In a rapidly changing world, he knows that most humans find change difficult, despite what many say, and some are better at dealing with it.
"I think when things are difficult you've got to anchor on one thing and the thing we've always tried to anchor on is traveler need, traveler need, traveler need and then partner need, partner need and partner need—customers to us is both sides. Those things tend to be a lot more stable than the technology you use to actually address the issues."
Waters, who was speaking at Phocuswright Europe 2026, added that while we get excited about the things we can do as technology evolves, it's important to step back and decide whether it's meeting a need or just "fun and shiny."
He also discussed artificial intelligence and the leap of faith needed to go from AI planning to letting the technology make decisions.
"You've got an enormous gap between intellectual intrigue and practical trust. And I'm not surprised. Travel is quite intensely human and emotional. It's very expensive in terms of money, it's very expensive in terms of time and it's very expensive in terms of that emotional investment you make. So the cost of it going wrong is just astronomically different to many other things."
Waters went on to talk about travel's new front door and the ways he see AI changing things, including where demand comes from and the ability to create experiences.
He also touched on travel industry resilience amid global conflict, European regulations and the importance of humility.
See below for the full interview with Phocuswright's Pete Comeau.
Booking.com's chief business officer on AI, distribution and the new battle for the traveler
Tags: James Waters, Booking.com artificial intelligence Phocuswright Europe 2026