Since Inn-Flow launched in 2009, the company has continued to strengthen its footprint in the hospitality business with its accounting and management software, especially with the launch of Inn-Flow Procurement. The solution gives hotel owners and operators a thorough view of performance by bringing together procurement, accounting, and labor. Deploying AI has accelerated Inn-Flow’s ability to provide these insights. Founder and Chief Executive Officer John Erhart recently spoke with LODGING and discussed Inn-Flow’s growth while also detailing its approach to using AI.
Inn-Flow’s Growth Phase
Erhart stated that Inn-Flow has been in an expansion phase, noting that the company has grown 40 percent year over year. As part of this momentum, the company has substantially “invested internally in people, in tools, and processes over the last 12 months,” he said. The past year has also seen the company move into a new office in Raleigh, North Carolina; while Inn-Flow had historically been a remote business since the COVID-19 pandemic, this change has brought the team back together in person. Erhart pointed to how the cross-departmental interactions in the office have been beneficial. “It’s been fantastic,” he said. “When you see someone in marketing walk over to someone in products and say, ‘Hey, what are you building? Tell me about this thing.’ And all the creative juices get flowing. And then they pull in support to ask about their feedback.” Summarizing the past several months for Inn-Flow, Erhart said the company has been growing in smart, fun ways.
Trust and Transparency With AI
With the rapid evolution of AI, Inn-Flow—like many other providers—continues to navigate the unpredictable road ahead, both in the near future and beyond. He explained that the team aims to be “pragmatic” about this technology and thoughtfully implement it in ways that “move the needle” for hotel owners and operators. Erhart explained that Inn-Flow is already embedding AI into workflows. In doing so, the company has been listening to customers to determine what they want, especially regarding AI. “We wanted to find out, ‘What are you guys interested in? When it comes to AI, what are your desires? What are your concerns?’ So we could really map it out, and we can deliver the right functionality, but also deliver it in the right way.” Erhart also emphasized that building these solutions with trust and transparency has been a priority for Inn-Flow, given hoteliers’ concerns about those aspects. Noting that Inn-Flow is a financial management product, Erhart said that hotels can’t have their payroll or finances reported incorrectly, so ensuring accuracy when utilizing AI is especially crucial.
At the property level, Erhart highlighted how teams want AI to provide clarity in their operations and reduce the amount of repetitive work frontline employees have to do, including data entry. This feedback from customers amplified some of the direction that Inn-Flow was already going in, Erhart said, while bringing up new concerns for them to solve. “It’s helping us to be able to deliver it and make sure that there is this transparency, so there’s always a human in the loop for approval.”
Naming specific areas where AI excels in operations, Erhart pointed to workflows and analysis. This includes assisting in the scheduling of employees, such as analysis of overtime and shift management. Erhart underlined how AI performs repetitive tasks, but human action is still required. “They’ll handle the scheduling, but they will then prompt you or the manager to do the review and approval before the execution,” he explained. “I think that’s the really important part of it.” Embedding AI in these processes accelerates them, freeing up hoteliers and frontline employees to focus on more impactful work, like serving guests and creating memorable experiences that drive repeat stays.
