Cloudbeds, the innovative leader in hospitality management technology, today announced the strategic hiring of AI visionaries Amit Popat, Head of Machine Learning, and Nikhil Shah, Head of Data Science. This move marks a significant investment in artificial intelligence by Cloudbeds, aimed at developing unparalleled applications for the hotel industry and ushering in a new era of what’s possible for hoteliers.
Leveraging over a decade of rich, comprehensive data from Cloudbeds’ industry-leading hospitality platform, this step toward integrating intelligence and machine learning into the platform will empower hoteliers to unlock insights and enable automation and real-time recommendations spanning the property’s entire operations.
Popat and Shah, both mathematicians who met at the University of Cambridge, bring a wealth of experience in utilizing AI and machine learning to translate advanced analytics into tangible value for hoteliers. Their expertise in applying causal inference to hospitality data, combined with Cloudbeds’ extensive data sets, will position the company at the forefront of technological innovation in this sector.
Adam Harris, Co-Founder and CEO of Cloudbeds, commented: “The hospitality industry has long sought a solution to break down departmental silos, enabling revenue, marketing, and operations teams to work together collaboratively to drive profitability across the entire hotel. Amit and Nikhil are two of the brightest minds in AI and ML, and they’re helping Cloudbeds achieve just that. These individuals are scary brilliant, and they know hospitality. All we have to do is give them a place to thrive with the resources they need and plenty of snacks. We are more than excited about the applications this will have for our hotelier customers.”
Popat is a distinguished machine-learning expert with a remarkable career spanning senior roles at Valtech and London Town Group. He went on to establish his own AI software consultancy firm, where he pioneered cutting-edge AI analytics and marketing solutions for FTSE-250 companies and multinational giants such as easyJet, Shell Energy, and Herbert Smith Freehills.
Shah holds a PhD in large-scale computational optimization from Imperial College London. He went on to co-found S-Cube, an award-winning energy tech spin-out from his PhD. Shah has since worked with global industry supermajors such as Chevron, Woodside and Petrobras, spearheading impactful research and practical applications in the upstream energy sector. His capacity for innovation and strategic foresight has led to significant algorithmic advancements for optimizing high-stakes drilling investment decisions.
Together, Popat and Shah co-founded the AI analytics and e-marketing platform Hotel Cloud in 2020, an intelligence platform designed to maximize revenue at every stage of the guest journey. Their combined expertise in creating practical applications of data science and machine learning across hospitality management will now fuel Cloudbeds’ vision of developing the industry’s most comprehensive, intelligent platform serving hoteliers.
