The Man Behind Hospitality’s Top Events on the Biggest Threat to AI

As artificial intelligence gets better at answering questions, analyzing data and automating work, the things it can’t replicate—bringing people together, building relationships, telling stories and making someone feel genuinely seen—could become more valuable than ever.

On this episode of Suite Success, host Katie Cline sits down with Alexi Khajavi, Group President of Hospitality and Operational Real Estate at Questex, where he oversees an international portfolio of some of hospitality’s leading media platforms and live events, including The Hospitality Show and NYU IHIF.

After a career spanning online travel, launching an airline in Central America, hospitality, real estate and events around the world, Alexi has built a career around connecting people. He shares why getting the right people in the room matters more than ever, how to make the most of industry events, what the best networkers and speakers do differently, and why the relationships built in those rooms can ultimately lead to some of the biggest opportunities in business.

The conversation also explores the forces shaping hospitality today, from changing travel behavior and the return of midscale hotels to labor, AI and the growing importance of storytelling. Alexi shares why simply delivering data is no longer enough, what hospitality can teach other industries about making people feel valued and why, in an increasingly AI-driven world, the most powerful thing hospitality has going for it might be its humanity.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome to Suite Success

00:36 Meet Alexi Khajavi

01:34 Career Path to Questex

06:15 Global Citizen Mindset

10:54 Starting an Airline in Costa Rica

15:11 Learning Spanish