Identifying a significant gap in the market, Dan Zhang (Associate Dean for Research and Academics at University of Colorado Boulder) saw an opportunity to bring advanced, AI-driven pricing optimization to independent hotels, which represent about two-thirds of the market yet lack the sophisticated pricing strategies of their franchised counterparts. Many of these hotels, he noted, rely on rudimentary pricing due to the prohibitive costs of acquiring and maintaining advanced pricing systems.
Two companies have developed AI technology that enables food-related businesses to assess the amount of waste in their daily operations, helping them better manage the products they sell or use. Read more.
It s part of an emerging industry that s trying to cash in on a senseless human problem: The huge amount of uneaten food that goes from supermarkets and restaurants to the dumpster. Much of that, if it s not composted, ends up in landfills where it decays, sending potent planet-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Enter a new business opportunity. A company called Winnow has developed the AI tool that spies on restaurant garbage. Another, company, Afresh, digests supermarket data to look for wasteful mismatches between what a store is stocking, and what people are buying.