What agentic AI really is — and what it isn't
The term is currently used inflationarily. So let's start with a clear distinction.
A classic chatbot answers questions. It says: «Your flight has been cancelled — please contact our support.» An Agentic AI system, on the other hand, recognises the disruption, checks alternatives, books the next available flight, extends the hotel checkout and sends the guest the updated confirmation — all without human intervention.
McKinsey defines Agentic AI as systems that make decisions autonomously, think in multiple steps, call external tools and APIs, store structured memories, and can carry out complex tasks from start to finish. The decisive difference: AI that advises — versus AI that acts.
What is happening in the industry right now
Developments are moving faster than most hoteliers realise. A few examples from recent months:
Sabre, PayPal and MindTrip announced a partnership in early 2026 that builds the travel industry's first end-to-end agentic booking pipeline. A traveller describes their trip in natural language — MindTrip queries Sabre's APIs (420+ airlines, 2 million hotels), and PayPal handles payment directly within the conversation. Planned launch: Q2 2026.
Google is integrating agentic booking features into its AI Mode — in close collaboration with Booking.com, Expedia, Marriott and IHG. The goal: users describe what they want, and the AI takes care of search, comparison and booking.
Malaysia Airlines has launched «Mavis» — an agentic customer service agent that handles flight status, booking changes, check-in and loyalty requests entirely autonomously. Not a FAQ bot. Real system integration.
Booking.com already has first agentic features live: Smart Messenger and Auto-Reply showed a 73% higher partner satisfaction in early tests. And: 89% of consumers want to use AI for travel planning in the future.
The biggest obstacle: trust, not technology
Despite these developments, the Skift State of Travel 2025 Report shows a sobering figure: only 2% of travellers are willing to give an AI full autonomy over bookings.
This does not mean Agentic AI is coming too early. It means the rollout must be gradual. I recommend three levels:
- Level 1 — Suggest: The AI recommends, the human confirms. «I found a better flight — should I rebook?»
- Level 2 — Act with notification: The AI books and informs immediately. The guest can cancel within a defined time window.
- Level 3 — Full autonomy: The AI proactively manages the entire trip lifecycle. The human is only involved at defined thresholds.
Most leisure travellers are comfortable with Level 1 today. Business travel platforms are moving towards Level 2. Level 3 remains a future prospect for now — but the architecture must support all three levels.
What hotels must do now, concretely
This is where it gets practical. Because Agentic AI is not a feature you retrofit later. It is an infrastructure decision.
1. Build API-first inventory
This is the single most important investment. If an AI assistant cannot programmatically access room availability, rates and booking options, the hotel simply does not exist in the agentic world. The AI does not visit a website. It queries APIs.
What this means in practice: room categories, rates and availability must be retrievable in real time via structured endpoints — including cancellation terms, amenity features and loyalty information in machine-readable format.
2. Implement the MCP protocol
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is becoming the standard through which AI assistants discover and use external services. RateGain launched the first MCP-enabled booking engine in late 2025. Hotels that provide MCP endpoints will be found and booked directly by ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Hotels without MCP will become invisible.
The comparison is obvious: mobile optimisation in 2012. Those who were early benefited disproportionately.
3. Consolidate first-party data
Agentic AI can only personalise as well as the data basis allows. Hotels that own their guest data directly — booking history, preferences, behavioural data — have a structural advantage over those distributing exclusively through OTAs.
The goal: a unified guest profile that combines PMS, CRM and booking system and can be queried in real time.
4. Define guardrails and escalation paths
Autonomous actions carry real risks. Every agentic function needs clear thresholds: at what point does the system escalate to a human? What booking values may the AI process autonomously? How is every action logged?
Trust does not come from autonomy alone — but from autonomy with traceable guardrails.
Conclusion
Agentic AI is not a chatbot upgrade. It is a new distribution paradigm. The question is no longer whether AI assistants will take over bookings — but whether your hotel is part of it when it happens.
The infrastructure decisions made today determine whether a hotel is visible in the agentic era or not. API-first, MCP compatibility and consolidated guest data are not niche technical projects. They are strategic priorities.
Sources
McKinsey — Agentic AI explained: When machines don't just chat, but act
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/agentic-ai-explained-when-machines-dont-just-chat-but-act
Adamo Software — Agentic AI in Travel: What hotels and operators need to build
https://adamosoft.com/blog/travel-software-development/agentic-ai-in-travel/
Sabre — Mindtrip launches travel's first all-in-one agentic AI flight booking experience
https://www.sabre.com/resources/newsroom/mindtrip-launches-travels-first-all-in-one-agentic-ai-flight-booking-experience-powered-by-partnership-with-sabre-and-paypal/
PayPal — Sabre, PayPal and Mindtrip partner on an end-to-end agentic AI experience
https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2025-02-12-Sabre-PayPal-and-Mindtrip-Partner-To-Deliver-the-Industrys-First-End-to-End-Agentic-AI-Experience-for-Travel
Google — How we're reimagining Maps with Gemini
https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/maps/ask-maps-immersive-navigation/
Ada — Malaysia Airlines selects Ada's agentic customer service platform
https://www.ada.cx/media-center/press-release/malaysia-airlines-selects-ada-agentic-customer-service-platform/
Booking.com — Agentic AI innovations with Smart Messenger and Auto-Reply
https://news.booking.com/de/bookingcom-stellt-neue-agentische-ki-tools-vor-und-erweitert-damit-sein-umfangreiches-genai-portfolio-fuer-kundinnen/
Skift Research — State of Travel 2025
https://research.skift.com/reports/state-of-travel-2025/
Skift — State of Travel 2025: Our 7 Favorite Charts
https://skift.com/2025/07/22/state-of-travel-2025-our-7-favorite-charts/
Further relevant articles
- Agentic Commerce: Make Your Hotel Bookable for AI Assistants (nearly identical topic, action guide)
- Google Becomes a Booking Agent (related development at Google)
- Radisson Now Bookable via ChatGPT (current practical example)
- Marriott and Google Usher in a New Era (related example)
