Expedia's AI Chief: Models Are Fungible, Data Isn't
CIO Dive, Friday, October 16th, 2026
Expedia's first chief AI and data officer explains why he keeps model choices flexible and treats data as the moat.
Xavier Amatriain joined Expedia Group from Google late last year as its first chief AI and data officer, with a focus on the data foundation, and he says data is Expedia's differentiator and must stay tightly connected to AI.
He uses a 'fanning out and fanning in' approach, trialing tools and models and then concentrating resources on what shows value, while keeping 80% or more of staff on a 'golden path.'
AI champions test tools and teach others.
He warns against static ROI metrics and uses both frontier and open-weight models.