The platform
What we are building
A vetted professional network for hospitality operators — verified identity, role-based communities, and a credential that travels with the practitioner rather than the employer.
The operating knowledge of the industry, written down for the first time by the people who hold it, and organised into something an intelligence can be built on.
A hospitality model and the tools that run on it, trained against knowledge that exists nowhere else — and returned to the industry that produced it.
Who it's for
Two sides of one network
Practitioners build the record and are paid for it. Enterprise taps the talent and intelligence it produces.
Practitioners & professionals
GMs, chefs, F&B and revenue leaders — the people who do the work.
Operators, recruiters & vendors
Management companies, search firms and suppliers who buy into the network.
Why we built this
We did not discover this in a market map
We spent years inside the problem, researched it, and published what we found. Talent Disruption is peer-reviewed, carries a foreword from Cornell, and is drawn on in Harvard Business School case materials.
What the industry said
Alex Mirza’s research provides compelling insights for what hospitality stakeholders must do to build human capital and achieve a higher purpose in these extraordinary times. Talent Disruption is not just recommended reading, it is required.
GB
Geoff BallottiPresident & CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts · recipient of the Arne Sorenson Social Impact Leadership Award
There is a huge need to update our traditional HR logic in the face of the dramatic changes that have befallen the hospitality industry. With Talent Disruption, Alex Mirza has taken that step and advanced our understanding of how to use the new technology tools to address the considerable talent issues facing service firms. This is an absolute must read!
LS
Leonard A. SchlesingerBaker Foundation Professor, Harvard Business School · co-author of the landmark bestseller The Service Profit Chain
As large language models automate away busy work, building human capital is a monumental issue facing the healthcare industry. Alex Mirza’s book provides a marvelous pragmatic road map to meritocracy, innovation and pay for performance in any service industry. A must read!
JB
Jonathan BushCEO of Zus Health · co-founder and CEO of athenahealth
My management colleagues and I understood thoroughly the first order differences in performance associated with variation across talent among property leaders, and the financial consequences of these differences. Likewise, we could measure the often ten fold difference in both productivity and service quality across talent among front line employees. The problem was what to do about it, at scale. In Mirza’s path breaking examination of how to create a data-driven marketplace for talent in the hospitality industry, he shows how to use emergent computational tools to build individualized profiles of talent at both ends of the hierarchy — from top management to front line — and allow the resultant transparency to lead to (1) better matching of talent to opportunity, and (2) stronger competition for improved performance among all stakeholders in the industry. One of the most encouraging results of this work is the opportunity for high performers, the Moguls, to receive the superior rewards that their talents richly deserve.
GL
Gary LovemanChairman & CEO of Well · former Chairman & CEO, Caesars Entertainment · part owner, Boston Celtics
All of us in the hospitality industry know we are facing a crisis in recruiting and retention. Talent Disruption goes beyond diagnosing the problem and charts a path forward using data- and AI-driven strategies to revolutionize human capital. Alex brings a fresh approach to solving talent discovery and empowerment in the service sector. A highly recommended read.
HG
Harry GrossReal Estate Developer · Chairman of G. Holdings LLC
While Talent Disruption focuses on the disconnects between talent management, compensation and value creation in the hotel industry, the insights are equally applicable to the restaurant and retail industries. As Mirza creatively and powerfully illustrates, talent is a highly leverageable and brandable differentiator, and companies should design compensation systems and marketing programs to fully leverage that power and value.
RV
Rick VanzuraCEO of Freight Farms · former CEO, Wahlburgers and Panera Bread
Speaks to the alarming labor challenge confronting the hospitality industry and the imperative to change the model and innovate for how labor is engaged and retained within the sector.
DT
Douglas TuttCEO of HCareers · leading U.S. hospitality, senior living and gig-economy employment site
Our industry faces a foundational challenge in rethinking traditional business models to rebuild our talent pipeline and, once again, become an employer of choice. As one of hospitality’s most innovative thought leaders, Alex’s work comes at a pivotal time, providing much-needed, research-based answers to the most critical questions facing today’s travel and tourism executives.
AB
Adam BurkeCEO, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board
With the world in flux and the hospitality industry at a crisis point, we are currently at the precipice of a new era of AI-driven upheaval and post-pandemic paranoia. Alex Mirza gives us a clear and concise road map to navigate these rough waters, with insights on how to harness the technological tools in our marketplace and to filter and analyze the vast amounts of data at our fingertips. Talent Disruption is a must read for anyone who is interested in maximizing and optimizing talent development.
WC
Wilburt ChangChairman & CEO, Greater China Hospitality
Provocative! Alex has done a masterful job of assembling data to help drive better decisions around human capital and rightly challenges old ways of thinking about talent. Whether you agree with all his conclusions or not, it is not debatable that employees must always be a top priority. Otherwise, your organization will struggle and never realize its full potential.
BK
Beverly K. CarmichaelIndependent board member · former Chief People Officer at Southwest Airlines, Ticketmaster and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
If you are a CEO feverishly looking for Artificial Intelligence insights to revolutionize your business, look no further. Talent Disruption equally educates and empowers you to embrace the change emerging within talent broadly and hospitality specifically. Decoding the intangible power of the immigrant experience is the byproduct of this fascinating journey led by Alex Mirza.
AD
Alex DixonCEO of nonprofit Q Casino · former President & COO, MGM Circus Circus
Alexander Mirza does what leaders do. He sees what is unseen, and in this book issues a rallying cry to accelerate the value of hospitality’s main driver, the people who power it.
TM
Thomas MagnusonCEO of Magnuson Hotels Worldwide
Talent Disruption sheds light on an undeniable truth: hospitality is losing ground in the talent marketplace. Through in-depth research, Alex Mirza provides an applicable and disruptive roadmap for building a talent-centric culture that can drive innovation, growth, and competitive advantage in the industry.
JR
Joe RiceManaging Partner, JDI · twice ranked by Forbes among the best executive recruiting firms in America
Few people could do what Alex Mirza has done — written a book on Talent Management and Disruption that combines both hard data analysis with proven managerial insight. Building on his decades of experience and proven leadership in the hospitality industry, he has produced a rigorous and accessible book that should be required reading for anyone hoping to grapple with the modern talent management challenges this industry faces.
DD
David DetomasiAssociate Professor, Smith School of Business, Queen's University
Talent Disruption by Alex Mirza is a game-changing exploration of the evolving service industry landscape. With its cutting-edge insights on AI-driven HR solutions and employee empowerment, this book paves the way for a revolutionary approach to talent management. Discover your blueprint for success in this indispensable read.
AG
Anita GuptaForbes 50 Over 50 Entrepreneur · Founder, KiwiTech
In Talent Disruption, Alexander Mirza has dedicated some powerful research into the biggest concerns impacting global hotel operations today, with 85% of hotels currently understaffed in the USA alone, and others grappling to hold onto their employees. He identifies various new ‘disruptors’ such as Big Tech, that have evolved over the past decade which not only impact human resources in the traditional sense, but the entire outlook on how you operate your hotel. It provides a very concerning outlook on the future of human capital, a strong focus on the value of cultural diversity and women in leadership roles. Including some very plausible solutions this book could well be a foundation upon which to start Hospitality’s Great Reset. Don’t rush through this, it’s well worth the read, and should be on every hotelier’s desktop.
BC
Benedict CumminsPublisher, HotelExecutive
It is not every day one comes across a book that manages to marry innovative and profound insights into the current state and future prospects of the global hospitality industry with a stimulating and creative discussion of recent debates in international relations theory. Yet this is exactly what author Alex Mirza has accomplished in his fascinating new study into the challenges facing the industry in an era increasingly being labeled by some scholars as one of “de-globalization.” Mirza wisely cautions that while it would be premature to write off globalization, recent changes in the international arena brought on by pandemics and the return of great-power rivalry do require new thinking if executives are to adapt successfully in harvesting the full potential of their greatest productive asset, their talent pool.
DG
David G. HaglundProfessor of Political Studies, Queen's University (Canada)
Alex’s work is the best method that I have ever seen to solve this problem. All employers, and especially hospitality employers, will be well served by not only reading this book but operationalizing the concepts and proscriptions in it.
DS
David SherwynAcademic Director, Cornell Center for Innovative Hospitality Labor & Employment Relations (CIHLER)
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