At this year's Hospitality Tech Expo, Lolly's CEO, Peter Moore, posed a challenging question to hospitality operators: if AI is already making decisions across your business, do you actually know where, how, and why?
The reality is that for most hospitality businesses, AI has arrived not through a major transformation project, but through the everyday technology already in use. Point of sale systems, workforce management tools, loyalty platforms, ordering apps and reporting software have all quietly introduced AI-powered decision-making. The challenge for operators is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to stay in control of it.
The AI You Didn't Know You Had
Many organisations believe they are only beginning their AI journey. In practice, AI is often already embedded within the systems they rely on every day.
Pricing engines adjust offers based on demand. Staffing platforms forecast labour requirements. Loyalty programmes determine which customers receive specific promotions. Ordering systems decide what products appear first on a screen. Even stock ordering can happen automatically based on predicted demand.
Individually, these features make sense. Collectively, they create a complex network of automated decisions that can directly impact revenue, staffing, guest experience and operational efficiency.
The concern is that many businesses do not have full visibility over how these decisions are being made.
The Black Box Problem
One of the biggest challenges surrounding AI is explainability.
Imagine an AI forecasting tool recommends reducing staff on a Thursday evening. The venue manager wants to understand the reasoning. Team members want to know why their shifts have been affected. Finance questions the outcome when sales exceed expectations.
If the AI can only provide an answer without explaining its reasoning, operators are left with what is often called a "black box".
A black-box system cannot effectively explain which data influenced a recommendation, how confident it was in its prediction, or what assumptions it used. This creates three significant risks:
- You cannot explain decisions to employees, guests or stakeholders.
- You cannot challenge recommendations that may be incorrect or biased.
- You cannot demonstrate accountability when regulators, auditors or boards ask questions about how decisions are being made.
In an industry built on trust, communication and human judgement, that lack of transparency creates problems far beyond technology alone.
Why Transparency Matters More Than Ever
As AI becomes increasingly embedded within hospitality operations, customer expectations are changing alongside it.
Guests want personalised experiences. Teams want technology that helps them perform better. Operators want greater efficiency and profitability.
However, they also expect transparency, control and responsible use of data.
The question is no longer whether AI can make decisions. It is whether those decisions can be understood, challenged and governed appropriately.
Without transparency, operators face hidden costs:
- Margin erosion from poorly tuned models.
- Reduced staff trust in workforce planning decisions.
- Customer dissatisfaction from irrelevant recommendations or unexplained outcomes.
- Growing compliance and governance risks.
The true risk is not AI itself. The risk is opacity.
Moving From Black Box to Glass Box
At Lolly, we believe AI should operate as a "glass box", not a black box.
That means every recommendation should come with clear reasoning, visible data sources and meaningful human oversight. Rather than simply presenting an answer, AI should help users understand why a recommendation has been made and what impact it is expected to have.
For example, a staffing recommendation should clearly show:
- What action is being suggested.
- Why the recommendation has been made.
- Which data sources were used.
- The expected operational or financial impact.
- How confident the system is.
- Whether a human can accept, adjust or decline the recommendation.
- Technology should support decision-making, not replace accountability.
Four Questions Every Operator Should Ask
To regain control of automated decision-making, Peter Moore introduced a simple framework that any hospitality operator can apply.
For every AI-driven process in your business, ask:
1. Can You See It?
Do you know where AI is influencing decisions across your operation?
2. Can You Explain It?
Could you explain the reasoning behind a recommendation to a guest, team member or auditor?
3. Can You Override It?
Is there a human in the loop with the authority to adjust or reject the recommendation?
4. Can You Audit It?
Is there a record of what was decided, the data used and the outcome achieved? If the answer to any of these questions is no, there may be an opportunity to strengthen governance and regain control.
Responsible AI as a Competitive Advantage
For many organisations, governance is seen as something that slows innovation. In reality, responsible AI enables businesses to move faster and with greater confidence.
Teams trust technology when they understand it. Problems are identified earlier. Decisions become easier to defend. Customers are more willing to share data when they feel in control.
The organisations that gain the greatest competitive advantage from AI will not necessarily be those that adopt it first. They will be the businesses that adopt it responsibly.
AI Is Already Here. Control Is a Choice.
AI will continue to play an increasingly important role in hospitality operations, whether through forecasting, personalisation, automation or decision support.
- The question facing operators is not whether AI will influence their business.
- The question is whether they can see it, understand it and remain in control of it. Because ultimately, the competitive advantage is not AI itself.
- The advantage comes from knowing where human judgement adds value alongside AI driven operations.
