This content was created by Brad Costanzo. This content was uploaded by Brad Costanzo. This is a YouTube video titled "AI for Hospitality: Recap from teaching the AI Workshop to one of the largest resorts in Florida" (created 2023-09-21). It contains an English conversational recap of an AI acceleration workshop delivered to Sandestin Beach and Golf Resort department managers. Participants in the excerpt include Brad Costanzo, Sammy, and several attendees (labeled SPEAKER C/D). They discuss the workshop format and impact—covering AI foundations, machine learning, robotic process automation, ChatGPT features (custom QR codes), Firefly, automations and triggers—and emphasize how the resort leadership invested in upskilling employees across departments (housekeeping, facilities, technology, sales, real estate). The group notes initial resistance turning into rapid adoption, concrete time-savings (an attendee regained roughly 12 weeks/year on a task), and frames the outcome as moving "From AI to Aha."
Questions this video answers
Sandestin Beach and Golf Resort
About 50–60 people
About 1 week per month (≈12 weeks per year)
Created/uploaded by Brad Costanzo; video dated 2023-09-21
Chapters
We just finished an AI acceleration workshop for the Sandestin beach and Golf Resort here in Florida.
They're the largest employer in, I believe it's Fort Walton county here in the panhandle on the Emerald coast of Florida. And you know, they brought us in to lead their department managers. I think it was about 50 or 60 people.
50 or 60, yep.
Through understanding everything from the foundations of how to use artificial intelligence and machine learning, but also tools like robotic process automation and understanding how to take this technology and integrate it into their work, into their life to get more productive, etc, and it was this. This is not individuals who bought a ticket. No, see this. This was a corporation who's investing in their people to learn. You know, Sammy, one of the things I thought was the most inspiring and I hope that we see more of this not just for selfish reasons, but a lot of people are worried, will AI take my job? And they're worried about employers investing in technology so that they can, you know, so they can have less employees.
Yeah.
However, Sarah, the president over and owner over at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, invested in their employees. They brought us in in order to help facilitate getting the information into their employees so that they can use it as opposed to trying to replace their employees. She's trying to empower them.
Empower them.
What's your one word for describing this event?
Enlighten.
Enlighten. Great.
What was your favorite thing as group? What was your favorite thing about this?
That we have been provided a road map to get us to the next steps.
Okay.
Our word is informative and what we really liked was understanding how to use chat GBT to assess, define and create.
Nice.
I just want you all to know that Brad's upset that nobody said their favorite thing is Brad.
Our one word is mind blowing. We think that it's been really great to learn the versatility and how all these new platforms can't touch every piece of our business. We're most excited about the automations and the triggers. Really being able to.
Make a path.
For our workflows and work smarter.
All right.
Our one word is innovative. And our favorite thing was firefly and the custom QR codes in chatgpt. Empowering. And our collective favorite things that we feel that we are being giving early access to the tools to pioneer and. Very engaging. We enjoyed the training. I think for us the biggest takeaway is just the opportunity to save time and to manage our resources better with the information and the resources and what.
We were able to see on this, this amazing little workshop. Was day one, we had resistance. People were like, what are we doing? I don't even understand. And even partway through day one, I.
Would say even, and especially people, there are people over there from housekeeping to facilities to technology to sales to real estate, etc. And for some people it's true. Like AI and machine learning don't apply to them as much. So it's easy for them to just go, ah, this is, I just have to be here. This isn't something I can use.
So people unrelated to AI and unrelated to using technology for the most part, were blown away, first of all. And then they were so inspired to use the technology that we had people writing their emails, their work, their work, what they would be like a kind of a request for new equipment and like how to up level. Every department of this entire facility was not just inspired, but impacted to take action and to actually do, to utilize and to use the technology that we showed him.
Really cool to see people go from a skeptic to not only believer, but somebody who's using it and coming up, you know, to the podium on breaks, etc. And saying, look what I just did with this, like with, you know, two days, they're already making solutions for themselves. And one of the women said, this just saved me a week every month, like 12 weeks a year from some stuff that we helped her do. Because it usually takes her a week to figure this out. Yeah, 12 weeks a year of her time back on a task that she was able to do, sitting there over the course of maybe 30 minutes. What is that? Three months?
Three months? Three months a year? Yeah, in the, in the course of one part of our presentation.
Right. And this wasn't anything that we told them to do from the presentation. This was them understanding the way this works and then thinking, okay, this is how I can use this technology in my role. And then her solving her own problem. And that's one of the most amazing, the cool things about it. Yeah.
So that's our little recap. From AI to Aha is what I would call it.
