Amol Kale: A Steadfast Leader Revolutionizing the Hospitality Industry

Meet Amol Kale, the CTO of Blackstone Real Estate (BRE) Hotels and Resorts, a U.S.-based hospitality portfolio company focused on luxury, upper-upscale, extended-stay, and select-service hotels.

Amol joined BRE Hotels and Resorts in March 2020 with more than two decades of experience in technology, management, and executive roles in various industries.

He completed his Bachelor of Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai, Master’s in Computer and Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an Executive MBA from the Harvard Business School. Primarily a technologist, Amol intentionally decided to work for big corporates to gain experience across technologies and platforms. His mission was to work on projects that would have a meaningful impact on a wide customer base and multiple industries. By working across aerospace, pharmaceuticals, entertainment and media, commercial real estate, telecommunications, business processes, and private equity real estate, Amol had the unique opportunity to truly make technology platforms agnostic of the domain and utilize his functional expertise to make tools and platforms innovative and scalable.

“As a first-generation immigrant in the USA, from India, the journey till here has been full of highs and lows. From passing up great opportunities due to immigration  challenges to creating my own opportunities through innovation has been a journey of understanding that every person in your life – personal and professional plays a huge part in the collective genius to create shared value,”- Amol remembers. “Striving to unlock the collective potential of our colleagues and release the creative potential of our organizations is what drove me to create innovative leadership throughout my career, be it as a Project Manager at Boeing or most recently the Chief Technology Officer at Blackstone Real Estate (BRE) Hotels & Resorts.”

Joining BRE Hotels and Resorts

Blackstone Real Estate Hotels and Resorts was not an opportunity that Amol was actively seeking. His interview with the then CFO revealed a shared vision, compelling him to seize the opportunity to build a technology organization from scratch. It was an opportunity that he simply couldn’t resist.

“To be able to build a key function, such as technology, in any firm and leave an indelible mark in the industry is primarily dependent on how to build out the platform to benefit the business. I grabbed this opportunity with wide open arms for which I would need all I had learned in my career and be creative about driving innovation. I got the opportunity to create and build a technology organization with autonomy, and executive sponsorship and cause a huge impact if successful. These were the primary reasons I took up this challenge,”- he remembers.

In March 2020, Amol’s path converged with BRE, marking the onset of an extraordinary professional voyage during the apex of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Undeterred by the challenging circumstances, Amol fearlessly navigated uncharted waters, embracing the unfamiliar territory with remarkable resilience. In the face of a rapidly evolving global business landscape, he showcased an unparalleled capacity for innovation, diligently honing his skills in the fundamental aspects of the trade. His unique ability to define a vision and be flexible and agile about operational execution was a key factor in the eventual success of the technology team at BRE.

Navigating Challenges

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospitality industry stood as one of the sectors most profoundly impacted. Amol feels the major challenges currently are labor shortages and retention, inflation crisis, technology innovation and scalability, ESG focus, and meeting demand.

He specifically mentions the labor shortage. The post-pandemic landscape witnessed a significant shift in sentiment surrounding the willingness to return to traditional housekeeping roles. People naturally gravitated towards industries perceived as more resilient to the impact of future crises, such as COVID-19. Moreover, individuals sought alternative sources of meaning and purpose in their work and personal lives, resulting in a considerable exodus of employees from traditional hospitality positions.

Amol also mentions technology innovation and scalability factors. Traditionally, the real estate industry has not fully embraced bespoke tools, systems, and business intelligence data platforms to streamline operations and enhance reporting capabilities. However, everything changed during the pandemic and the industry witnessed a massive shift in the investment and use of tech in the hospitality real estate sector. BRE is on a steady course to adapt to the changing needs and improve customer experience via innovative tools and systems. Using data-enabled BI platforms has proven to be beneficial to drive business decisions within the firm and the industry.

Amol’s Vision for BRE

The vision is to lead with purpose and create technology as a platform to drive decision-making within the firm. His vision encompasses utilizing technology to enable environmental, social, and governance initiatives, fostering environmental sustainability through a low-carbon business model, and spearheading human-oriented innovation to enhance the lives of countless individuals. By harnessing the power of technology, Amol aims to create a positive impact that transcends boundaries and contributes to the betterment of society.

In pursuit of this vision, Amol emphasizes the importance of engaging with emerging companies throughout the ecosystem, forging partnerships that align with shared goals. This collaborative approach seeks to harness the collective power of like-minded organizations, driving progress and innovation through synergy. Rather than undertaking isolated sideline projects, Amol’s intention is to integrate these principles across every facet of the business, ensuring a holistic and cohesive approach to achieving the desired outcomes.

“The vision is to have a paradigm shift of technology in the hospitality real estate sector. The hospitality real estate sector has traditionally been behind the curve with technology adoption. To foster AI and machine learning to drive budgeting and forecasting processes by utilizing big data, hotel room pricing models leveraging on big data and machine learning, fully automated data collections, ESG analytics, and best-in-class hotel technology infrastructures to all provide guests with the ultimate experience during their stay and efficiencies for corporate functions,”- he states.

Focusing on Diversity and Inclusion

The significance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within an organization is well-established and widely recognized at BRE.

Amol states “The company understands that cultivating a truly diverse workforce, encompassing all levels of the organization is of paramount importance. Numerous case studies have already demonstrated the profound financial impact that stems from embracing diversity within the workforce. Firms that are adopting and leveraging diversity are reaping the full benefits of a diverse workforce. So, BRE focuses on identity-based knowledge and experiences that come specifically from a diverse workforce.”

The organization has also taken several initiatives in the recent past starting from hiring Afghan refugees in its hotels to having diverse and effective team structures in corporate functions.

As a leading hospitality portfolio company, BRE tries to harness diversity by having the willingness to reshape its power structure which in turn leads to increasing the effectiveness of diversity.

Looking at the Future

There are many challenges and controversies that are facing society today and its impact on business and technology is significant. Recognizing this, Amol envisions a pivotal role for BRE in addressing these collective challenges through a business and technology lens. He sees this as a burgeoning opportunity to leverage technology applications and platforms to gain a deeper understanding of these challenges, particularly from an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standpoint. By doing so, Amol aims to empower businesses to make informed decisions that drive positive outcomes.

“As I continue to expand on my business opportunities, we all must take care of “the basics” – day-to-day efficiency and optimal performance, rational P&L decisions to run the business, etc. but you need to leverage and attend to meaning, values, and purpose to achieve broad strokes that drive environmental, social, and performative organizational changes by leveraging on big data architecture, AI and ML amongst other faculties,”- Amol states. “From a technology perspective, I take it as a personal responsibility to create tools and applications to drive businesses into action to answer major global crises facing us today.

The adoption of OpenAI is inevitable in the business world but to do it with regulation in an ethical context benefitting society rather than destroying it, is a mission that we all need to accomplish and align with.”.

Suggestion for Younger Self

Amol suggests young entrepreneurs that regardless of the size of their organization, it is crucial for them to define their purpose and prioritize it. He feels it is not enough to merely have vision and mission statements confined to presentation slides; instead, they should be interconnected with one’s strategy. This integration allows for the identification of opportunities and the pursuit of a path towards growth. Moreover, it has the potential to revolutionize one’s strategy, transform business practices, and unlock substantial innovation and expansion.

He also suggests to embrace all stakeholders and efficiently mobilize them, and not make any artificial tradeoffs to business focus. There’s no need to choose between prioritizing employees, customers, or shareholders, as it is possible to embrace all of them simultaneously.

“Place your people at the center of the business model and foster human-centric management practices. When you have your monthly reviews start by discussing your employees first, then customers before getting into financials,”- Amol says. “In business, empowerment is about making sure everyone is connected to the organization’s goals. Great leaders acknowledge and learn from their mistakes – so don’t be afraid to create and build with experimentation but have the ability to acknowledge and learn from your mistakes and pivot quickly if it does not work.”