Technology no longer sits quietly in the background of hospitality — it is the business. At the center of this transformation is the modern CIO. He or she is no longer just a systems administrator, but a change architect, a translator, and a decision maker.
The first-ever HFTP CIO Summit EMEA held in Barcelona was a tangible example of this shift. What started as a discussion about AI, data and infrastructure quickly morphed into something much more profound. A shared realization that traditional CIO archetypes are dissolving. The role is being reimagined in real-time — fluid, cross-functional, and increasingly guest-facing.
The attendees were asked to answer a seemingly simple question. “How has your role changed as technology advances?” Answers were not just illuminating but also revolutionary. It’s not about the tools anymore. It’s all about timing. Systeme are not relevant anymore. It’s all about strategy. It’s not about technical support anymore. Business leadership is the key.
From Infrastructure to Influence
Andrew Evers of Rocco Forte Hotels captured the essence of this shift: “We’re no longer just maintaining networks — we’re shaping the future of the guest experience.” In luxury hospitality, where meaning is often crafted through nuance, the convergence of guest service and technology is no longer theoretical — it’s operational. Evers describes it as “hand thought” service, curated experiences that are delivered by humans but enhanced by smart systems.
At Watergate Bay Hotel, Judi Blakeburn AI is not a futuristic technology, but a necessity of the present. “AI isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity to protect our margins and help our teams do more with less,” she explained. With labour constrained and expectations rising, she’s deploying AI not as a replacement for human effort, but as an amplifier — particularly across marketing, HR, and legal. In her own words, “AI empowers humans.” It allows us more freedom to achieve our goals.
Operators or Orchestrators:
Barcelona did not just redefine responsibilities; it also changed the mindset. CIOs no longer operate. They’re orchestrators.
Mark Gage Tanzerra Resorts. He rose from bellman up to executive director and now embeds operational empathy in his tech teams. “If you haven’t worked a front-desk on a bad night, you’ll never understand IT priorities for hospitality,” said he. His mission is to make IT think like operations — to reframe technical issues through the eyes of the guest.
Firmdale Hotels’ Leon Smallbone is observing a decentralization of the innovation. Departments are no longer passive recipients of technology — they’re active participants. “Every department is becoming its own tech expert — our job is to enable, not dictate.” The IT department is transforming from a gatekeeper into a guide and from dictating rules to collaborating.
You can also read about how to get in touch with us. Fergus Boyd — advisor, former CIO, and now strategic consigliere to startups and boards — doesn’t mince words. “Running servers can be boring. The real impact is when you connect tech to your customers and your cash flow. He wants more CIOs in roles that can influence commercial strategy and not just digital implementation. His prediction? In the next year, robotic process automation (RPA) will have a greater practical impact than generative artificial intelligence. While AI grabs the headlines, RPA gets stuff done.
Beyond the Buzzwords
The AI hype can be overwhelming, but CIOs from the summit managed to cut through it.
Mustafa Gokcen The message from Cheval Collection is simple: the hype surrounding AI that guests interact with obscures its real utility. He believes that “the real power of AI is found in the back office.” Gokcen is focused on automation that frees up time for financial analysis and revenue strategy — not chatbots, but business intelligence.
He does, however, point out a major bottleneck: Integration. Over a hundred platforms are managed, so the real challenge isn’t getting data, but consolidating that information into a unified source of truth. “Innovation is nothing without integration.” Coherence is the first step to building intelligence.
Marco Correia of Mercan Properties takes this one step further with a practical — and frankly brilliant — application: AI for housekeeping inspections. Imagine being able to film a room, and immediately know what is missing. This is the type of AI that can change operations. It’s real, measurable and redefines quality control. Regulation is a big issue, says Correia. Particularly in Europe, when profiling customers with AI is a concern for legal and ethical issues. The new CIO needs to be proficient in technology, as well as in compliance.
Data, Control, And The New Tech Stack
This new generation of tech leaders is asserting control — not just over infrastructure, but over the architecture of experience.
At Belmond, Tiago Alves Daniel Gonzalez and his team have created their own booking engine in order to bypass the limitations of commercial platforms. “We built our own booking engine to take full control — like Apple, but for hospitality.” They now manage the full stack — from PMS integration to API layers — creating an ecosystem they can shape, secure, and scale.
OKU Hotels, an ambitious brand with a young age, has placed its faith in cybersecurity. Alejandro Vidales’s VP Technology is building a foundational system that integrates fraud prevention, threat response and data loss protection into one platform. “Security has moved beyond the back-office. It’s an enabler of business. Trust is currency in hospitality.”
Perhaps the most paradigm-shifting insight came anonymously from a major international group: “The PMS is no longer the center—CRM is the new brain of the hotel tech stack.” This thesis redefines where value is created—not in room assignments but in guest profiles, not in check-ins but in behavioral insights. CRM is no longer a marketing tool—it’s the axis of personalization, loyalty, and lifetime value.
Bottom Line
The CIO yesterday was responsible for keeping the lights on. The CIO today illuminates a path to success.
The discussions held in Barcelona were neither speculative nor ad hoc. The discussions in Barcelona were urgent, grounded and unmistakably transformational. Hospitality has never needed CIOs more — but it has never needed This is what you should do: It needs a CIO who is able to lead with vision and listen like an operator while executing like an engineer.
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Next stop: HITEC 2025. Not just another conference — the next checkpoint in an industry being rewritten by its own technologists.
