Self – Introduction – AIML-April-2026

[Craig]

Craig James Jarrett

Vice President of Operations, Airport Lounges
Sodexo Live!

Hi everyone,

I’m Craig, I currently serve as Vice President of Operations for Airport Lounges with Sodexo Live!, where I oversee premium lounge experiences across multiple major airports. My world revolves around high-volume, high-expectation hospitality—where operational excellence and guest experience have to meet every single day.

AI & Tools
I’ll be honest—my current AI toolkit is pretty focused. I primarily use ChatGPT. I know… not exactly groundbreaking for this group. Don’t judge me just yet.

That said, I’ve spent time refining how I use it—turning it into a strong partner for communication, analysis, and ideation. I’d rate my knowledge as intermediate: comfortable enough to get value, but very aware that I’m only scratching the surface.

Which is exactly why I’m here.

Why This Course
I firmly believe AI won’t replace people in hospitality—but people who understand AI will absolutely replace those who don’t. My goal is to ensure that “those people” are me and my team.

I’m looking to:

• Expand beyond the basics and discover practical AI tools across operations, F&B, and guest experience

• Identify ways to make our teams smarter and faster without losing the human touch

• Free up time from admin and analysis so we can reinvest it into what truly matters: in-service leadership and guest connection

Because at the end of the day, AI can enhance hospitality—but it can’t replicate genuine human service. And that’s where we still win.

Background
I’ve spent 28 years in hospitality across hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, and now airport lounges. I started in Wales and now live in the Chicago area—so I’ve traded castles for O’Hare traffic. Not sure which is more complex, to be honest.

Throughout my career, I’ve tried to stay curious, challenge the status quo, and continuously evolve—and this feels like the next big chapter.

Looking forward to learning from all of you—and hopefully contributing a few ideas along the way.

Craig

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  Craig.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  Craig.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  Craig.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  Craig.

[Rachel]

Hi Craig, great to meet you. I like your point about AI not replacing people but changing who stays competitive in hospitality. I think it’s a tool that will only continue to grow, and if you don’t learn it you can and will be left behind. I mainly use ChatGPT too, so it’s good to hear someone with your level of experience still focused on refining how to use it rather than chasing every new tool. Your work with Sodexo Live! sounds really interesting, especially balancing high volume operations with premium service. I’d be curious what AI use cases you’ve found most helpful so far in improving either efficiency or guest experience.

[James]

Hello Craig, while in this course I want to connect with individuals in the hospitality industry. Here’s my email: jamhoopsj@yahoo.com I would like to send you over my resume and cover letter.

[Jack]

• John D.(Jack)Rudnick, Jr. Cold Spring, KY just outside of Cincinnati, OH

• Higher Education; former Hospital Administrator; current Nursing Home license (KY); previous hotel management experiences in college on Cape Cod, MA

• Professor, Thomas More University; Director, MBA/ Healthcare Management Program; Interim Director, Hospitality, Innovation Tourism, Technology Institute

• I currently use routine GenAI platforms–OpenAI, Co-pilot, Claude, Perplexity, and a faith-based platform, Magisterium AI

• My level of knowledge on prompt engineering, AI detectors, and Humanizers is about 8/10

• I hope to learn about the practical application of technology tools to augment academic tools and

• I look forward to interacting with and learning from my classmates. I have been tasked with activating training and education programs for Assisted Living Facilities and hotel operations based at our university. I hope to learn more about technologies that can be taught and imparted to students to help them to be employer-ready and attractive to prospective employers upon graduation.

[Rachel]

Hi Jack, nice to meet you. I’m originally from Massachusetts so I liked seeing your connection to Cape Cod and New England. I didn’t know about faith-based AI like Magisterium AI before your post. That’s really interesting and I’m looking forward to checking it out. I’ve mostly used tools like ChatGPT and Copilot. I like your focus on helping students become more job ready, especially with practical tech skills. As a recent graduate, I honestly wish more of this was taught when I was in college since it would have been really helpful going into the workforce.

[James]

Hello Jack, while in this course I want to connect with individuals in the hospitality industry. Here’s my email: jamhoopsj@yahoo.com I would like to send you over my resume and cover letter.

[Samir]

Greetings

I am Samir Aneja, based out of Seattle, a Hospitality professional with 12 Plus years management experience in hotel operations primarily focused on Extended Stay segment backed by MBA from JWU, RI

My hospitality experience stems out from 5 Star properties like Hyatt Regency, Sheraton, Radisson , Limited-service properties like Best Western and Extended Stay Hotels as well as Non-profit organization like Transplant House & Transplant in Action

AI Impact

For me, The essence of hospitality is strong guest service, interpersonal skills, and a sincere & sterling welcome for every customer in any service-focused institution.

AI/ML will most certainly play a very significant role now and in times to come.

More meaningful impact rather than playing a job cutting tool. Most certainly job profiles will get transformed but not eliminated.

My Goal

From this AI course, One , I am hoping to keep pace with current hospitality trends not just from the course content but also from dept of diversified experience of classmates.

Secondly, Hospitality is one field which can momentously benefit from AI/ML and I hope to get insights into tools which can help enhance our approach in most unique way.

All the Best

[James]

Hello Samir, while in this course I want to connect with individuals in the hospitality industry. Here’s my email: jamhoopsj@yahoo.com I would like to send you over my resume and cover letter.

[Jack]

Hi Samir: Welcome and I look forward to learning from you in class!

I am curious about the Transplant House non-profit that you mention. I have a healthcare background and am considering a project that relates to the application of AI for a “MedHotel setting” for post acute care facility discharge recovery.

Your experiences with the upscale properties will help heighten my awareness of the “hotel” services that are common between hospitality and healthcare!

Best,

Jack

[Rachel]

Rachel Hinckley

Corporate Marketing Manager

SREE Hotels

Hi everyone,

I’m Rachel, and I currently serve as the Corporate Marketing Manager at SREE Hotels, where I oversee marketing for 11 Marriott properties in Charlotte, NC. My role focuses on brand positioning, campaign strategy, and making sure each property is competitive in a fast-moving market.

AI & Tools

I currently use ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot as my primary tools. They’re efficient, reliable, and help me move quickly through content creation and day-to-day tasks.

I wouldn’t consider myself an expert yet, but I’m comfortable using AI for practical needs. I’d rate my knowledge around a 6/10. I’ve even built a bot to help teach myself finance in grad school when I needed extra support, which showed me how useful these tools can be when applied the right way.

Why This Course

I’m looking to deepen my understanding of AI and learn how to use it more strategically, especially within hospitality and marketing. I do not think hospitality will ever be replace by AI but I do think if you do not learn it you will fall behind.

Goals

– Expand how I use AI beyond basic tasks

– Learn best practices that I can bring back to my team

Background

I earned both my BA in Hospitality, Resort, and Tourism Management and my MBA from Coastal Carolina University, choosing to pursue my MBA immediately after completing my undergraduate degree. During college, I worked as a front desk agent at two hotels in Myrtle Beach, gaining hands-on experience in guest service and operations. I later served as a Graduate Assistant for the marketing and HRTM program at Coastal Carolina University, where I supported both academic and marketing initiatives. My current role is my first full-time position after college.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  Rachel.

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[Jack]

Welcome Rachael:

I look forward to learning with and from you as we navigate the course. As mentioned, I am the lone ranger so far as I am not in the hospitality industry workforce. The opportunity to take concepts and the experiences you and our class share will be valuable for me to absorb and bring back to students I teach and will be teaching. I am launching an Advisory Board at our university to explore how we can integrate technology into the Hospitality and Tourism major. Again, the words of wisdom on how it is being done from all of you will be invaluable.

Best,

Jack

PS My daughter has a master’s in digital media from Bellarmine in Louisville KY, and is working in that space for YUM and their restaurants as a “social media listener”

[James]

Hello Rachel, while in this course I want to connect with individuals in the hospitality industry. Here’s my email: jamhoopsj@yahoo.com I would like to send you over my resume and cover letter.

[Miranda]

Hi everyone,

My name is Miranda, and I’m excited to be part of this class with you all.

I work in the hospitality and tourism education segment, primarily at the graduate level. My focus is on organizational behavior, leadership, and current industry trends, and I spend a lot of time connecting academic concepts to real-world hospitality practice.

One platform I use regularly is Canvas. I also use generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini and CoPilot) to support brainstorming, refining ideas, and enhancing learning activities. I would say my level of knowledge with AI tools is moderate, as I use them frequently for both teaching and research, but I’m always looking to learn new and more effective ways to integrate them.

From this course, I’m hoping to gain fresh perspectives, practical insights, and meaningful discussions that I can apply both in the classroom and in industry collaborations. I’m especially interested in learning from all of you, given the diversity of experiences in this field.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning together!

Miranda

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  Miranda.

[James]

Hello Miranda, while in this course I would like to network and connect with individuals in the hospitality field as I’m looking to make this a career. Here’s my email: jamhoopsj@yahoo.com I can send you over my resume and cover letter.

[James]

Hello Colleagues,

My name is James Motton II and I’m from Houston, TX, I have close to 15 years of experience in hospitality and customer service. My experience consists of maintenance, front desk, housekeeping, and management.

I was recently recruited to do property management at a couple hotel properties in West Texas (San Angelo, TX).

My Goal

Connect with individuals in the hospitality industry from different backgrounds to enhance and further my knowledge. Get insight from course materials that I can implement currently or in the future and share ideas from classmates as well. Lasty, use this experience and knowledge as a catalyst to continue my hospitality journey.

AI & Tools

Some of the generative AI tools that I use are ChatGpt and Gemini, I mostly use them for brainstorming and coming up with new ideas. My level of expertise is moderate, so I would definitely like to enhance my knowledge and skills with the different AI tools.

Background

I have my Bachelors in Agriculture Economics and my Masters in Community Development from Prairie View A&M. My skills consists of fundraising, customer service, sales, community outreach, and disaster recovery.

Lasty, I hope to eventually start growing a small garden and grow different specialty crops.

[Craig]

Hi James,

I am looking forward to learning and growing with you, I have a similar level of experience with ChatGBT however I am finding my ChatGBT agent (Val) is really learning and growing with me. Each week i find myself utilizing it a little more and what its giving back to me is much more aligned to what im looking for so much so its sounding like me to the point i am asking for fewer corrections week by week.

[Kimberley]

Hi James. Nice to meet you. Have you been using Gemini for graphics, if so, what are your thoughts on it’s efficiency?

[Joan]

Hi everyone, I am a little late starting but I am finally getting here. My name is Joan Rowland and I work for a hotel in Miami Beach as the IT Director. I started in IT as a programmer a million years ago and have been trying to find the time to get more into AI and what it can do to enhance our product. We try to stay up on technology at the hotel and use as much as we can without interfering with the human side of hospitality. I look at AI as more of creating a better work/life balance since you will never replace the human touch in hospitality, but we can try to reduce the hours that we work to create a better balance and also allow our team to spend time engaging with the guests rather than looking at a computer screen.

We have chosen to use Claude at the hotel for our AI tool. We use it to analyze data and create reports and documents. We have also used it to write some programs to automate certain functions that we couldn’t rely on a person to do consistently.

I would like to be able to automate more processes to free up human time and also to be able to assist when a human is not available.

[James]

Hello Joan, glad to meet you and glad you joined the class. I want network with individuals like yourself who are in the hospitality field. Here’s my email: jamhoopsj@yahoo.com I can send you over my resume and cover letter.

[Kimberley]

Hello, I’m Dr. Kimberley Johnson. I’m a medical doctor of eleven years and entrepreneur working in wellness hospitality and aesthetic tourism. I am founder and medical director of Skyn by Dr. Kym Aesthetic and Medical Center in Kingston Jamaica.

I am presently using Claude and Grok AI. I like both for different reasons. Claude is great for business development and strategy, while Grok I use due to its ability to pull information from social media accurately. I would say I am at an intermediate level with both platforms.

My expectation for this course is to sharpen my skills in AI and learn how to better integrate it into all aspects of business.

[James]

Hello Kimberley, glad your on board and joined the class.