Richard Turen
The most often-repeated sentence I hear when I interview travel advisors about AI is, "It is just like the internet -- everyone said it would put us out of business, and we are thriving."
We read press reports or listen to them in the car, and we are generally aware of AI and what a huge financial gamble each of the major players is taking. We know that AI will change some of what we do; it will eliminate some jobs, that's for sure. But humans will always be in demand because we answer questions better than AI.
But a quick reality check will reveal that a surprisingly large portion of advisors fail to realize that we are in the midst of a second revolution -- the one that occurred just a few years after generative AI entered our lives.
Following the late-2022 explosion of generative AI, which mostly just responded to prompts, agentic AI that was driven by large-language models didn't take off until 2024 to 2025. This is when these models gained the ability to independently trigger workflows, access APIs and execute actions on their own.
We all know about GenAI. We have experimented with cool tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. We have learned enough to use GenAI to write emails, draft nice-looking (if boring) itineraries and create destination summaries for our clients that save us lots of time.
GenAI is what we might call "reactive," a series of wires reacting to what we ask it. Then it stops. The conversation is over.
But agentic AI operates completely differently. It goes way beyond conversational and research-based banter. It is revolutionary because it can pursue goals, it knows how to complete tasks, and it can make decisions on your behalf based on limits you have set.
Let's use a simple example. We ask AI "What are the best luxury hotels in Siena, Italy?" Within seconds, we will receive a list.
With agentic AI we might ask it to "plan a luxury program for a retired couple interested in understanding contemporary life in Siena and the small Tuscan towns that surround it, with the purpose of potentially moving there within the next 24 months." And not only can it retrieve and organize the data, it can book that luxury program on the couple's behalf.
This is, we need to understand, revolutionary. Instead of answering questions, agentic AI quickly becomes a highly capable personal digital assistant.
But AI, both the generative and agentic versions, are evolving as fast as I can type this column. It can analyze a client profile and get to know them. It can scour their past travels and compare operators to find the best fit. It can compare and evaluate hotel reviews, using only professional sources if requested. It can create a preliminary itinerary and client documents that mirror your stylistic preferences. It learns your "voice" and can write information to your clients in the style you prefer.
Let's look at it this way: The original AI Revolution gave travel advisors access to information. The current AI Revolution helps advisors process that information.
Analysts at William Blair estimate that the current market for agentic AI is $4 trillion.
I think the risk is not that artificial intelligence will replace travel advisors. The greater risk is that travel advisors who embrace artificial intelligence will replace those who do not.