It’s happening more and more often that I’m asked: “With AI doing everything, are revenue managers finished?” And every time I answer with another question: “Do you think an autopilot can fly a plane without a pilot?”
NB: This is an article from Lybra, one of our Expert Partners
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With the explosion of artificial intelligence over the past two years, this question has become even more pressing. But before fueling professional apocalypses, let’s understand what we’re actually talking about.
A Revenue Management System is software that automates dynamic pricing: it analyzes demand, competitors, historical data, and tells you which rate to apply, when, and where. Generative AI, on the other hand, can write strategies, analyze sentiment, and build complex forecasts. Both can operate autonomously but only if someone trains and guides them properly.
And this is the key point worth reflecting on.
Yes, with a well-configured RMS you can automate the entire pricing process. But what about commercial strategy? Marketing planning? Relationships built over years with tour operators, corporate clients, OTAs? Those can’t be replaced by an algorithm. AI can make work leaner and more precise, but without the right “prompt” – in other words, without an expert telling it what to do and how – it produces mediocre results or, worse, harmful ones.
What I’m seeing in the field is clear: AI penalizes junior and operational roles. In the past, a cluster revenue manager handled 5–6 properties. Today, with advanced automation, that number can rise to 20. Repetitive tasks – entering rates, monitoring competitors, updating rate plans – have been absorbed by technology.
But my job as a consultant? It has become almost entirely strategic. I work alongside hoteliers, revenue managers, and group teams to help them correctly implement RMS solutions, rethink distribution and sales strategies, and fully leverage the available technology. I no longer explain “how to do pricing.” I explain “how to build a value proposition that AI cannot copy.”
Those who find the right balance between technology and experience will stay ahead of the competition. Those who reject technology – or blindly rely on it without the necessary skills – risk causing irreparable damage.
And juniors? They may have less space today, but more opportunities tomorrow. Because the required skills are changing radically. Revenue and marketing already overlap: you can’t do one well without understanding the other. The revenue manager of the future will be a hybrid – data, strategy, communication, technology.
Revenue managers won’t disappear. They will evolve. Or they will become extinct.
