Algorithms With a Heart: The Future of Hospitality Education
Dr.Suborno Bose, Chairman, IIHM, 0
The future of hospitality will not be written only in hotels but in algorithms that understand emotion. Our mission at IIHM is to make India the world’s classroom for compassionate intelligence — proving that innovation and empathy can grow together, and that technology can be both efficient and kind.
AI-driven education is not an option — it is the new infrastructure of opportunity.
When I began my journey in hospitality education more than three decades ago, technology was still a distant idea in our classrooms. What mattered most was the warmth of service, the smile that welcomed a guest, the intuition that made them feel at home. Those instincts remain at the heart of our industry — but the way we teach and scale them has transformed completely.
Also Read: Turning Vision into Value: How I Built Purposeful Digital Ecosystems in the UK
From Classrooms to Knowledge Ecosystems
In 1994, when I founded the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) in Kolkata, my conviction was simple: India could offer the world an education model that blended professional excellence with cultural empathy. Over time, that vision grew from one campus to a global network, and from a traditional school to a living laboratory of innovation, where the purpose of education is not just employment, but empowerment.
Hospitality, by its nature, is a deeply human field — yet I have always believed that technology should be a bridge, not a barrier, to human warmth. The world we now inhabit demands fluency in both empathy and intelligence — emotional and artificial. This belief crystallised into a philosophy I call “High Tech, Higher Touch.” Technology must make service more sensitive, not more mechanical.
Building the Framework for AI-Driven Learning
That thought became reality when we built NamAIste – IIHM Hospitality GPT, the world’s first Generative AI knowledge engine created specifically for the hospitality industry.
Unlike general chatbots, NamAIste is powered by curated, domain-specific data — the operational wisdom of hotels, chefs, educators, and researchers from over 60 countries.
For students, NamAIste acts as a 24-hour mentor, simplifying complex ideas, preparing them for interviews, and even designing sustainable itineraries. For professionals, it provides operational guidance, forecasts trends, and offers real-time learning paths. The idea is not to replace teachers or managers, but to extend their reach and refine their craft.
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This initiative soon grew into something larger — the Global Knowledge Sharing Declaration on AI in Hospitality, which now connects over 60 nations. It embodies a belief that the future of education must be collaborative, not competitive, and that technology can democratise access to expertise. A student in Kolkata, a hotelier in Nairobi, or a chef in Lima can now draw from the same pool of shared intelligence.
Recognition as Reflection
It was in this context that I was deeply humbled to learn that The Economic Times had chosen to confer on me the title of AI Policy Leader of the Year
2025. I view it not as a personal accolade but as an acknowledgment of what Indian education has achieved through courage and experimentation.
For me, this recognition validates a larger idea — that policy leadership today is not confined to government corridors. It can emerge from classrooms, labs, and institutions that dare to re-imagine learning through technology. What began as an experiment within one institute has evolved into a policy model for responsible, human-centric AI integration in education.
Ethics, Empathy, and the Code Behind the Code
As the conversation around AI intensifies, I often remind policymakers and educators that responsible AI is not about coding ethics into algorithms; it is about embedding empathy into purpose. AI must remain invisible to the guest and empowering to the worker. Its success lies not in its complexity but in how naturally it enables human connection.
In my book Harmonising Human Touch and AI in Tourism and Hospitality, I wrote that AI may become the brain of hospitality, but the heart must always remain human.
That principle guides every innovation at IIHM. We design systems to remove friction, not feeling. We use technology to amplify instinct, not to anesthetize it.
Education as Policy in Action
Policy is meaningful only when it reaches people. Our students learn through AI-powered simulations, sustainability labs, and emotional-intelligence workshops. They use tools like GreenRoute Sustainable Travel GPT and the SDG GPT Builder to create responsible travel plans and zero-waste menus. This combination of empathy, innovation, and ethics has become the core of IIHM’s pedagogy.
Beyond classrooms, our initiatives such as the Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) — now a platform of over 60 nations — show how AI and sustainability can merge with creativity. The next edition will feature AI-assisted judging and carbon-neutral design modules, proving that the same technology that powers data can also power conscience.
The Indian Moment
India today is at a unique inflection point. Our tourism and service sectors are driving economic growth, and hospitality education has moved from the margins to the mainstream of Brand India’s story. As our demographic dividend meets digital transformation, the institutions that combine technology with humanity will define our global relevance.
Also Read: Top 7 Women Leading the Way for Clean Energy Transition
AI-driven education is not an option — it is the new infrastructure of opportunity. But its success depends on how responsibly we design it. By keeping data sovereign, purpose ethical, and access inclusive, we can make AI a tool of equity rather than elitism.
The Road Ahead
I often tell my students that the future of hospitality will not be written only in hotels but in algorithms that understand emotion. Our mission at IIHM is to make India the world’s classroom for compassionate intelligence — proving that innovation and empathy can grow together, and that technology can be both efficient and kind.
The recognition from The Economic Times strengthens that resolve. It tells me that policy leadership can come from those who teach, learn, and build. It reminds me that the real challenge is not to lead technology, but to lead humanity through technology.
Because in the final reckoning, progress is not how smart our machines become — it is how much more human we remain.
For me, this recognition validates a larger idea — that policy leadership today is not confined to government corridors. It can emerge from classrooms, labs, and institutions that dare to re-imagine learning through technology. What began as an experiment within one institute has evolved into a policy model for responsible, human-centric AI integration in education.
I often tell my students that the future of hospitality will not be written only in hotels but in algorithms that understand emotion.
Ethics, Empathy, and the Code Behind the Code
As the conversation around AI intensifies, I often remind policymakers and educators that responsible AI is not about coding ethics into algorithms; it is about embedding empathy into purpose. AI must remain invisible to the guest and empowering to the worker. Its success lies not in its complexity but in how naturally it enables human connection.
In my book Harmonising Human Touch and AI in Tourism and Hospitality, I wrote that AI may become the brain of hospitality, but the heart must always remain human.
That principle guides every innovation at IIHM. We design systems to remove friction, not feeling. We use technology to amplify instinct, not to anesthetize it.
Education as Policy in Action
Policy is meaningful only when it reaches people. Our students learn through AI-powered simulations, sustainability labs, and emotional-intelligence workshops. They use tools like GreenRoute Sustainable Travel GPT and the SDG GPT Builder to create responsible travel plans and zero-waste menus. This combination of empathy, innovation, and ethics has become the core of IIHM’s pedagogy.
Beyond classrooms, our initiatives such as the Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) — now a platform of over 60 nations — show how AI and sustainability can merge with creativity. The next edition will feature AI-assisted judging and carbon-neutral design modules, proving that the same technology that powers data can also power conscience.
The Indian Moment
India today is at a unique inflection point. Our tourism and service sectors are driving economic growth, and hospitality education has moved from the margins to the mainstream of Brand India’s story. As our demographic dividend meets digital transformation, the institutions that combine technology with humanity will define our global relevance.
Also Read: Top 7 Women Leading the Way for Clean Energy Transition
AI-driven education is not an option — it is the new infrastructure of opportunity. But its success depends on how responsibly we design it. By keeping data sovereign, purpose ethical, and access inclusive, we can make AI a tool of equity rather than elitism.
The Road Ahead
I often tell my students that the future of hospitality will not be written only in hotels but in algorithms that understand emotion. Our mission at IIHM is to make India the world’s classroom for compassionate intelligence — proving that innovation and empathy can grow together, and that technology can be both efficient and kind.
The recognition from The Economic Times strengthens that resolve. It tells me that policy leadership can come from those who teach, learn, and build. It reminds me that the real challenge is not to lead technology, but to lead humanity through technology.
Because in the final reckoning, progress is not how smart our machines become — it is how much more human we remain.