In this episode of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Patrick and Shelli welcome Jolie Fleming, Chief Product and Technology Officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts, to discuss leading tech teams across a global, franchised hospitality ecosystem spanning 21 brands and nearly 7,000 hotels in 100+ countries. Jolie discusses her career journey, specifically what tools she brought and what challenges she met when moving from financial services to hospitality. She explains IHG’s combined tech team, which unifies product and dev to increase speed, predictability, and gives business context increased visibility. They discuss the ever-shifting role of AI in future planning. And Jolie shares three key strategic themes: helping hotels keep “heads in beds”, improving operational efficiency with new property management systems, and deepening guest engagement via a new CRM tied to IHG One Rewards.

(00:00) Welcome Jolie Fleming, Chief Product and Technology Officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts
(01:10) Jolie’s Career Journey from Finance to Hospitality
(02:39) Understanding IHG’s Global Scale and Franchising
(09:39) Jolie’s One Team Culture
(16:58) Discussing Strategic Themes and AI
(23:45) IHG’s Loyalty Rewards and CRM Personalization
(27:17) How to Future Proofing for Change

Jolie Fleming’s career spans more than 25 years of leading transformative growth through product management and technology initiatives across fintech, hospitality, and consulting sectors. Currently, she is the Chief Product & Technology Officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Previously she spent nearly nine years at E*TRADE, as Managing Director of Investing, Digital Channels, and Banking and then Head of Digital and Client Experience. She earned her bachelor's degree from Northwestern University.

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