• Presenter: Allen Thomas, NCRLA President & CEO
• Sponsor Remarks Presented by Duke Energy

Description: Join Bhavana Bartholf, Executive Vice President of Commercial Sales & Strategy and one of the nation’s leading voices on AI-driven business transformation, for an engaging fireside chat with Allen Thomas, President & CEO of the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association. Bhavana will be joined by Joao Oliveira, Director of Business Development at Restaurant Associates, who brings more than a decade of hospitality and foodservice operational experience.

Speakers:

• Sean Potter, CEO, Built on Hospitality
• Kyle Highberg, VP of Hospitality for Biltmore Farms

Description: AI is quickly moving from experimentation to everyday operations across the hospitality industry. Join Sean Potter and Kyle Highberg as they share how their restaurant and hotel organizations are using AI to improve marketing, streamline operations, enhance guest experiences, and support better business decisions. They’ll discuss where AI is delivering real value, the challenges they’ve encountered, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. This interactive panel will also invite operators in the audience to share their own experiences, questions, and ideas, creating a practical conversation about how hospitality businesses of every size can confidently adopt AI.

Speakers:

• Lee Bridges, Chief Product Officer, Inn Flow
• Sean Potter, CEO, Built on Hospitality

Description: Profitability starts with better decisions—and AI is giving hospitality operators new ways to improve performance without adding complexity. In this practical session, Lee Bridges, Chief Product Officer from Inn Flow will show how restaurants and hotels are using AI and operational technology to uncover efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve margins.

Lee will share how hotels are leveraging AI and back-office technology for accounting, payroll, labor management, facilities maintenance, and financial reporting to gain real-time insights and make smarter business decisions.

Attendees will leave with practical examples, actionable strategies, and a roadmap for using AI to streamline operations, improve profitability, and strengthen their business—regardless of size or where they are in their AI journey.

Speakers:

• Kelley O’Brien, Growth Marketer Lead, Farlow & Co.
• Scott Peacock, Director of Marketing & Communications, Visit NC

Description: When travelers ask AI tools where to stay, where to eat, or what to do, is your business showing up? Marketing experts Kelley O’Brien of Farlow & Co. and Scott Peacock of Visit NC will show restaurant and lodging operators how artificial intelligence is changing the customer journey—and what businesses can do today to stay visible.

Join us to learn how AI is reshaping the way guests discover, evaluate, and choose restaurants, hotels, and destinations. From Google Business Profiles and online reviews to maps, social search, AI-powered recommendation tools, and even media coverage, online news stories, influencer content, and recommendation engines, operators will learn how the digital signals they create increasingly influence AI-generated travel recommendations.

Scott will share the hospitality marketing perspective, including how earned media placements, online news stories, and content creators are becoming part of the information AI platforms use when recommending destinations and businesses. Kelley will explain the technology behind AI search and provide practical tactics to strengthen local SEO, optimize websites, menus, amenities, FAQs, and reviews, and improve the structured content that helps businesses stand out in AI search results. Whether you’re investing heavily in digital marketing or working with limited resources, this session will help you understand where to focus your efforts for the greatest impact as AI continues to reshape how guests discover hospitality businesses.

Speakers:

• Kelley O’Brien, Growth Marketer Lead, Farlow & Co.
• Todd Keenan, Director of Specialty Lines, Sentinel Risk Advisors

Description: AI is transforming hospitality—but successful adoption requires more than choosing the right tools. It demands thoughtful leadership, clear governance, and a commitment to protecting your brand, your data, and your guests’ trust.

In this executive-level session, marketing strategist Kelley O’Brien explores how hospitality organizations can implement AI while maintaining brand consistency, protecting the guest experience, and establishing practical governance for responsible use. Joining the conversation, Sentinel Risk Advisors will share the emerging cybersecurity, privacy, and risk management challenges every hospitality business should understand—from AI-powered phishing and data protection to internal AI policies and cyber preparedness.

Whether you’re leading a single property or a multi-unit operation, you’ll leave with a practical framework for embracing AI responsibly while protecting the reputation and relationships you’ve worked hard to build.

Key Takeaways

• Developing an AI governance framework for your organization
• Protecting your brand voice while leveraging AI
• Establishing responsible data use and approval workflows
• Understanding AI-related cybersecurity and privacy risks
• Building guest trust while accelerating innovation
• Practical policies every hospitality business should implement

Recap of the Summit’s most important insights and practical applications.

• Introduction to the NCRLA Hospitality AI Community, an exclusive space for ongoing collaboration and peer learning.
• Resources and upcoming NCRLA programming to help members continue exploring AI with confidence.

A call to action for hospitality leaders to embrace innovation while strengthening North Carolina’s hospitality industry together.