Overview
- Al-Dahle, who joins Wednesday, will oversee Airbnb’s engineering and data science teams following Ari Balogh’s December departure.
- CEO Brian Chesky described the mandate as “doing AI right for travel” and ecommerce by combining deep technical expertise with a design-led approach.
- Airbnb is focusing on specialized AI agents grounded in its host–guest community and verified user data while staying open to integrations with ChatGPT and Gemini.
- Early use of AI has reduced English customer-service contacts by about 15% and accelerated internal workflows with generative coding tools, the company said.
- Product plans include an AI search experience targeted for 2026 and pilots beyond rentals such as boutique hotel bookings and Instacart-powered kitchen stocking.