Smart Service, Sustainable Workforce: AI Agents for Efficient and Sustainable Hospitality Workforce

The hospitality industry in the Netherlands has been slow to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), despite its potential to improve service efficiency and address workforce challenges. While some industries have embraced AI agents—automated systems interacting with users—for customer service, hospitality adoption remains limited. Many hotels struggle to integrate AI in ways that enhance guest experiences while ensuring workforce sustainability, a paradox. Workforce sustainability means keeping employees skilled and adaptable. This research addresses this paradox observed in professional practice, focusing on three key gaps in AI integration:
• Hotel employees lack the skills and knowledge to adapt to AI-enhanced workplaces.
• Hotel managers lack clear AI strategies that maintain service quality and employee well-being, ensuring AI complements rather than replaces human service.
• AI developers often lack a clear understanding of the hospitality industry’s specific needs, hindering the development of effective solutions.

This leads to the central question:

How can AI agents be co-developed by hotel professionals and technical experts to enhance service efficiency while supporting a sustainable hospitality workforce?

A one-year KIEM project provides the ideal framework for an agile, practice-based investigation in real hospitality environments. The project will unfold in four phases: (1) co-developing conversational AI chatbots with hotel businesses and technology providers, (2) testing the chatbot integration in hotels, (3) evaluating the impact on service efficiency and workforce sustainability, and (4) initiating a community of AI agent practice in service industry. Conducted in collaboration with industry partners, the research ensures findings are directly applicable to real-world hospitality challenges.
By bridging academic research and industry needs, this project will generate insights into AI-driven service innovations that benefit hotel operations, employees, and AI developers. Beyond hospitality, its findings will offer scalable strategies for responsible AI adoption in sectors like healthcare, banking, and retail, fostering a more sustainable future of work.