Field Notes from NEOM: Designing a Seamless AI-Powered Visitor Experience

Arrival: The Vision Takes Shape

When I first arrived in NEOM, I knew this project had the potential to redefine the future of tourism. Unlike other smart city initiatives, NEOM offered an unprecedented opportunity—we had the government’s backing and the ability to shape not just technology but policy. This meant AI would not only enhance visitor experiences but also govern how suppliers operated, aligning service quality with user experience KPIs.

Early on, we recognized a fundamental challenge: traditional AI-powered assistants wouldn’t work here. NEOM was built to be an immersive destination, where visitors engaged with their surroundings rather than their screens. The last thing we wanted was to create a chatbot that distracted from nature’s beauty or forced tourists to repeatedly input preferences into an app.

Instead, we asked:

🚀 What if AI worked invisibly—seamlessly personalizing experiences without requiring visitor input?
🚀 What if AI regulated service quality, ensuring every supplier—from luxury hotels to local tour guides—delivered a world-class experience?
🚀 What if data-sharing and AI-powered decision-making were built into NEOM’s infrastructure, eliminating friction and personal device dependency?

Thus, the vision for NEOM’s AI-Powered Visitor Experience was born.

The Challenge: A Diverse Supplier Ecosystem

NEOM’s supplier ecosystem ranged from high-tech global hotel chains and airlines to small, family-run restaurants, taxi services, and local guides. Each supplier had vastly different technological capabilities.

🔹 High-tech suppliers had CRM systems, smart infrastructure, and digital operations—they could handle real-time AI-driven personalization.
🔹 Low-tech suppliers had no digital infrastructure—they relied on word-of-mouth, intuition, and manual bookings.

The challenge was clear:
✅ How do we ensure all suppliers, regardless of technological capability, can deliver a seamless AI-powered experience?
✅ How do we regulate service quality without manually monitoring every interaction?
✅ How do we make AI feel effortless and invisible?

Our answer: AI-driven visitor intelligence, embedded supplier integration, and an experience-based regulatory model.

The Breakthrough: AI as an Invisible Concierge

The turning point in our strategy came when we stopped thinking of AI as a tourist tool and started designing it as a governance system.

We structured our solution around three core principles:

1️⃣ Visitor Intelligence System (VIS) – A city-wide AI-powered personalization engine that created visitor profilesbased on booking data, behavioral cues, and engagement history.
2️⃣ Embedded AI Touchpoints – AI integrated into NEOM’s physical environment rather than confined to mobile devices.
3️⃣ Experience-Driven Supplier Governance – A performance-based licensing model where supplier access to NEOM depended on visitor satisfaction KPIs, data-sharing, and adherence to AI-powered service design principles.

The Solution: AI Without Devices, Personalization Without Effort

Over the next 18 months, we developed and deployed a multi-layered AI ecosystem that transformed NEOM’s tourism sector.

1. Visitor Intelligence System (VIS)

A city-wide AI-driven system that gathered and processed:

✅ Pre-arrival data – Flight bookings, hotel reservations, and user preferences collected before the visitor landed.
✅ Real-time behavioral insights – AI analyzed visitor movements, engagement patterns, and activity choices.
✅ Group dynamics & shared preferences – AI adapted recommendations based on family or group behaviorsrather than individual actions alone.

📌 Example in Action:
A family booking their trip to NEOM receives personalized experience recommendations before arrival. Based on past travel history, dining preferences, and group dynamics, AI pre-configures their journey—adjusting restaurant menus, activity schedules, and transport preferences automatically.

2. Embedded AI Touchpoints

Instead of requiring users to interact with an app, AI was built directly into NEOM’s physical spaces:

✅ AI-Powered Hotel & Concierge Systems – Visitors’ profiles were automatically synced to their accommodations, adjusting room preferences, concierge recommendations, and in-hotel services.
✅ Smart Restaurant & Tour Experiences – Restaurants and tour operators received visitor insights in real time—ensuring menu recommendations, activity planning, and language preferences were perfectly aligned.
✅ Smart Transportation & Routing AI – AI optimized routes, suggested alternative destinations, and adapted travel plans based on real-time visitor movements.

📌 Example in Action:
A couple arrives at a restaurant without pre-ordering. The AI-driven menu system automatically suggests dishesaligned with their preferences. The waiter already knows they prefer outdoor seating, vegan dishes, and a slow-dining experience, eliminating friction in decision-making.

3. Experience-Driven Supplier Governance

To maintain service quality, NEOM introduced an AI-powered regulatory model:

✅ Supplier Licensing Tied to Visitor Experience KPIs – Businesses could only operate in NEOM if they met customer satisfaction and AI compliance benchmarks.
✅ Mandatory AI Data Sharing & Compliance – All suppliers agreed to anonymized AI-powered visitor data sharing to optimize service consistency across NEOM.
✅ Adherence to Ethical AI & Design Principles – Supplier operations had to align with AI transparency, privacy, and fair data use policies.

📌 Example in Action:
A local tour guide wants to operate in NEOM. To maintain their license, they must maintain a 4.5+ visitor satisfaction score, agree to AI-powered itinerary adjustments, and ensure that guest feedback is integrated into future experiences.

The Results: A Global First in AI-Driven Tourism

By the end of the 18-month deployment, we had:

✔ Developed an AI-powered visitor intelligence system, seamlessly integrating personalization across suppliers.
✔ Eliminated reliance on personal devices, embedding AI into the city itself.
✔ Created the world’s first experience-driven regulatory model, ensuring businesses operated with user-centered AI compliance.
✔ Bridged the technological gap between luxury hotels and small suppliers, making AI equally accessible to all vendors.

Most importantly, NEOM’s AI-powered tourism system set a new global benchmark for how AI, governance, and experience design can co-exist in a city built for the future.

Reflections: The Future of AI in Smart Cities

The NEOM project was more than an AI implementation—it was a proof of concept for a new kind of city, where AI is governance, personalization, and infrastructure all at once.

It forced us to ask:
✅ What if AI regulated cities as much as it personalized them?
✅ What if urban experiences were dynamically shaped by visitor needs?
✅ What if a city itself could be an intelligent concierge?

NEOM proved that AI in tourism doesn’t have to be intrusive—it can be invisible, intuitive, and deeply human-centered.

For me, that was the most powerful design outcome of all.