Can Booking's Steve Hafner and serial entrepreneur Paul English, who founded Kayak together more than two decades ago, be difference-makers when it comes to agentic AI? That will be a tall task given all the innovation that's taking place across industries today.
The name of the Booking Holdings startup they are collaborating on is Lola, and its perjunctory description on a splash page doesn't sound ground-breaking. But this is all pre-launch and we don't know what's under the covers.
In 2004, when the duo launched Kayak, there were already many travel metasearch companies on the market and English and Hafner overtook them with what at the time was a best-in-class product. Whatever they do with Lola will be worth watching.
ALLIANZ PARTNERS + SKIFT
Status tiers and points used to be enough. Now travelers want flexibility, protection, and everyday value, and credit card issuers are out-delivering airlines and hotels at their own loyalty game.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Uber CEO Says Travel Rivals Like Expedia Can’t Match Its On-the-Ground Edge
May 4, 2026
Khosrowshahi said there's the usual tension with partners about Uber's travel ambitions, and he obliquely cited Expedia's shortcomings post-booking. If Uber gains traction in travel, you can expect Khosrowshahi to one day step away from the Expedia board, and all of those conflicts to get exacerbated.
The travel industry is moving from AI experimentation to execution, with real impact across distribution, operations, and customer experience. The Skift Data + AI Summit returns June 3 in New York City, bringing industry leaders together to share the next wave of AI applications and data strategies shaping travel.
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SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK
Online travel agencies still dominate how people book travel. But that dominance is starting to face pressure from multiple directions at once.
In this episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, Seth Borko is joined by Dennis Schaal to break down a week that touches nearly every corner of the online travel ecosystem. The conversation starts with Booking Holdings’ latest earnings, where the company revealed just how much geopolitical disruption can impact demand, including an estimated loss of millions of room nights tied to the war in Iran.
SKIFT TRAVEL 200
How are public travel tech companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to know to understand the market. Paid subscribers get full access here.
