Bad AI: The Risks Too Many Hoteliers Are Missing - Chris McDowell & Justin Call, Actabl [Sponsor Bonus]

In this episode, Chris McDowell, Chief Information Security Officer at Actabl, and Justin Call, Chief Legal Officer at Actabl, unpack the growing AI risk that many hotel leaders still underestimate. They explain how people across hospitality are already uploading confidential guest and operational data into public AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, why privacy and compliance rules still apply once that data enters an LLM, and why AI adoption needs to be treated as a business risk decision, not just a productivity upgrade.

Chris and Justin also break down what strong AI governance actually looks like inside a hotel organization, how technical guardrails matter more than policy documents alone, and why the quality and normalization of your data will determine whether AI delivers meaningful value at scale. The conversation also explores how hotel leaders should evaluate technology partners handling sensitive data, and why trust, security, and accountability are becoming core parts of the guest experience itself.

Also see:

• Why Our Approach to Hotel Data Earned a Patent and Prepares Hotels for AI - Clark Brayton, Joseph McGroarty & Pritesh Patel, Actabl
• Actabl's patent announcement
• HotelData.com

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Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands