How Langham Hospitality Group is Transforming Guest Experiences and Operations with AI
Sean Seah, SVP Strategy, Technology, and Innovation at Langham Hospitality Group shares how they are using AI to improve guest experiences, empower staff, and scale operational efficiency.
As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly shapes how travelers discover and choose hotels, Langham Hospitality GroupOpens in a new window is taking a bold approach to stay ahead of the curve. Sean Seah, a senior executive at Langham, emphasizes the importance of meeting guests where they are:
“AI will play a pivotal role in customer planning and pre-trip experiences, and I think they will go to whichever AI they’re comfortable with to start planning the whole execution. It’s really important for hotels to be relevant and to be there. In terms of that, the OTAs have started integrating with OpenAI through several MCP layer integrations. We’re also exploring how we can best leverage our capabilities. There are several players that we are talking to about how we can raise our visibility on those AI channels. So I think it’s really important to compete in this new space.”
Langham’s AI strategy is currently structured around three core pillars, spanning the customer journey, staff enablement, and operational intelligence. On the guest-facing side, the hotel has partnered with Aven Hospitality to implement Sam AI, an advanced concierge tool that communicates across 50 languages via voice, chat, and email. Seah highlights the tangible benefits:
“That has been very successful in terms of revenue, room nights, and customer sentiment. As you know, it speaks 50 languages across multiple channels—voice, chat, and email. We’ve seen a marked increase in customer satisfaction, revenue, and operational cost savings because staff can focus on in-person interactions rather than repetitive queries.”
The second pillar is staff AI, which empowers teams to leverage AI in guest engagement, training, and operational decision-making. Staff are trained to apply AI tools while staying aligned with hotel branding and operational procedures. The third pillar, insights AI, unites sales, marketing, and operational data to identify opportunities, optimize campaigns, and scale personalization across the guest base. Together, these initiatives enable Langham to deliver smarter, more relevant guest experiences.
Seah describes the transition from experimentation to adoption as rapid. “About a year ago, I started thinking seriously about how we could leverage AI, and within six months, we had found partners to build experiments. The journey was really fast. In our model, we work with partners first because they have AI expertise. In future phases, we might build our own iterations leveraging Langham data. AI is just so relevant, fast, and changing that it has become core to making us faster, smarter, and better as an organization.”
Sean Seah, SVP Strategy, Technology, and Innovation at Langham Hospitality Group
The technology is also transforming collaboration across the hotel. “We rolled out a company-wide AI training program to help staff understand AI, how to use it, and even how to do prompt engineering,” Seah explains. Teams are now able to automate tasks using Copilot, AI agents, and low-code platforms, freeing them from reliance on IT. For example, compiling 30 customer reviews across multiple hotels used to take a week; with AI, it now takes just a day.
Langham’s partnership with Aven Hospitality has been central to scaling these capabilities. “We were the first to roll out Concierge, which we call Sam. It was a very positive experience in pushing new boundaries,” says Seah. “The hospitality industry is conservative with technology, and we’re happy to partner and scale this ambition further to move from follower to industry leader.”
Looking ahead, Seah sees AI as the next chapter in Langham’s long history of innovation. “Langham has always been about luxury hospitality—AI is just another iteration of our innovation journey. We want to create amazing experiences and build legacies with our customers. The future of AI is about serving customers better, making staff smarter and more relevant, and redefining our business as we move forward.”
Download the full whitepaper
Langham’s AI journey is one example of how hospitality leaders are rethinking direct booking, guest engagement, and operational efficiency in an AI-driven market.
For a deeper look at how AI is transforming search, merchandising, bookings, and hotel commerce, download the full whitepaper, Rewriting the rules of direct booking with AI, presented by h2c and Aven Hospitality.
Inside, you’ll find practical strategies, industry insights, and real-world examples to help hotels turn AI investments into measurable revenue, loyalty, and operational impact.
Originally published on: www.avenhospitality.com
