253 | Twisting the Night Away

Josh Ellis is the co-founder of Abra, a hospitality technology platform that helps hotels create more personalized guest experiences by connecting fragmented guest data across operational systems. After an unconventional journey through philosophy, meditation, consulting, and hyper-growth tech, Josh teamed up with his wife and hotelier, Dana, to solve one of hospitality's biggest operational challenges. Susan and Josh talk about data, differentiation, and delight—and why the future of hospitality depends on getting all three right.

***

• How to turn fragmented guest data into unforgettable guest experiences

• Why personalization is really a data problem

• How to build hotel software integrations without insider connections

• Why hotels need to create institutional memory that survives staff turnover

• How to connect existing hotel systems instead of ripping and replacing them

• When new technology solves problems—and when it creates them

• How to motivating frontline teams through gamification, not mandates

• What are the lessons from scaling one of the fastest-growing tech companies during COVID

• How to overcome the hospitality industry's lingering technology trauma

• Why hoteliers should view operational technology as a revenue driver instead of a cost center