What if the future of luxury isn’t more technology but more humanity?

And what if the most innovative CEOs aren’t racing forward, they’re slowing down to listen?

For this episode of Digital Storm Weekly, I had the rare privilege of sitting down inside the iconic Schloss Elmau with its visionary CEO, Dietmar Müller-Elmau, a tech founder who built a global hotel software empire, sold it to Oracle, and then rebuilt one of Europe’s most admired luxury destinations from ashes.

In this conversation, he breaks every myth people have about AI in hospitality. No robots at the door. No soulless automation. Instead, a radical philosophy: technology should create freedom, not control. And imperfection is not a flaw, it’s the essence of human connection.

We went deeper into how silence fuels innovation, why skepticism is the true superpower of modern leaders, and how luxury hotels must redesign themselves for a world where search, booking, and travel decisions are increasingly shaped by large language models.

The result is one of the most thought-provoking dialogues we've had on the podcast yet.

We are discussing:

• AI is powerful, but the quality of your questions determines your results
• Human touch becomes more valuable as automation rises
• Innovation requires constant skepticism, not comfort
• Silence and creative isolation are underrated tools for leadership

The future of luxury travel belongs to brands that rethink how AI shapes discovery and decision-making

What part of luxury do you believe should never be automated?