About Brett Keller
Brett Keller, CEO of Priceline, announced his departure from the company after 26 years, with his successor Bridget Zimmerman taking over on January 1, 2025. In a December 2024 interview, Keller stated he would remain for a few months to ensure a smooth transition. He said his biggest piece of advice to his successor was to "make sure you have the best possible team working around you." Keller expressed pride in "surviving some of the most challenging hits that a company can take over 25 years and coming out on top." He also said that Priceline's decision to keep the brand limited to North America was a "mistake" and that the company should have expanded worldwide.
Throughout 2024, Keller discussed travel demand and the use of artificial intelligence. He stated that travel was "holding up quite well" despite inflation, with consumers continuing to prioritize travel over other spending. Keller noted that hotel prices were beginning to level off and that airlines were improving operationally, though he acknowledged that air travel had been "a mess" due to staffing shortages and delays. He highlighted Priceline's AI chatbot, "Penny," saying the company was using OpenAI's technology to create more natural conversations for planning, booking, and customer service. Keller said that AI would make travel "easier and faster" and that the industry was "finally on the verge of great personalization in travel."
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Brett Keller's recent appearances.
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Transcript (8 segments)
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Host0:07
Welcome back. Triple-A predicting a record-breaking Thanksgiving travel day weekend with 80 million people hitting the roads and the skies. Take a look at what he is seeing from customers. Bret, great to have you on. Is that what you are expecting as well, record travel by a record number of Americans over the next couple of days?
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Brett Keller0:28
That is what we are expecting. We are hoping every year produces a record as consumers spend and enjoy their holiday. I think we will see a lot of people on the road this year. 80 million predicted to travel, roughly 90% of those will be driving. That opens up a lot of opportunity for folks to get out and travel. And even through the air, I think the flight volume is predicted to be up a couple points over last year. Still, good, healthy travel trends moving through the holidays.
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Host0:55
When you say you expect to see consumers spending more and more every year, is that a reflection of the fact that prices for these services continue to stay more elevated than they were a couple years ago, or consumers are spending more on services on experiences versus goods, and so maybe that is a new normal?
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Brett Keller1:14
A couple of things are happening. One is, looking over the last couple of decades, travel outpaced the GDP. We expect travel to move at a faster pace. The question is why? A couple of reasons. One is consumers have more, at least historically, available spending power. So they are prioritizing travel over other commodities. So people are traveling more. And finally, with the change in shift in patterns with work behavior, more people are adding trips to their business trips. It opens up more leisure demand.
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Host2:05
We are still taking business trips. How is AI going to affect the travel planning booking process? Increase frequency? Going to increase the number of things that people add on? The conversation is going to make the things they want to do easier to find? What do you think so far?
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Brett Keller2:23
The first thing that we will start to see in the industry is just more information available for consumers making their decision. They will not have to leave to go somewhere else and spend a lot of time shopping and searching for that data. They can find it in real time. That is more of a conversion play. People will get the information faster. Two, it will help them plan better trips, so they will actually find destinations that they are happier with, and they will be able to find options that are suitable to them from a price and destination perspective. Things will get easier and faster, and consumers will save more money to use the tools to uncover great savings. That is something that we are focused on at Priceline using AI.
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Host3:13
Will it change the relationship between you and the airlines?
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Brett Keller3:17
I hope not. I hope it improves that if anything. As we help them, help consumers find the best option.
