responsibilities
• How to apply the Humans Still Matter® operating lens to decide what to delegate to AI, what to monitor, and what must stay under human control
• How the loss of critical skills like listening, empathy, and presence in an AI‑enabled world undermines competitive advantage
• How Hospitality FluencyTM works as a measurable, teachable “language” of human interaction and why many organizations underinvest in it
• How to spot Service Winners and WhiffsTM in real time and what they reveal about breakdowns among people, process, and technology

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