Roll around in the problem: Designing “phygital” experiences with Hilton’s Jackie Talbot

In this week’s Catalyst episode, Tammy is joined by Jackie Talbot, Vice President of Product, Digital Channels and Capabilities at Hilton. Jackie leads the team responsible for the digital experiences of millions of travelers. She has spent over 25 years in digital product leadership and was behind innovations like the mobile digital key. Tammy and Jackie check in on how Hilton thinks about blending technology with the human touch, building a culture where people embrace AI and following your curiosity, professionally and in general.

Highlights from the episode include:

• Let’s get phygital. No matter how much Hilton automates, guests still physically show up. That informs how Jackie and her team think about applying tech to the guest experience. The goal is removing friction while making sure the human moments that count — like a warm greeting at the front desk — are protected.
• Curiosity as a leadership practice. Jackie asks a lot of questions, of her team, of the business and of the technology itself. She describes asking her leads what they were about to type in the meeting chat she couldn’t see, and using questions like "what's it going to feel like if we fail?" to reveal the fears that hold people back. In her career, Jackie has followed interesting problems and interesting people rather than pursuing a fixed goal.
• Back to life, back to humanity. Early digital transformation stripped out the human from many interactions, replacing conversations with forms and fields. Especially fields you have to fill out every single time you go to the doctor, even if you’ve been there before. Jackie sees AI as an opportunity to bring natural, human exchange back into experiences that lost it. Returning to the front desk example, when technology works well, the clerk can look up, make eye contact and help a guest feel welcome.

Check out the full episode to hear why conjuring elves and unicorns is a good way to unlock innovation and which industry Jackie thinks is most ripe for AI disruption.

Enjoying Catalyst? Don’t forget to like and subscribe for new episodes every Tuesday.

Please note that the views expressed in this episode may not necessarily be those of NTT DATA.