You’re reading AI at the Top - Our Sunday series, where we share how leading enterprises and their executives use AI in business.
Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky announced in August 2025 the enterprise is transforming into an “AI-first application.”
We saw this coming. Almost all non-tech companies are eventually investing in AI to serve their customers faster, efficiently.
In Q2 2025, Airbnb reported $3.1 billion in revenue, up 13% YOY. While numbers look decent, there’s always more to accomplish with AI.
In today's AI at the Top, we'll explore whether Airbnb’s AI-first approach is just a trending phrase or if the enterprise actually has strong use cases and business impact.
Enterprises with strong proprietary data are winning the AI game. Airbnb is the same.
Most travel platforms track transactional data like dates, prices, and bookings. Airbnb captures something more valuable: Behavioural data.
Think unstructured data of human interactions.
Every search query you make, every listing you click but don't book, reviews you write, messages between host and guest, all of it feeds Airbnb's AI.
The enterprise is capable of capturing behaviours because of its two-sided marketplace. Hosts and Guests.
The value of the Airbnb platform for any single user is enhanced by the cumulative data contributed by all previous users. 17 years of data compounding every second in real time.
The proprietary dataset can’t be replicated by new competitors, allowing Airbnb's AI to solve for CX, personalisation, and revenue optimisation.