​AI in Hospitality Summit

​What Hospitality Operators Will Actually Buy, Adopt & Scale

​AI is reshaping hospitality at every touchpoint, from how guests discover and explore to how operators use AI agents, robotics, automation, revenue intelligence, and smarter service tools to deliver better experiences at scale.

​Throughout the evening, we’ll explore how these technologies are transforming the world’s leading hotels, resorts, restaurants, entertainment venues, and travel experiences, helping operators personalize service, improve efficiency, and drive revenue.

​Dinner, drinks, and networking included.

​Featured Speakers

​🎤 Moderator | Nick Larson

​Host, Silicon Zombies | Entrepreneur & Investor

​Host of Silicon Zombies, a podcast and live show focused on AI, venture capital, startups, and emerging technology. Nick brings a broad Silicon Valley perspective and experience interviewing founders, investors, and technology leaders across the innovation ecosystem.

​💡 Speaker | Ron Shah

​Founder & CEO, Bizly | Former Venture Capitalist

​Founder of Bizly, an AI-powered platform for corporate meetings and events. Ron has spent decades at the intersection of travel, hospitality, events, and technology, including as an early advisor to MakeMyTrip.

​🏨 Speaker | Rupesh Patel

​Managing Partner, Zenique Hotels | Partner, Verakin Capital

​Hotel operator and investor with two decades of experience in hospitality. Rupesh leads Zenique Hotels and invests in and advises emerging hospitality technology companies, bringing an operator’s perspective on what hotels will actually adopt and scale.

​🤖 Speaker | Gatik Trivedi

​Co-Founder & CTO, Lance (YC W26)

​Co-founder and CTO of Lance, building autonomous AI agents for hotel operations across guest communication, sales, and operational workflows. Previously worked on speech and language research at Stanford and AI infrastructure, and studied EECS + Business through UC Berkeley’s M.E.T. program.

​🏨 Speaker | Sam Suleman

​Principal & Executive Vice President, Equinox Hospitality

​Hotel owner and operator with extensive experience across hotel development, operations, and hospitality technology. Sam serves on the AHLA Management Committee and G100 Global Technology Board, and previously chaired IHG’s Technology Board, bringing a practical perspective on technology adoption across the hospitality industry.

​Topics on the Table

​AI-Powered Guest Experience & Discovery
How AI is changing booking, recommendations, concierge, guest messaging, reviews, loyalty, personalization, and the way guests discover where to stay, eat, shop, and visit.

​Operations, Labor & Revenue Intelligence
How hotels, restaurants, venues, and destinations are using AI for staffing, scheduling, inventory, housekeeping, table management, pricing, upsells, demand forecasting, and profitability.

​AI Agents, Automation & the Human Service Layer
Where AI agents, voice tools, kiosks, robotics, and automation fit into hospitality without losing the human touch that defines great service.

​Startup Demos

​Startups building in AI hospitality are invited to apply. Areas include hotel tech, restaurant tech, travel tech, guest experience, revenue management, reservations, POS/PMS intelligence, labor automation, inventory forecasting, voice AI, robotics, customer data, retail experience, destination technology, and hospitality operations.

​Schedule

​6:00 PM — Appetizers, Drinks & Demos

​7:00 PM — Speaker Panel + Q&A

​7:45 PM — Dinner, Networking & Demos

​9:00 PM — Event Concludes

​Registration & Attendance

​This event is open to founders, investors, executives, operators, hospitality leaders, restaurant builders, hotel technology teams, venue operators, travel tech builders, retail experience teams, and technical leaders working across AI, hospitality, travel, food service, entertainment, and automation.

​Designed for people building, funding, operating, or supporting the next generation of AI-enabled hospitality companies.

​Supported by Finix

​See fees, payouts, and performance in one clean dashboard built for scale.

​Presented by SFPlayground

​SFPlayground brings together founders, investors, operators, and builders through high-signal events, curated introductions, and startup-focused programming from San Francisco to Silicon Valley.