Actabl taps Andrew Arthurs to bring an end-user’s perspective and two decades of tech innovation experience to its leadership team.
ATLANTA — Actabl CEO Steven Moore had a trio of laser-focused requirements for the company’s next president and chief operating officer (COO): Empower the people who power hospitality, build close-knit, long-lasting customer relationships, and advance product innovation to improve short- and long-term property-level cost controls and performance.
The obvious need for visionary team and business leadership skills combined with hands-on experience further narrowed the search terms for the ideal candidate. Given all these factors, who better to deliver on all sides of this mandate than a thought-leading, long-time client who knew their colleagues’ pain points, the opportunities for innovation, and how best to optimize Actabl’s data and tech tools across an enterprise as well as at the property level?
Moore answered that question with a new take on “customer is king” with the March 21, 2024, hiring of veteran hospitality CIO Andrew Arthurs as Actabl’s president and COO.
“Andrew's extensive experience and deep commitment to hospitality come at a pivotal moment for us as we renew our commitment to the people who drive the hospitality industry forward,” said Moore, in announcing the new hire. “I could not be more excited for our team, our customers, and our vision."
Neither could Arthurs, as he said in this exclusive interview with Hotel Investment Today. During this conversation on his third day on the job in early June, Arthurs talked transition, trends, and tactics for optimizing next-wave business-boosting options in data and tech management.
Lessons learned as a CIO that will make him a better COO: One of the most important things I bring to the role of president and COO at Actabl is the hotelier’s perspective. I sat in that chair, saw the opportunities and pain points, leveraged innovation and collaboration to make what was working well, work even better, and found ways to turn businesss challenges into profit centers.
As a former customer, I understand the value that platform technology can bring to hotel operators, owners, and brands. As a CIO, I was at the forefront of organizational change every day, implementing new technology and managing operational changes. I know firsthand the challenges hotel owners, operators, and brands face, and Actabl has solutions to enable hoteliers meet those challenges.
In my most recent job as CIO of Aimbridge Hospitality, I had the opportunity to influence a shift to a data-driven approach to decision making. This resulted in an improvement of our decision making at the properties and across the enterprise, ultimately allowing our hotel teams to spend more time serving the guests.
As a COO, the ability to manage change will become even more important as I have the opportunity to drive technology based business enablement for Actabl’s global customer base.
Managing data at this level enables us to guide hotel owners on major investment decisions at the hotel level and focus on what will generate the highest ROI or reduce the operational risks."
Andrew Arthurs
The to-do list he’s taking to the C-suite: Whether as a CIO or COO, the first thing on the to-do list is to help hotel owners and operators unlock the value of the technology they have. It is important to me that we optimize existing tech before we add more solutions to the ecosystem. Actabl is like a GPS for hotel operators that provides turn-by-turn instructions on how to drive your business toward maximum profitability.
One of the main ways that we can do that is by cross-functional engagement with hotel operators. When we look at how to grow margins and ROI, we can’t just speak to the on property operations team or the finance team. We have to spend time around the boardroom table with the senior-level decision-makers who are responsible for making enterprise-level technology investment decisions. We have to ensure that we’re addressing all of the stakeholders’ needs and inviting them into the conversation. That will be a powerful way to assess and address opportunities at h the individual property and enterprise levels.
What every owner, operator and brand needs to know about data management: In my experience, it’s no longer true that senior-level business leaders are afraid of data and tech. As an industry we have developed a strong appreciation for the value of data. The gap today is being able to organize that data to unlock value. Most organizations have a large amount of data and aren't sure how to organize it, analyze it, and use it to make better business decisions. Based on my experience as a CIO, I can help our customers better understand how to organize and activate data data to make smarter business decisions.
With Actabl I’m fortunate to be in a position where I can leverage my on-the-job knowledge and best practices for change management at the property and portfolio levels. Implementing new solutions at the enterprise level requires consistent, ongoing partnerships with technology partners. Not only can I see the benefits we can bring to our customers, but I can apply the best practices for maximizing our solutions for their specific needs. We are doing more than selling a product, I look forward to spending time in the field, playing a truly consultative role in helping our clients build their optimal software solutions set.
The trend that’s changing the outcomes of data management: For me, the standout trend centers on the ability to understand the patterns in data.
It’s a great time to leverage AI as part of our solution set. AI gives us a powerful way to analyze data and identify patterns that may otherwise go unnoticed. We can predict outcomes and gain a better understanding of where to focus our resources. Ultimately this will improve profitability and asset value.
For example, in the asset management space, as we look at all of the information and data that we've collected on various assets within the hotel, we have a strong understanding of how that asset will perform over time and the maintenance that can be done to prevent service interruptions and prolong the life of the asset.
The data will always tell a story. What we do at Actabl is help translate that story into business terms. Managing data at this level enables us to guide hotel owners on major investment decisions at the hotel level and focus on what will generate the highest ROI or reduce the operational risks.
Priorities on his target list for leveling up labor management: Self-service technology is a big opportunity for many in the hotel industry. For labor, it’s about solutions that put the power of labor management into the hands of hoteliers and their staff members. We can help clients use data to assess when paying overtime might not only be cheaper overall than contract labor, but also a big plus in staff retention.
By the end of 2024, he wants to… I want to establish a personal connection with our customers. There is so much to learn from the people who work with our solutions. A lot of innovation starts with our clients and their teams. I plan to instill a culture of listening throughout my team to make sure we clearly understand clients’ opportunities so we can deliver and optimize solutions that will help them move the needle in a meaningful way.
Andrew Arthurs is chief operating officer at Actabl.
The views and opinions expressed in this content do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel Investment Today or Northstar Travel Group and its affiliated companies.