Host Steve Turk welcomes Tim Major, CEO of Operto, to discuss how AI is reshaping hospitality through “agentic teammates” designed role by role to assist or replace specific hotel tasks. Tim shares his path from early hospitality exposure as a Volkswagen tour guide in Vancouver/Whistler to building computers, creating award-nominated music-industry websites, founding a hospitality-focused development company that was acquired by RoomKey, and rising from VP roles to CEO. He explains RoomKey’s early PMS integrations (including with Expedia), the industry’s fragmented tech landscape, and how RoomKey was acquired by Full Steam to consolidate and standardize PMS capabilities across North America. Tim describes using multiple LLMs across departments, AI-driven productivity and potential burnout, and why Operto focuses on outcomes—especially direct bookings, distribution, fraud detection in brand-search ads, and surfacing real-time operational insights—while avoiding AI that harms guest experience. He emphasizes hotels being discoverable in LLMs and advises professionals to start using AI tools now.00:00 Podcast Welcome00:33 Sponsor Lodgify01:38 Meet Tim Major02:26 Aperto AI Agents03:57 First Hospitality Taste05:34 Early Tech Roots06:36 Music Websites Breakthrough08:09 Founding in Hospitality Tech09:48 RoomKey Career Rise11:40 Mentors and Learning13:42 Hard Lessons Contracts14:58 Full Steam Consolidation17:47 Joining Maestro AI Strategy18:50 Building Aperto AI Native21:26 AI Shift Reflections22:33 Everyday AI Workflows24:39 Adoption Gaps and Burnout25:47 Hospitality AI Strategy27:06 Distribution Monitoring Agents27:53 Stopping Brand Ad Fraud31:21 Back of House Automation32:16 Unifying Hotel Data35:56 Personalized Direct Booking38:42 Wellness Itinerary Curation40:16 Next 12 Months Focus41:58 Career Advice and Wrap