What The Luxe

In this episode of What the Luxe, Anant is joined by Gilad Berenstein—founder of Brook Bay Capital, travel tech investor, board member at Virtuoso, and host of Travel Tech Insider—to explore how executive leadership must approach artificial intelligence to enhance human connection in luxury hospitality. They examine the modern traveler's burden of choice, discussing how digital tools often lead to decision fatigue, and argue that tech should shift from generative AI to autonomous "AI swarms"—constellations of specialised agents representing individuals and brands that work together seamlessly while keeping guest data private. Rather than replacing people, AI should automate back-of-house operational "clerk work," freeing employees to deliver genuine, high-touch front-of-house service and memorable, personalised moments at scale. The conversation delves into why strong brand equity, distinct AI personalities, and authentic, local experiences become even more critical as automated systems grow. Gilad and the host reflect on the future of a hybrid workforce, where precision tasks are delegated to machines so humans can focus on empathy, craftsmanship, and meaningful interaction. Finally, they tackle the industry's need to overcome risk aversion and financialisation, urging leaders to adopt mental models for safe experimentation that empower frontline workers to innovate while safeguarding the core values of hospitality.

Gilda Perez-Alvarado spent nearly two decades at JLL, ultimately as Global CEO of its Hotels & Hospitality group, advising the sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms behind some of the world's most significant hotels. She then crossed to the operator's side at Accor, where she went on to lead Orient Express.

In this episode, Fred Moore sits down with Gilda to trace how a brand born in 1883 is being rebuilt as an ecosystem of trains, hotels and yachts. They get into why every property celebrates its own era while carrying Orient Express as its surname, and why the newest chapter is a sailing yacht with 54 suites built to be chartered whole.

They also discuss what LVMH brings to the partnership and a service culture where the crew have no backstage to retreat to. Gilda also tells the story of the original 1929 carriages, spotted on Google satellite imagery near the border between Poland and Belarus and brought back to France in convoy.

Caroline Smith cut her teeth on brands from Glenfiddich and Sailor Jerry to Hendrick's and Balvenie, followed by a stint in brand licensing for character brands, before finding herself in the cruise category. A coffee her husband talked her into with Regent Seven Seas Cruises turned into more than a decade at the company, where she rose from EMEA lead to Chief Marketing Officer and has just taken on group responsibility for Oceania as well.

In this episode, Anant sits down with Caroline to unpack the business of selling luxury at sea. They discuss what it means to market a perishable product, where every unsold sailing is gone for good, and how that shapes a role split between building brand demand ten years out and spinning up campaigns in a matter of days. Caroline explains why discounting is a trap for an ultra-luxury brand, and why Regent spent years avoiding the word "all-inclusive" before leaning into it.

They also get into the Seven Seas Prestige, a ship 40% larger than its predecessors carrying only 10% more guests, its 9,000-square-foot Skyview Regent Suite, and the moment former Formula One driver Pedro de la Rosa looked out from his balcony at the old Valencia circuit and was visibly moved.

Dimitris Memos built MarineTraffic into the world's leading maritime intelligence platform before turning to the sky. Dimitris Kossyfas brought deep knowledge of the Greek islands and a storyteller's instinct for the brand. Together they co-founded Hoper after Memos nearly missed a friend's wedding on Patmos and realised Greece needed a faster way to connect its islands.

In this episode, Fred Moore speaks to the duo about building Greece's first helicopter airline: scheduled routes, bookable seats, 40+ connections across Athens and 14 islands. They discuss why the idea took 50 years to work, what it takes to run a fleet of helicopters day to day, how they think about luxury versus accessibility, and where vertical mobility goes next as flying taxis move from demonstration flights to reality.

Aja Raden began her career designing engagement rings before turning to writing, using books like Stoned and The Truth About Lies to trace how objects come to be considered valuable, and what happens when that agreement breaks down. In this episode, Anant Sharma sits down with Aja to unpack the myth-making behind the modern diamond industry, how De Beers and N.W. Ayer engineered scarcity where none existed and tied it so tightly to love that "diamonds are forever" became gospel. They also discuss the panic now gripping the Natural Diamond Council as lab-grown diamonds undercut the very story the industry built itself on and the origin story of the beads that bought Manhattan. A conversation about scarcity, storytelling, and what happens when an industry gets trapped by the mythology it invented.

Barbara Muckermann has led at nearly every altitude of the travel industry, from PR and trade through Silversea Cruises, MSC, and Loro Piana, to her current role as CEO of Kempinski Hotels, one of the oldest independent hotel groups in Europe.

In this episode, Anant sits down with Barbara to unpack the operational complexity behind luxury hospitality, comparing the economics of running a cruise ship against running a hotel, the wildly different booking cycles for each, and how metrics like ADR and TREVPAR actually shape the business.

They also discuss the shift toward brand-led leadership in hospitality, why so few luxury hotel CEOs still come up through pure hotel operations, and the origin story of Kempinski itself, a brand built on the idea that life is simply better lived well.

A conversation about scale, judgment, and what it takes to run luxury at every size.