Fora Innovation & Technology Culture

What is the unique story that you feel your company has with AI? If you were writing about it, what would the title of your blog be?
One of the most common things I’ve been asked about AI since joining Fora Travel by people outside the company is if we are going to replace travel agents with AI.

This is top of mind for everyone these days, and everyone is scared of how they will be impacted by AI. While AI isn’t broadly replacing human jobs yet, it is only a matter of time before many repetitive, mundane aspects of people’s work will be automated. Ideally they will be freed up to work on things that require a human touch. Fora is uniquely focused on empowering the next generation of travel entrepreneurs — not to replace them like online travel agencies are trying to do. Our edge is building an unstoppable combination of travel advisors supercharged by the kinds of AI tools only we can build.

Travel advising is a job where the human touch will always have the upper hand. Imagine you’re on the other side of the world and you are having a big problem with your travel plans. Who would you rather talk to? an AI chatbot? a random customer service rep at some huge corporation? or your dedicated travel advisor — someone who knows you, your itinerary, your preferences and has been with you every step of the journey?

What are you most excited about in the field of AI right now?
I’m most excited about AI coding assistance, particularly in the context of building prototypes from scratch, because it really works today and it’s like magic. The current buzzwords are “zero-to-one” and “vibe coding.”

We recently had a hackathon at Fora and it was one of the most productive hackathons I’ve ever seen. Every project felt like something that we could launch as a real product. We even had some teams with minimal coding experience build impressive, functional prototypes with the help of AI — and the prototypes themselves used AI services.

Of course, the elephant in the room is the automation question: Will software engineering disappear? I don’t think so. It will evolve, just like software engineering has always been evolving. In the old days, coding involved thinking about low-level details of how the computer works. But over time, programming has gotten more abstract and closer to natural language like English. Tools change, and people who work in cutting-edge technologies must continually adapt. I’m optimistic overall, but the challenge will be in finding the right balance between leveraging AI and not outsourcing human creativity and critical thinking.

How do you learn from one another and collaborate?
I’ve been in the field for about 25 years, so I guess I’m one of those people with years of experience to draw from. But no one — regardless of experience — has seen the current pace of change in AI. It’s truly historic.

Continuous learning means being curious and humble. AI is mainstream now, and many updates are in the mainstream media. This means that you may hear about a new model or technical paper from anyone, so you need to be open to learning from anyone and everyone.
The book is not written on how to use generative AI to get the best results — it’s being written now, in real time, and we’re all learning by doing it. So it’s essential to make time to talk to others and learn how they’re using these tools.

At Fora, this means I’m regularly connecting with travel advisors and team members across the company — not just the AI and engineering teams, but everyone from marketing to sales to finance to legal and everything in between.

Outside of Fora, it means connecting with my colleagues, networking and attending conferences and webinars. The only way to be successful with the deluge of new research, models and techniques is to leverage the power of your social network.

How does innovation show up in your company culture?

Innovation at Fora isn’t something we have to force — it’s built into our mission as a company. We’re rethinking how the travel advisory industry works and giving entrepreneurs a smarter, more modern way to build their own travel businesses. That naturally creates a culture where questioning the status quo is encouraged, not avoided.

There’s a lot of trust from leadership to try new things and see what sticks. We’re encouraged to experiment with AI, explore new design approaches and even rethink how teams collaborate to get work done. It’s not unusual for design or engineering to lead an initiative if that’s what makes the most sense, which keeps things flexible and fast-moving.

On the design side, innovation shows up as the freedom to imagine what should exist, not just what already does. Instead of copying what’s been done in travel tech before, we’re pushed to create tools that feel intuitive, thoughtful and genuinely enjoyable to use. Having the support to experiment and take creative risks makes it possible for us to build something that feels truly new and sets a higher bar for the industry.

What’s one recent innovation that improved user or employee experience?

Funnily enough, an “innovation” that’s made a big impact is Fora is our in-office culture. So many startups are choosing to go with the streamlined work-from-home approach, but being together four days a week is a core part of our identity at Fora. The difference is clear: We’re working faster, creating better products and having more fun doing it.

As I’ve grown my team, I’ve talked to candidates who were hesitant about being in the office that often. What’s been really rewarding is seeing those same people a few months later saying things like, “I can’t believe I’m sick. I miss coming into the office!” That shift says a lot about the culture we’ve created and the impact it has on our employees.

That human connection is also a big part of what makes Fora’s product special too. We’re not building for abstract users or metrics — we’re building for real people. Being together reinforces that mindset and shows up in everything we do, from how we work internally to the thoughtful, people-first experiences we create for our advisors and travelers.

How do you balance experimentation with stability?

With the rise of AI, I think now more than ever, you need to be willing to experiment continuously. Just the other day I had to remind myself that instead of diving into Figma like I normally would, I could quickly prototype a proof of concept. 

That being said, I think at a fast moving startup, it’s absolutely critical to remember what you actually have built alongside where you want to go. Experimentation and future states can be more fun to work on, but we have thousands of actual people using our product every day. It’s critical to remember that providing stable improvements to those users is just as valuable as a fancy new feature.

At Fora, I think we find this balance by leaning into our different core strengths. Our founders might be inspiring us to push boundaries or build the next great thing, while our product managers and product designers are laser-focused on the day to day user experience. I think that blend is actually what creates great technology products.