COVER STORY
expectation is the same: fast, secure, reliable connectivity. At FIVE, anticipating those needs is ingrained in our ethos. With the AI-optimised network, we adapt in real time, ensuring every digital touchpoint is seamless. This enables us to perfectly align with the lifestyles of our tech-savvy guests.
How do you utilise AI to ensure operational excellence and drive the business forward?
AI is our silent powerhouse. It predicts, prevents and fine-tunes performance across the board – spotting anomalies, optimising bandwidth and ensuring flawless service delivery. By automating routine tasks and surfacing deep insights, AI frees our teams to focus on high-value interactions. The impact is twofold: sharper decisions for the business and consistently exceptional experiences for our guests. AI supports our operations whilst accelerating them.
How will you continue with your mission to streamline operations while remaining laser-focused on improving the guest experience?
Efficiency is not about cutting back, it’ s about creating the capacity for excellence. Looking ahead, we’ ll continue expanding our use of AI and smart systems to handle the repetitive and predictable, while empowering our people to focus on what only humans can deliver: genuine, unforgettable hospitality.“ The future lies in the intertwining and harmony of human touch and intelligent technology – and at FIVE, that’ s exactly where we’ re headed”.
As Regional Director for HPE Networking, how do you envision the company’ s role evolving in the hospitality sector and what strategic initiatives are you prioritising to stay ahead of industry trends and customer expectations?
HPE Networking is positioning itself as a transformational leader for hospitality brands in this dynamic AI-driven world we live in. We have hoteliers worldwide who advocate for us and that speaks volumes for the legacy we have built in the hospitality sector.
Having said that, our focus remains on continuous innovation and enabling secure AI-native networking, IT sustainability and driving business outcomes. This is evident in high-profile collaborations like the one with FIVE Hotels and Resorts, where smart room systems and energy-efficient access points have
THIS PARTNERSHIP PROVES THAT SUSTAINABILITY AND LUXURY AREN’ T OPPOSING FORCES – WHEN DONE RIGHT, THEY ELEVATE EACH OTHER.
Jacob Chacko, Regional Director, Middle East & Africa at HPE Networking
driven both operational efficiency and carbon footprint reduction.
Today’ s hotel guests are living in a fast-paced world, and their expectations are aligned with having a high-speed and secure, AI – powered network, smart room control systems, contactless services and personalised digital experiences. HPE Networking meets these expectations with IoT integrations and a centrally managed dashboard, which is the muchloved HPE Aruba Networking Central. Our solutions also support IT sustainability through recyclable hardware, eco-friendly designs and Network-as-a- Service( NaaS) models that shift CapEx to OpEx. This helps hotel chains and organisations across various industries achieve a smarter infrastructure, predictive maintenance and scalable, sustainable digital transformation, while also driving cost savings and accelerate business outcomes.
Muhammad Shahid, Managing Director, ELEVATE, a trusted HPE partner that supported the implementation, highlighted that technology is transforming hospitality – with the FIVE Hotels project a‘ prime example’.
He said:“ ELEVATE’ s expert team, in collaboration with HPE Aruba Networking, delivered a future-ready infrastructure that enhances guest experiences and streamlines operations.
“ Our focus on deploying energy-efficient HPE Aruba access points truly helped FIVE reduce its carbon footprint and lower power costs – proving that innovation can be both impactful and sustainable.” p
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