During his summer internship with Marriott International, a Kogod School of Business MBA student rethinks hospitality technology through business transformation.
Jamie McCrary
Editor’s note: This summer, we’re charting Kogod students’ internship experiences in this special spotlight series. We’re documenting their growth by exploring where they’re interning, why, and how their experiences feed into longer-term goals post-Kogod.
Digital transformation is shifting the face of nearly every industry. As tools like artificial intelligence have proliferated, companies are reimagining their core operations and the employee and customer experience.
This summer, MBA student Ravi Nair is helping advance this innovation at Marriott International, a globally celebrated leader in hotel tech transformation.
As a business transformation intern, Nair is helping map the Marriott associate experience and examine ways to optimize their guest check-in process. He’s also helping launch Marriott’s experience validation lab, the physical space where the company will test these reimagined processes.
Nair notes he was drawn to the role and the company for its focus on innovation and problem-solving.
“I love problem-solving and finding more than one solution to an issue,” Nair says. “So, this technology shift really piqued my interest. I’m also especially excited about the hands-on aspect of the lab. I love collaborating with others.”
Read on to learn more about Nair’s experience so far this summer—and how he plans to channel his new business innovation skills into his MBA degree and beyond.
Ravi Nair: Marriott is going through a massive technology shift right now. They’re working on many operational improvements and enhancements, which piques my interest.
Working for such a big company with a global presence also provides an important opportunity to gain business innovation skills."
Ravi Nair
MBA Student, Kogod School of Business
The travel and hospitality industry has also always been interesting to me personally.
I’m working in the business transformation office on the design and innovation team, focusing primarily on the associate experience. We’re mapping process flows to help us understand the different touchpoints that define the associate experience. For example, when guests check into a Marriott hotel, an associate will guide them through many steps—from greeting to helping them settle into a room. We’re working to streamline and automate this process so it’s more efficient.
Many Marriott hotels use different systems, meaning the employee and guest experience is varied. Currently, associates must use three different systems to check in a guest. Our technology upgrade will centralize everything into one system so the process is more efficient, faster, and precise.
One of my main projects this summer is helping get Marriott’s experience validation lab up and running. This is the physical space where we will test the processes we’ve been mapping. I enjoy working in a hands-on setting with people. We will eventually bring associates to Marriott’s HQ in Bethesda to test things and make sure we haven’t missed any steps. We also want to have a mobile lab.
I love problem-solving and coming up with more than one solution. What are the three different ways we could address this problem? What are all the downstream impacts of each of these choices? What will this choice improve—will it make things better or worse? I love this type of critical thinking and brainstorming with others.
When I worked at Alight Solutions, I dealt with a lot of data that gave me insight into how we could improve our participants’ experience. Even though their systems are different from Marriott’s, the ideas, concepts, and ways of thinking are very transferable. I am also making things more efficient for people consuming our products and the general user experience.
Many of my classes have already helped me, particularly Professor Wasil’s operations and organizational management class. It was a lot of project planning: How many days will it take to do this? What is the proper buffer time between projects? What can we start at the same time? What's dependent on something else being started? I’m looking forward to building on this experience, too. Next semester, I’ll be getting more into business process analysis and intelligence, and I plan on getting a certificate in data analytics.
The stereotypical consultant culture where you work a bajillion hours a week isn’t sustainable."
Ravi Nair
MBA Student, Kogod School of Business
It’s also what a business does in their community. Do they give back? I think Marriott is especially good with this—they place a big emphasis on community service.
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