After nearly a decade working with revenue management companies including IDeaS and most recently, LodgIQ, Fabian Bartnick (pictured above) has decided to launch his first startup to “liberate revenue managers”.
Infinito aims to do this via IVI, a virtual RM analyst and assistant “who will optimise the user’s behaviour by learning you and upskilling you to the extent that IVI can take all decisions for you”, said Bartnick.
“It works in phases – sets up certain rules of engagement, using your normal behavior as a baseline, understands your outliers, what makes you tick and then IVI will gradually improve you by drawing a co-relation between what you see and what you do. It’s not about what people say they do, it’s about what they actually do.
“Users should be able to experiment at the right time and then get the results of their actions immediately – which is what is lacking currently in revenue management. RMS’s will tell you that “I factored everything in already” – really? But what if I want to do better than what you say? Influence the outcome before it is written as history?”
Based on his experience, he saw a gap in the market for such a virtual assistant. “IVI is the digital version of yourself so you can learn more, be more, succeed more.”
Bartnick said he wanted to humanize IVI. “It shouldn’t be a UI; I wanted an avatar-like figure which could become a digital companion over time. I believe we will all have digital companions in some form or another in future, so why not in revenue management?”
Launched just two months ago, IVI has signed up more than 150 hotels globally with Bartnick saying the company’s brought in $100,000 worth of revenues in eight weeks. IVI is built to be data agnostic and can be fully white labelled. To encourage more hotels to take that first step, Infinito is offering a free version of IVI.
Asked what he would say to revenue managers who fear that IVI could eventually replace their jobs, he said the idea is not to replace but “to make them better, to get them to the next job”.
“A lot of talented people in revenue management are being held back for the wrong reasons – wrong location, wrong boss. If there’s a virtual assistant that looks out for you so you can be who you want to be, that’s a good thing.
“IVI will always need human input as IVI will always learn more from you. In turn, she will equally teach you a thing or two that you might not be aware of.”
Bartnick said it was also frustration with the revenue management industry that led him to start IVI. “We need to move on. We have a new generation coming into the workplace – generation Alpha – and we give them a CD and they think it’s a hand-held mirror.”
To bring revenue management to the masses, Infinito Solutions launched an Revenue Management Sports League last week, the first such esports competition in revenue management. “Anybody can take part, and anybody can be a rock star in revenue management,” said Bartnick.
(Esports is a fast growing phenomenon in the sporting world and according to the 2019 Global Esports Market Report, revenues in the global esports market will reach $1.1 billion this year, a year-on-year growth of 26.7% – the first time it’s exceeded $1 billion.)
Bartnick said, to date, more than 300 have signed up for the competition which is supported by various vendors and hotel groups. His target is to get to 5,000 before November.
“Imagine, having 1,000 people work on a simulation for a particular hotel. Or a global access to talent. Even more – think of all those that weren’t able to have that chance. Now they do.”
Working on his first startup has been scary, Bartnick said. “One day I am overjoyed, the next I am depressed. But I am excited and I am finding a fulfilment in it that I didn’t have before.”