Key Takeaways:
- InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is investing in technology to modernize operations, enhance guest experiences, and unlock new efficiencies for owners.
- The company’s IHG One Rewards platform is a focal point for personalization efforts, blending guest preferences, loyalty data, and digital touchpoints.
- IHG has appointed a global technology executive, Wei Manfredi, as senior vice president of AI and architecture to steer the company’s artificial intelligence strategy.
- The company is shifting from tactical experimentation to strategic engineering, placing AI at the center of its operating model to embed intelligence across core systems and functions.
- IHG’s technology investments align with the broader trend of hotel groups intensifying their AI commitments to drive operational consistency, staffing efficiency, demand forecasting, and revenue performance.
Introduction to IHG’s Technology Agenda
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has been steadily ramping up its technology agenda in recent years, investing in initiatives that modernize operations, enhance guest experiences, and unlock new efficiencies for owners. From deploying advanced mobile check-in and digital key capabilities to integrating more predictive analytics into revenue and distribution systems, IHG has made technology a cornerstone of its strategy as the hospitality industry evolves. The company’s IHG One Rewards platform, for example, has become a focal point for personalization efforts, blending guest preferences, loyalty data, and digital touchpoints across the booking funnel.
Behind the Scenes: IHG’s Technology Infrastructure
Behind the scenes, IHG has expanded its use of cloud-native infrastructure, data lakes, and API-driven integrations with key partners to reduce technical debt and accelerate the delivery of new features. These efforts reflect an industry-wide shift toward technology architectures that support real-time experiences, operational agility, and scalable innovation. By leveraging cloud-native infrastructure, IHG can quickly deploy new applications and services, reducing the time and cost associated with traditional on-premises infrastructure. Additionally, the use of data lakes and API-driven integrations enables IHG to integrate data from various sources, providing a unified view of its guests and operations.
New Leadership: Wei Manfredi Joins IHG
This ongoing digital transformation now enters a new phase with IHG’s appointment of global technology executive Wei Manfredi as senior vice president of AI and architecture. In this newly created role, Manfredi will steer IHG’s artificial intelligence strategy, strengthen its technical and data architecture, and cultivate strategic partnerships with leading technology organizations to ensure the company’s approach to AI is "innovative and grounded in operational excellence, as well as responsible and secure." Manfredi joins IHG with deep technology expertise and a strong background in franchise-driven enterprises, having served as vice president of global architecture, data, and generative AI at McDonald’s, and holding leadership roles at Google Cloud, Lululemon, and Visa.
Strategic Engineering: Placing AI at the Center
For IHG, the creation of a senior executive position with explicit responsibility for AI and enterprise architecture signals a shift from tactical experimentation to strategic engineering. Rather than treating AI as a series of point solutions, the company is placing AI at the center of its operating model. The goal is to embed intelligence across core systems and functions, from property management and revenue optimization to guest engagement and workforce automation. This ambition aligns with IHG’s broader technology investments, which have seen enhancements to its proprietary revenue management tools, deeper integrations with cloud-native partners for data processing, and an increased focus on guest lifecycle management solutions that harness behavioral data.
Industry-Wide Trend: AI Adoption
The move also places IHG in the middle of a broader competitive landscape where major hotel groups are intensifying their AI commitments. Marriott International has been advancing AI-driven personalization and customer insights across its portfolio. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts continues to explore AI to support franchise operations and dynamic pricing. Hyatt Hotels has emphasized embedding machine learning into its digital guest journey and internal operations. Across the industry, there’s a clear trend: leading brands are shifting from point use cases toward enterprise-wide AI strategies that touch multiple systems and workflows. This trend is driven by the need for hotels to provide personalized experiences, optimize operations, and drive revenue growth in a competitive market.
Actionable and Autonomous AI Capabilities
One of the key differences in this next wave of adoption is a focus on actionable and autonomous AI capabilities—systems that not only surface insights but also trigger actions, automate work, and continuously optimize decisions. Achieving this level of maturity requires robust technical foundations, disciplined data governance, and integrated architecture. For hotel owners and operators, the promise of AI goes beyond digital convenience, touching operational consistency, staffing efficiency, demand forecasting, and revenue performance. As hoteliers confront tight labor markets and heightened consumer expectations for seamless, personalized stays, technology that can reduce friction and make smarter decisions in real time becomes a business imperative.
Conclusion: IHG’s Commitment to Technology Leadership
IHG’s statement emphasizes that the appointment reflects a commitment to "drive meaningful benefits for its owners, guests, and teams." While specific product plans tied to Manfredi’s role have not been unveiled, the strategic direction is clear: IHG is doubling down on technology leadership and positioning AI as a foundational capability rather than a supplementary enhancement. As the company moves forward, the success of this strategy will hinge on aligning internal teams, franchise partners, and technology ecosystems around a coherent architectural vision—one that enables rapid innovation while safeguarding security, privacy, and operational continuity. In an era where data is a hotel’s most valuable asset and AI is the engine that unlocks its potential, IHG’s elevation of AI and architecture to the executive suite reflects both the scale of the opportunity and the complexity of the challenge.
