Expedia Set for Soaring Success with Cutting-Edge Generative AI.

CTO Rathi Murthy Envisions Expedia's Data and AI Paving the Way for a Dual Transformation Strategy to Drive Online Travel Industry Growth.

The travel industry is on the verge of significant disruption, thanks to the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI). Expedia's CTO, Rathi Murthy, who oversees a vast online travel network with over 168 million loyalty members and more than 50,000 business partners, is confident in her company's ability to seize the opportunities presented by AI.

Expedia's top brands, including Travelocity, VRBO, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Trivago, Wotif, and CarRentals.com, are well-known, but the company's most valuable asset lies in its extensive data holdings. With a staggering 70 petabytes of traveller information stored on the AWS cloud, Expedia recognizes that data is at the core of its operations.

According to Murthy, data serves as the heartbeat of Expedia. Since assuming the role of CTO and President of Expedia Product and Technology two years ago, after her tenure as Verizon Media's CTO during the 5G era, she has leveraged the company's vast ecosystem to drive personalized experiences for travellers.

Expedia has embraced AI and machine learning, with recent advancements like ChatGPT propelling their efforts. By utilizing analytics and machine learning in their personalization strategy, Expedia aims to spearhead the evolution of the travel industry while accommodating the growing number of customers and partners.

Murthy highlights the significant role AI plays in Expedia's operations, noting that while AI is not new to the company, innovations like ChatGPT have made AI more accessible to a wider audience. The powerful combination of data and AI capabilities fuels Expedia's operations, enabling them to make approximately 600 billion AI predictions annually using their vast data repository.

In conclusion, Expedia's CTO, Rathi Murthy, is confident that AI will revolutionize the travel industry. Expedia's extensive data resources and their focus on personalization through AI and machine learning position them to lead the industry's transformation as they continue to expand their customer base and partnerships.

Dual-focused transformation

Expedia Group, originally a division of Microsoft before becoming an independent public company, has made significant strides since its inception in 1996. With over 21 brands and more than 50,000 B2B partners, the Seattle-based travel giant connects millions of properties, airlines, cruise companies, and car rental agencies.

Despite its impressive presence, Expedia sees ample room for growth. According to CTO Rathi Murthy, only a small fraction, approximately 20%, of travel professionals and consumers currently utilize online systems for booking reservations.

In a competitive landscape that includes rivals like TripAdvisor, Airbnb, and Booking.com, Expedia aims to leverage its potential in the online travel bookings market. Murthy has devised a two-fold strategy to outperform competitors and continue driving revenue growth, which exceeded $12 billion in 2022.

The core of her approach involves two interconnected transformations: an ongoing internal overhaul of Expedia's infrastructure and a leadership role in transforming the online travel industry itself. Murthy emphasizes that the travel industry is burdened by legacy technology and processes, and Expedia aims to position itself as the base platform for digitizing travel agencies and bringing them into the online realm.

Expanding beyond its own transformation, Expedia seeks to catalyse change throughout the entire travel industry. Murthy notes that while online travel agencies make up about 20% of the market, the remaining 80% comprises various players, including small entities, offline players, airlines, hotel chains, and direct bookings.

Expedia has meticulously crafted a phased plan for its digital transformation, including the migration of workloads to the AWS cloud, a process initiated prior to Murthy's tenure. Today, more than 90% of the company's data resides on AWS.

Murthy's mission aligns perfectly with the current landscape, as AI becomes increasingly accessible to ordinary consumers. While AI has traditionally been utilized by corporations and experts, the democratization of AI as a service allows for its adoption by a wider audience. Murthy recognizes this trend and anticipates that it will fuel further personalization opportunities in the travel industry.

Expedia's Bold Embrace of Opportunity

In order to enhance its conversational capabilities and provide a seamless booking experience, Expedia has recently incorporated two OpenAI plug-ins. One of these plug-ins, Expedia ChatGPT, allows users to transition from trip planning on ChatGPT to the Expedia platform, enabling a smooth booking process. The other plug-in, integrated within the Expedia application, empowers travelers to engage in conversation about various aspects of trip planning and conveniently save recommended hotels for future reference. Currently available on iOS devices in English, these plug-ins merge ChatGPT data with Expedia's travel-specific information, such as traveler preferences and pricing availability, generating powerful itineraries for consumers. With its mature AI capabilities and robust travel platform APIs, Expedia was able to swiftly deploy these plug-ins within a few weeks.

While early implementations of generative AI like ChatGPT show promise, analysts caution that further advancements are needed to deliver substantial impact. For instance, the ChatGPT feature within the Expedia app has certain limitations, such as the absence of real-time pricing information and the inability to book directly through the feature. However, if consumers do embrace chat-powered AI systems in conjunction with online booking, it could differentiate Expedia's experience from other travel agencies.

Experts suggest that Expedia is well-positioned for the AI era, especially if the company collaborates closely with its partners. Expedia's robust data platform, built on decades of travel and booking behavior, is considered crucial for delivering personalized booking and journey experiences in the post-pandemic landscape. Additionally, Expedia is assembling a talented team of data scientists to extract value from booking data and utilize AI and ML-driven functions for comprehensive analysis.

Ethical considerations surrounding AI are not lost on Expedia's CTO, Rathi Murthy, who emphasizes the importance of governance, ethics, and privacy in creating a fair marketplace. By closely monitoring these aspects and fostering collaboration within the industry, Expedia aims to utilize AI for positive outcomes and uphold best practices across the board.