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ZainTech partners with Mastercard to provide unique AI and Machine Learning data solutions to businesses
Representative Image ZainTech, the one-stop digital solutions powerhouse of Zain Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mastercard to create unique data-driven and innovative solutions for businesses across Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The partnership will help streamline clients’ operations, including enhancing productivity and cost savings. ZainTech and Zain B2B teams across the region are revolutionizing day-to-day business by streamlining their digital transformation journey, making it simpler and more seamless than ever before. The company is offering cutting-edge data solutions, facilitating digital and data-driven decision-making, to achieve clients’ corporate goals and drive growth. Commenting on the collaboration with Mastercard, Andrew Hanna, ZainTech CEO said: “The benefits of sophisticated data to productivity, safety, and cost-savings being driven by AI and machine learning are revolutionizing business processes. This partnership with Mastercard will catalyze the development of unique data solutions from which our enterprise clients will benefit directly.” Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President, Market Development, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Mastercard said: “Artificial Intelligence has become an essential part of building cutting-edge solutions that use data to deliver added value to end-users. We are delighted to support ZainTech, a leading regional digital solutions provider in strengthening its value proposition.” The MENA region is witnessing an acceleration in the application of big data analytics, transforming industrial and enterprise operations. According to advisory firm PwC, the potential contribution of AI to the global economy will peak at almost US$16 trillion by 2030 and the Middle East is expected to accrue approximately 2% of those benefits – equivalent to approximately US$320 billion. Through its collaboration with Mastercard, ZainTech anticipates an accelerated adoption of advanced analytics and AI and machine learning across the MENA region.
OYO to invest in machine learning-powered dynamic pricing
OYO Hotels & Homes has announced that it has acquired Danamica, a Copenhagen-based data science company, with machine learning and business intelligence capabilities, specialised in dynamic pricing. This acquisition is in line with OYO’s continued commitment to the company’s global vacation rentals business through strategic investments in technology products, processes, and people. Earlier in August, the company had committed to invest EUR 300 million (USD 328.94 million) in the vacation homes business in Europe, with a special focus on strengthening the relationship with homeowners and enabling them with the resources, including technology investments, required to deliver chic hospitality experiences. With the acquisition of Danamica, OYO will be able to drive top-line growth by leveraging dynamic pricing across all its brands - OYO Home, Belvilla and DanCenter, all of them already at the forefront of vacation rental pricing in Europe. Additionally, OYO and its real estate partners around the world will benefit using data sciences for improved yield. Starting with Europe, Danamica’s technology innovations will benefit OYO’s global vacation homes business. Commenting on the development, Maninder Gulati, global head of OYO Vacation and Urban Homes and chief strategy officer of OYO Hotels & Homes said: “The acquisition of Danamica will help us be more accurate with pricing, leading to higher efficiencies and yield for our real estate owners and value for money for our millions of global guests, both everyday travellers and city dwellers, that choose an OYO Vacation Homes as their abode.” “OYO and Danamica have a shared understanding of the importance and impact of AI and data science. Like OYO, we recognise the untapped potential in the vacation rental industry that can be fulfilled with a data-driven approach,” said Mads Westberg and Rune Larsen, founders of Danamica. Similar to airlines, and ride-sharing companies, OYO has introduced dynamic pricing in the hospitality industry to create a level-playing ground even for an independent or small hotelier or homeowner.
TripAdvisor launches machine learning tech to auto-select primary photos
TripAdvisor has launched a new feature for primary property photos, which uses machine learning to auto select high-performing images for accommodation listings. Let’s be honest. We judge accounts by its primary photo before we decide to click through. But it’s not because we’re too judgemental. It’s just that first impressions last and with so many ubiquitous accounts online, we just don’t have the time to analyse them all. Now on TripAdvisor, you may have seen those badly taken photos; a slightly blurred selfie in a corridor; a close-up of the bathroom taps at a B&B; or even a picture of a road outside an inn that could be anywhere. These badly taken shots could end up as the primary photo for an accommodation business on TripAdvisor when an owner neglects to choose the proper photo. "79% of TripAdvisor travellers said that photos were important when choosing to book an accommodation" “We know that good photos are a key part in attracting new guests,” said Martin Verdon-Roe, VP B2B hotel product and marketing, TripAdvisor. “According to research, 79% of TripAdvisor travellers said that photos were important when choosing to book an accommodation and in more recent live site testing with partners, we can see that optimised photo selection has been shown to increase user click-through rates.” To help businesses on the platform choose the right photo, TripAdvisor launched a new auto-select feature for primary photos. The update uses advanced machine learning technology to evaluate and select the best available primary photo for the business, considering both professional and traveller photos. There are a number of factors which impact engagement and the tool works by analysing these factors like image resolution, orientation and sharpness, whether there are people in the photo. The machine learning has been programmed to select photos which drive higher levels of engagement from travellers, putting businesses at ease while creating a better-curated gallery on the platform. Verdon-Roe added: “This exciting new feature capitalizes on our strength in machine learning with insights from millions of professional and traveller photos across TripAdvisor to help properties make the best first impression to our global travellers.” Even with the update, users can still manually select their primary photo by opting out of the new auto-select feature at any time via the Management Centre.
OTA Insight to help hotels leverage the power of AI and Machine Learning
I've been impressed by the progress with product and customers OTA Insight has made in 2017...they have been Crushing It! Don't look for them to slowdown anytime soon they have just a secured $20 million round lead by Eight Roads Ventures. OTA Insight is a rocking SaaS business targeting the hospitality sector. They have a cloud based intelligence platform that helps hotels improve revenue (and margin). They do this with real time access to competitor rates, ratings, reviews, channel insights, and demand forecasts. The company says in a press release today that they will leverage the funding to further build out the platform with a focus on machine learning and AI capabilities. "Our customer-first approach has allowed OTA Insight to create a simple-to-use platform that addresses the needs of revenue managers across a broad range of accommodation types," Adriaan Coppens, CEO and co-founder of OTA Insight. The platform boasts more than 16,000 properties in 134 countries as customers. Some of the global and regional-leading hotels that use OTA Insight's platform include: Carlson Rezidor, Hilton, Accorhotels, Louvre, Choice, Best Western, Kimpton, SBE and NH Hotels. For more information on OTA Insight, visit www.otainsight.com.
Cloudbeds hires AI visionaries, Amit Popat and Nikhil Shah
Cloudbeds announced the strategic hiring of AI visionaries Amit Popat, Head of Machine Learning, and Nikhil Shah, Head of Data Science. This move marks a significant investment in artificial intelligence by Cloudbeds, aimed at developing unparalleled applications for the hotel industry and ushering in a new era of what’s possible for hoteliers. Leveraging over a decade of rich, comprehensive data from Cloudbeds’ industry-leading hospitality platform, this step toward integrating intelligence and machine learning into the platform will empower hoteliers to unlock insights and enable automation and real-time recommendations spanning the property’s entire operations. Popat and Shah, both mathematicians who met at the University of Cambridge, bring a wealth of experience in utilizing AI and machine learning to translate advanced analytics into tangible value for hoteliers. Their expertise in applying causal inference to hospitality data, combined with Cloudbeds’ extensive data sets, will position the company at the forefront of technological innovation in this sector. Adam Harris, Co-Founder and CEO of Cloudbeds, commented: "The hospitality industry has long sought a solution to break down departmental silos, enabling revenue, marketing, and operations teams to work together collaboratively to drive profitability across the entire hotel. Amit and Nikhil are two of the brightest minds in AI and ML, and they’re helping Cloudbeds achieve just that. These individuals are scary brilliant, and they know hospitality. All we have to do is give them a place to thrive with the resources they need and plenty of snacks. We are more than excited about the applications this will have for our hotelier customers." Popat is a distinguished machine-learning expert with a remarkable career spanning senior roles at Valtech and London Town Group. He went on to establish his own AI software consultancy firm, where he pioneered cutting-edge AI analytics and marketing solutions for FTSE-250 companies and multinational giants such as easyJet, Shell Energy, and Herbert Smith Freehills. Shah holds a PhD in large-scale computational optimization from Imperial College London. He went on to co-found S-Cube, an award-winning energy tech spin-out from his PhD. Shah has since worked with global industry supermajors such as Chevron, Woodside and Petrobras, spearheading impactful research and practical applications in the upstream energy sector. His capacity for innovation and strategic foresight has led to significant algorithmic advancements for optimizing high-stakes drilling investment decisions. Together, Popat and Shah co-founded the AI analytics and e-marketing platform Hotel Cloud in 2020, an intelligence platform designed to maximize revenue at every stage of the guest journey. Their combined expertise in creating practical applications of data science and machine learning across hospitality management will now fuel Cloudbeds’ vision of developing the industry’s most comprehensive, intelligent platform serving hoteliers.
AI-based project to optimize vessel performance forecasting concludes testing
Maritime technology company Yara Marine Technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) application developers Molflow, and Chalmers University of Technology and social science specialists from Halmstad University and Gothenburg University have collaborated over 3 years to develop and trial an AI-based semi-autonomous voyage planning system. Initiated in August 2020, the Via Kaizen project explores how AI and machine learning can enable more energy-efficient voyage planning for ship operators. Funded by the Swedish Transport Administration Trafikverket, the project utilized pre-existing tools, to enable a higher degree of digitalization and automation in vessel operations. These included Yara Marine’s propulsion optimization system FuelOpt and performance management and vessel data reporting tool Fleet Analytics, as well as Molflow’s vessel modelling system Slipstream. Existing work practices onboard and user needs were analyzed during the design process to ensure the technology facilitated processes and decisions with the greatest impact on energy efficiency. The resulting system was trialed onboard two vessels, a PCTC car carrier operated by UECC and a Rederiet Stenersen product tanker. The wide-ranging results indicated successful energy efficiency optimization based on estimated time of arrival (ETA), with one of the two trial vessels opting to continue using the system. Mikael Laurin, Head of Vessel Optimization at Yara Marine Technologies, said, “The Via Kaizen project speaks directly to where shipping is at the moment — where the intersections of digitalization, decarbonization and crewing determine our success in addressing climate change. The use of AI and machine learning to plan and predict energy-efficient voyages has significance for an industry looking to lower emissions while addressing rising fuel costs. Similarly, new technologies can streamline operations but require collaboration and buy-in from stakeholders across the board, necessitating crew familiarization and training, proactive design, and new corporate strategies. As a result, the insights and information gained from the project carry broader significance for our industry’s future.” The Via Kaizen project demonstrated that incorporating machine-learning algorithms for improved predictive modelling of ship propulsion power can result in more accurate performance forecasting and optimization. It also evidenced the necessity of constructive collaboration between technology developers and users, as well as between ship operators and their customers. Joakim Möller, CEO at Moflow, said, “The Via Kaizen project afforded an invaluable opportunity to explore and advance industry understandings of the role big data, data handling and model development can play in supporting lower emission strategies and maximized fuel efficiencies. Recent advances in vessel data tracking and analysis, weather information, and more can be used to gauge where operations have the potential to be streamlined. As the maritime industry seeks to utilize good data to inform decision-making, AI and machine learning can play a key role in processing and simplifying available data for clear, actionable outcomes.” Throughout the trials, crew played a key role in determining the success of energy efficient voyages. This shows the necessity giving ship crews and management every opportunity to engage with, understand and embrace the value of AI-powered ship operation support technology in assisting daily operations onboard and ashore. Martin Viktorelius of Halmstad University said, “Maritime’s ability to successfully decarbonize is dependent on its highly skilled workforce, and necessitates that we invest in creating seafarer support for digitalization and decarbonization. Clean technologies must prioritize intuitive, user-friendly interfaces and understand existing operations to maximize crew support and uptake of AI-powered solutions. The Via Kaizen project engaged with crew to explore and establish key parameters that crew indicated hindered their support of voyage efficiency.” Simon Larsson from Gothenburg University said, “The Via Kaizen project documented potential challenges to implementing energy efficient voyages — notably, the impact of crew training and corporate processes that either facilitated or hindered the effective use of AI tools to improve efficiency. These findings are not specific to the project and have wider ramifications for an industry seeking advanced solutions to rapidly reduce emissions. While crew training will afford a much-needed bridge to build understanding and accelerate support for AI-powered voyage efficiency solutions among seafarers, it is just as important that we ensure effective channels of communication with management and corporate processes.” Following the conclusion of this project, additional funding has been secured from the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova to further explore a selection of its findings.
Egencia enhances travel approval with first of its kind AI recommendation tool
Egencia has launched a unique recommendation tool that uses machine learning to automatically generate personalised settings for their customers’ travel approval processes. The new tool will significantly simplify and reduce the time that it takes for companies to set up travel approval workflows on Egencia’s platform. In addition, the company announced future plans to integrate with the Slack enterprise messaging app, adding a new channel for quick and easy travel approvals. Setting up travel approval processes can be complex and time-consuming. Corporate travel managers must configure multiple variables across all travel options and different locations. Egencia’s travel approval recommendation tool generates tailored recommendations for approval workflows that can be implemented immediately across online, offline and mobile app bookings. The approval recommendation tool analyses a company’s needs based on industry, geographical location, company size, projected annual travel spend and the number of travellers. A machine learning model, built with data from over 65,000 approval workflow combinations used by thousands of customers around the world, finds best practices that match the company’s profile. The result is an instant recommendation for a travel approval policy that can be implemented in just a few clicks. Francisca Zanoguera, VP of Data and Analytics, comments: ‘Our customers expect us to provide data insights to help improve their travel programmes. We are going one step further to make it even easier to use those insights to quickly create personalised, effective approval policies. By powering our travel management tools with AI, we continue to deliver an intelligent travel experience for travel managers and travellers.’ Egencia’s most recent machine learning innovation was its market-leading dynamic hotel rate cap policy. Egencia also plans to integrate the travel approval tool with business messaging app Slack in 2022. This will further streamline the approval process for those that approve travel, saving time and effort. Egencia’s data shows that approvers respond to requests quickly, with action taken on 70 per cent of approval requests within one hour, and on 90 per cent within 24 hours. The upcoming integration with Slack will let approvers choose to complete those tasks in their preferred channel, whether it’s the messaging app, online or via email. This makes it easier to continue to respond rapidly to travel requests and help to ensure efficient policy management.
Avian: How a startup is making life better for travel agents all around the world
Challenged with the self-appointed task of revolutionising the way commission and incentives are managed by airlines and travel agents (TAs); Avian is a startup on a mission to drag the complex and convoluted process kicking and screaming into the future, with the application of some 21st-century smarts, deep data and machine learning. To find out more about the company and its plans I spoke to CEO and co-founder, Mickey Haslavsky -- listed in 2017's under 30 list by Forbes magazine -- to discover how exactly Avian are taking on this herculean task and what is in store for TAs and suppliers in the future. (L to R) co-founder and CTO, Oran Epelbaum, alongside founder and CEO, Mickey Haslavsky TD: Before we can into the real meat of the interview, tell me a little bit about your background and how you first conceived of the idea, that has become Avian. Mickey Haslavsky (MH): Well, I come from a technology background and previously co-founded a company called RapidAPI, which was, and still is, the largest API market place in the world, allowing for developers to connect to APIs, using one simple hub and one platform, to browse through all the API’s which exist in the world. My cofounder Oran Epelbaum, an essential component in Avian, has twice been the CTO of two large cybersecurity companies in Israel. We had been exposed to the world of NDC (new distribution capability). And as NDC is mainly about API’s I, naturally, had an interest started watching NDC APIs for a long time. "Nobody speaks about the future of business and commercial communication" When Oran and I teamed up and began working to help distribution and sales within the airline industry, we soon saw the problem airlines had with keeping track of the commission and incentives data. Then we realised this an issue throughout the industry and from there we began working with agencies as well. We began by asking why has NDC adoption been so slow, and what we realised was that everything is around technology in the distribution space -- but nobody speaks about the future of business and commercial communication between TAs and airlines. We asked, specifically, how will TA’s be incentivised to use new products and distribution methods. This is a big problem for TAs, who struggle to manage backend and frontend incentives, coming from potentially hundreds of airlines, at any given moment -- because they are paper-based. Conversely, the struggle for airlines, or indeed any supplier, is the management a lot of different incentives, from hundreds or even thousands of different agencies all around the world. This has become a very big problem. TD: OK, so you have an idea for a concept, how did you then put it into action? MH: Basically we developed online software which allows TAs to scan all of their backend agreements – all their incentives and commission contracts with airlines – allowing them to match that information with their sales performance data and show them how far off they are from achieving the targets we set up for them. what is the ROI on each one of the commission schemes and the sales of the airlines they work with, as well as providing real-time insights into what is the best product for them to sell at any given moment. On the other side, we allow suppliers – currently airlines but in the future hotels, cruise lines and car rentals – to create real-time incentive campaigns and deliver them straight to the travel agent's computer screen. TD: Are you the only guys doing this? MH: Well, there are analytics tools available that allow TAs to manually fill their commissions and incentives. But we are not taking it into the analytics level, we use deep technology and machine learning and literally given our partners insights into their supplier relationships and ROI they have on their sales. TD: What have been the biggest challenges of launching Avian? MH: When you enter the B2B world you can see a lot of challenges with data management and consolidating data all into one place, and we have had a lot of hard times building a machine that will analyse the data and make sure we can extract the most useful insights out of from this information. We are talking about billions of dollars in sales we are looking at and it is very hard to get these specific pints and information. But this is the amazing part of what we have built it literally allows you to have your big data machine learning algorithms as a service -- that’s a big deal TD: What stage are you guys at in the development of the operation? MH: We have raised 2 million dollars so far, from Village Global, network venture capitalists from San Francisco, andJourney Ventures a travel VC from Israel – along with other angel investors, of course And we already have TAs from the US, Europe and Africa now using our software, who are very happy with the service. TD: Where do you see yourselves in five or ten years? MH: Looking forward we can see how complex the booking experience is going to become. There are so many booking engines and pipelines which are evolving the market -- NDC for airlines is one example but you can see this in the hospitality industry too -- and the complexity of managing commission and incentives through all these booking engines is just going to get bigger, bigger and bigger. We want to be the place where those suppliers and distributors have the ability to communicate and manage business relationships in real-time, creating opportunities and collaborations, together, digitally by leveraging this amazing technology and insights. TD: What does the future hold for Avian? MH: Today we have the ability to track and manage incentive agreements for TAs, but we are about to launch an API that will allow online booking tools and OTAs, and even travel management companies with online booking engines, to not only track the incentive and commission agreements they have but also implement them into their search engines, imparting the ability to bring much better prices content and profitability to TAs in the very near future. We’re about to release that in a couple of weeks and I am super excited to, as it might just change the way things work in the supplier space today.
Global airline CEOs set to take stage at WAF 2025
World Aviation Festival (WAF), the world’s largest aviation tech event, has unveiled its headline speaker line-up for 2025, featuring top executives from some of the world’s most influential airlines and airports. Taking place from 7-9 October at FIL in Lisbon, the 2025 edition will see the CEOs of IAG, TAP Air Portugal, RwandAir, IndiGo, Vueling, and others take to the stage – sharing exclusive insights into the strategies shaping the future of commercial aviation. With 600 speakers and more than 4,500 aviation professionals expected to attend, WAF 2025 promises a packed agenda covering AI and machine learning, digital transformation, customer experience, airline retail, and sustainability. Daniel Boyle, General Manager of Transport at WAF organiser Terrapinn, said: “From airline CEOs and airport visionaries to digital innovators and sustainability leaders, this year’s WAF programme is our most ambitious yet. It’s a rare opportunity to hear from the people leading the biggest shifts in aviation today – those driving strategy, deploying new tech, and setting the pace for global aviation.” This year’s WAF speaker roster includes: Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA Luís Rodrigues, Chairman and CEO, TAP Air Portugal Yvonne Makolo, CEO, RwandAir Luis Gallego, CEO, IAG Ricky Smith, General Manager, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Theo Panagiotoulias, CEO, Star Alliance Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports Company Carolina Martinoli, President and CEO, Vueling Vivian Cheung, CEO, Hong Kong International Airport The event will feature sixteen conference tracks across three days, each designed to spotlight key innovations and actionable solutions for airlines, airports, and travel tech providers. With 400+ exhibitors, live demos, and dedicated networking spaces, attendees can expect meaningful engagement with decision-makers from across the industry.
Stay22 unlocks more stays in Asia for partners through collaboration with Agoda
Stay22 expands its global reach by adding Agoda’s inventory via their new partnership with Vio to its solution. With 4.5 million accommodation options worldwide, Agoda has one of the world’s largest inventories and is particularly strong in Asia. With Agoda now available via Vio, Stay22 partners can earn more from Asia focused travel content with trusted inventory and no extra set up. How will this benefit Stay22 partners? Through Stay22, software solution publishers and content creators can now track and auto-monetize Agoda links, as the company’s inventory is now live for Stay22 partners through LinkSwap, via the Stay22 script, and the Allez Generator. That means any existing Agoda links are automatically monetised, with no extra setup required. As Stay22’s head of supply Misty Brewer explains it: "The integration of Agoda’s inventory is great news for our affiliate partners as it unlocks new revenue opportunities through expanded access to Asia-based accommodations now available in our tools. We also expect this integration to drive deeper collaboration with Asian content creators." What will this mean for bloggers and other media partners? Stay22 offers affiliate revenue generation opportunities for bloggers and media partners. Through artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, the travel tech company is positioning itself as the layer that connects content to commerce across any medium where travel intent exists, as it aims to be the bridge that turns that intent into revenue for content creators. It all starts with the Stay22 Script, a lightweight, drop-in integration that activates monetization across the partners’ sites in minutes. It powers tools like Nova , an AI solution that spots high-intent readers and delivers the right offer at the right time which increases bookings by up to 50 percent. That said, Stay22 remains committed to continuous innovation to better serve its partners. In 2025, it launched two new tools: the Stay22 Map Button and the Script Builder, and more tools are already in the pipeline, getting ready to help partners boost revenue and simplify monetization. The Canadian startup is purpose-built to support publishers at scale while ensuring reliable tracking, as well as payouts, and helping brands maintain performance without compromising efficiency.
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