Umi Labs

Innovation only matters when it becomes useful.

Hospitality businesses do not need theatre around new technology. They need practical ways to understand what is worth testing, what is worth ignoring, and what could genuinely improve the way the business works.

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Umi Labs exists to explore, prototype and build the ideas that could create a real advantage.

We test new tools, build prototypes, create AI workflows, connect systems, automate manual processes and explore new ways of improving guest experience, marketing performance and operational efficiency.

The work might begin as an experiment. The aim is always practical.

In practice

How the work runs

PrototypesAutomationInternal tools

Five questions every experiment has to answer

Can this save time? Can this improve a decision? Can this create a better guest experience? Can this connect systems that currently create friction? Can this become part of how the business works?

If an idea cannot answer at least one of those, it is interesting rather than useful, and we would rather say so early than build it.

AI workflowsSystem integrationData and content workflows

AI, with context

The most interesting use of AI in hospitality is not generic content generation. It is what becomes possible when AI understands the business context — the guest journey, the tone of voice, the booking data, the marketing history, the operational constraints, the commercial goals, the knowledge inside the team.

Which is why Labs connects directly back to Insights. Without the right foundation, AI remains impressive but shallow.

Sub-services

What we do

You can engage us on any one of these. They tend to arrive together, because the problems do.

AI workflow designLabsPrototype developmentLabsAutomationLabsSystem integrationLabsInternal toolsLabsGuest experience experimentsLabsMarketing operations improvementsLabsData and content workflowsLabsTechnology testingLabs
Selected work

Labs in the work

10 Manchester Street

Hurley House Hotel

The Resident

Insights

Our thinking on labs

Website Development

Why AI in hospitality depends on business context

Generic AI produces generic answers. The interesting work starts when the system understands the guest, the journey, the commercial model and the constraints the team actually operates under.

23 Jun 2026 · 7 min read
Website Development

Why most hotel marketers will never operate at the cutting edge

One of my favourite Steve Jobs moments was when he quoted Alan Kay, saying, "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." While...

12 Jun 2024 · 3 min read
Website Development

Real-world AI: using technology to improve a hotel

Setting aside the hype, here is what AI is already doing usefully inside hotels: the workflows, the tools, and the places it is still not worth the effort.

20 Mar 2024 · 6 min read
Good fit

Who this is right for

This is right for hospitality businesses that want to experiment seriously without losing sight of commercial reality.

It is also right for teams who can see opportunities in AI, automation and integration but need help turning those ideas into working practice.

Free 30 Minute Consultation

Start with the problem, not the service

The best first conversations are not about buying a predefined service. They are about understanding the shape of the problem.

From there we can work out whether the answer is strategy, delivery, advisory, content, technology, or a connected mix of all of them.