Airbnb Uses Artificial Intelligence to Transform Their Business

While established hotel chains such as Wyndham and Hyatt experimented with apps for guest reservations, Airbnb managed to shake up the hospitality industry in a few years by combining a straightforward concept with effective technology and strategy. 
 

How AI Helps Airbnb Stay on Top

Below are a few ways artificial intelligence (AI) and Airbnb have united to enhance the matching process between guests and hosts, which is a crucial factor that sets them apart as the hotel industry's most rapidly expanding competitor:

• Predictive search: Airbnb previously used factors like trip date, duration and price to match guests with relevant listings. With the adoption of machine learning algorithms, they now provide more tailored guest recommendations, increasing the likelihood of a successful booking. They use AI to analyze factors such as the places guests click on, the places guests view and host preferences to rank listings guests are most likely to book.
• Predictive pricing: After analyzing data such as location, seasonality and demand, Airbnb technology uses AI to suggest optimal price points for hosts. The algorithm considers factors such as property characteristics, past booking trends, local events and competitor prices to provide suggested prices that are more likely to attract bookings while maximizing revenue. 
• Customer profiling: Airbnb uses an AI algorithm to evaluate the trustworthiness of guests by conducting a background check to determine personality traits such as conscientiousness, openness, narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. The algorithm scans social media profiles to identify guests with these traits, as well as fake profiles or false information. Moreover, guests will be penalized if their profile contains certain keywords, images depicting drugs or alcohol, or hate websites. 

By leveraging AI technology, Airbnb can offer customers the accommodations they seek at unbeatable prices. This innovative business model makes it highly unlikely customers will switch to other platforms, at least until a new disruptor emerges.
 

What We Can Learn from Airbnb

Airbnb has demonstrated that disruption can occur unexpectedly and affect any business. If companies want to be aggressive, they must be willing to step out of their comfort zones.

In the past, radical experimentation was primarily associated with startups that spearheaded innovation. Now, even established companies that resisted change are now recognizing the benefits of using technologies such as AI and machine learning. While the mid-market tends to shy away from significant business restructuring, there is a growing trend toward responding to threats and becoming the threat themselves.
 

How Airbnb Plans to Use AI Moving Forward

Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, explained the company's latest plans to integrate AI into the user experience:

• Customer service: The future of customer service will use AI technology to enhance the capabilities of customer service agents. Imagine an agent responsible for navigating through 72 different user policies, some of which are as long as 100 pages. It can be daunting for the agent to find the relevant policy to resolve a customer's issue. AI will streamline Airbnb's customer relationship management (CRM) process, making it faster for the agent and the customer. The goal is for customers to have a seamless experience without realizing AI is involved. 
• Review summaries: AI will help summarize reviews for listings with excessive reviews so guests can get familiar with the property quicker. 
• A more efficient listing process: AI will make listing a property faster for hosts. The photo-to-text feature identifies a property's amenities based on photos the host uploads and generates an amenities list. 

 

Artificial Intelligence for the Mid-Market

Although AI is often considered too intricate for mid-size businesses, it is feasible to adopt a scalable approach to enhance resilience and gain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. Collaborating with an experienced team offers businesses a well-defined, step-by-step strategy for developing AI solutions that prioritize business objectives and identify effective technology investments to achieve them.
 

Level up With BDO Digital

 

BDO Digital is a leading technology consulting firm focusing on helping companies integrate AI into their business operations. Our team of professionals can assist in identifying areas where AI can be implemented to improve efficiency, productivity and profitability. We offer a range of services, including AI strategy development, data analytics, machine learning and natural language processing. 

Our approach is tailored to each client's unique needs so our solutions align with their business goals. We work closely with our clients so they thoroughly understand how AI can help their organization and provide ongoing support for successful implementation. With our skills, companies can harness the power of AI to gain a competitive edge in their industry. 

Contact BDO Digital today to learn more about how we can take your business to new heights!