Rikant Pittie, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip
The travel and hospitality industry is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the rapid adoption of cutting-edge technologies. In an interview with tele.net, Rikant Pittie, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip, talked about the digital trends influencing the sector, the company’s deployment strategies, key challenges and plans for future growth…
How have ICT needs evolved in the travel and hospitality space over the past few years?
In recent years, information and communication technology (ICT) in the travel and hospitality sector has rapidly shifted toward mobile-first and personalised experiences. Technology now plays a crucial role in enhancing convenience, with app-based booking, AI-driven chatbots, digital payments and multilingual support becoming essential across customer touchpoints. These innovations are especially valuable for travellers from Tier II and III cities seeking accessible and seamless journeys. We have kept pace with these changes by focusing on practical, user-led innovations at EaseMyTrip. Our smart voice recognition feature enables travellers to search and book using vernacular languages. We have also developed an AI chatbot that assists with bookings and price alerts. It is being further enhanced to provide customer support, enabling seamless experiences for travellers.
How are you leveraging new-age technologies What are some noteworthy use cases?
At EaseMyTrip, we are actively adopting new-age technologies to enhance travel experiences and improve operational efficiency. AI drives our travel recommendations and real-time pricing, while cloud infrastructure ensures scalability and seamless, real-time platform updates. Our corporate travel platform, EMT Desk, leverages AI and cloud to simplify and personalise business travel. It features chatbot assistance, carbon dioxide emission tracking, Power BI analytics, a three-level approval matrix via WhatsApp and email, along with 24×7 support.
We are also leveraging IoT to generate intelligent travel insights and enable real-time tracking. These innovations not only future-proof our offerings but also reflect our commitment to delivering safe, tech-enabled travel experiences. At the same time, we are refining our tech stack to deliver hyper-personalised services through behavioural analysis and predictive modelling. For us, technology is a strategic lever to drive customer satisfaction and business agility.
What major challenges have you encountered in their adoption? How are these being addressed?
Adopting new technologies comes with its own set of challenges, whether it is integration complexities or varying levels of customer readiness. At EaseMyTrip, we address these through a strong back-end infrastructure and strategic collaboration with reliable technology partners. The focus remains on building scalable, secure and intuitive systems that carry forward customer experience without compromising on performance and data integrity.
Moreover, we continuously train internal teams so that they are aligned with developed technologies. In addition, regular customer response loops and pilot tests further help refine new features before they go live. We believe that it is important to convert technical challenges into long-term benefits.
What are the top priorities expected to shape your digital roadmap going forward?
Our digital roadmap is focused on personalisation, automation and scalability. We are actively integrating AI and ML to deliver smarter recommendations, predictive analytics and a more intuitive app experience. Our strategic alliance with OneBanc to embed EMT Desk within its AI-powered banking platform illustrates this vision in action.
At the same time, we are investing in system flexibility to ensure our platforms remain secure and reliable as we scale. We are also exploring use cases for blockchain, especially in areas like transparent transactions and smart contracts. At EaseMyTrip, the larger goal is to stay ahead of the curve and build a digital ecosystem that consistently enhances how our customers travel.
Which key digital trends are likely to impact the sector going forward?
Advancements in AI, voice search and real-time predictive analytics are transforming the travel industry, changing the way people plan, book and experience their journeys. IoT is also playing a key role in improving travel safety and transparency through real-time monitoring and intelligent alerts.
Moreover, we also see strong potential in emerging interfaces like AR and VR, which are changing how travellers engage with their journeys. Virtual assistants and immersive experiences are making travel more interactive and intuitive. Through initiatives like EasyVijay, we offer users virtual battlefield tours that complement physical travel with rich, interactive digital experiences. At EaseMyTrip, we see these tools as a way to create more personalised and seamless journeys, and we are actively working to integrate them into the broader travel experience.
