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`PATENT OWNER
`EXHIBIT 2005
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`EXHIBIT 2005
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`http://hospitalitytechnology.edgl.com/news/the-house-that-
`tech-builds99460?referaltype=newsletter
`The House that Tech Builds
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`By Abigail A. Lorden, Group Editor-in-Chief | April 08, 2015
`At a time when organizations are outsourcing as a way to reduce the cost and complexity of managing their technology
`infrastructure, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts (www.hyatt.com) is bucking the trend. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Matt O’Keefe
`believes in bringing technology in-house to create competitive differentiation. When architected correctly, this approach
`empowers what O’Keefe calls an entrepreneurial spirit, where companies can deploy technology rapidly and to scale; and equally
`important, he adds, it creates a closer link between those responsible for designing technology, and the guest or team member that
`is the ultimate user of that solution.
`
`O’Keefe is working again with long-time colleague Alex Zoghlin, Hyatt’s global head of technology and the thought leader that
`O’Keefe credits with steering the organization in this direction. O’Keefe first collaborated with Zoghlin in the 1990s at
`Neoglyphics Media, then one of the largest early website development companies. They teamed up again at Orbitz Worldwide,
`where Zoghlin was founder and CTO. O’Keefe joined the launch team in 2001, when Orbitz was working quickly to get its
`website off the ground and catch up to the likes of Expedia and Travelocity.
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`Today, the team is working with Hyatt’s senior leadership to reverse the trend of outsourcing, and as a part of that is developing a
`hospitality platform to manage and integrate a variety of property systems. The first component of the platform will be introduced
`to hotels in Q2 2015. In a recent blog post, O’Keefe writes that “technology will be a strategic advantage that will enable us to
`disrupt the hospitality industry. As software eats the world, all companies in all industries will eventually become technology
`companies, or they will perish. At Hyatt, for strategic initiatives this means that we are reversing the trend of outsourcing
`technology and treating it like a cost center.”
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`A quick search on the corporate hiring site — www.hyatt.jobs — returned more than 30 positions globally in the information
`systems category, ranging from IS managers and team leaders, to full stack developers, to analytics specialists. In an exclusive
`interview with HT, O’Keefe offers insight into the company’s technology strategy. He talks about the value of strengthening
`internal technology resources, what Hyatt is looking for as it grows the IT team, and offers a peek at the hospitality platform that
`Hyatt is building to enable rapid innovation.
`
`HT: Hyatt is hiring what you call “a plethora of technologists in many disciplines” from product, to development, to
`operations, to help the company develop a platform and applications in a continuous delivery model. Can you talk about
`this transition away from outsourcing? How did you go about convincing Hyatt leadership to move in this direction?
`MO: I would give most of the credit to Alex. He’s been at Hyatt for about two years now and has done an outstanding job of
`working with our President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian as well as Chairman Thomas Pritzker to help them understand his
`point-of-view regarding technology, which I also share. One of the most important initiatives that we’ve gained support for is the
`notion of developing a hospitality platform. In sticking with our entrepreneurial spirit, it’s enabling us to develop new products
`and services very rapidly and listen to our customers and stakeholders. We can then rapidly gain feedback on those products and
`services, and iterate until we get them the best they can be.
`
`HT: What would you say to skeptics — those who believe that, as a hotel company, Hyatt should focus its resources on
`creating a great hotel experience, and instead leverage technology that’s created by supplier companies, for which IT
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`development is their core competency?
`MO: We think of people first with everything we do, including all of our technology initiatives. We’re not pursuing technology
`initiatives for technology’s sake. We are very carefully considering needs of colleagues, guests, owners, and all stakeholders,
`looking for technology to care for people in the optimal way. In many situations, it means we’re unleashing and unchaining our
`colleagues from the front desk, for example, so they can have more personal interaction with guests, which ultimately makes for
`a more authentic hospitality experience.
`
`HT: As you examine your infrastructure, are there specific systems that need to be brought in-house?
`MO: When we think about how we can grow, and when we talk to our associates and apply empathetic listening, one of the
`common issues they bring up is the number of systems they have to interact with. An associate might have eight or nine different
`applications, and they’re switching back-and-forth. It’s not that there’s a specific function that we want to replace, it’s that we
`want to simplify and make it easier to use and access data from multiple systems using a single interface. We put people first
`when we consider this, and we’re looking to unleash our associates so that they can do common tasks more quickly, and thereby
`interface more readily with guests.
`
`HT: The new platform that Hyatt is developing will address the “switching back-and-forth” that associates face today;
`and it will also change subsequent development work. Can you tell us more?
`MO: The initiative is in-line with our entrepreneurial history. It will enable us to simplify our technology environment and apply
`a layer of abstraction over all of our existing systems on the back end so that we can create new user interfaces for our colleagues
`and guests. We’re very much focusing on the user experience. We’re simplifying the APIs so that our front-end developers can
`iterate rapidly on these user interfaces.
`
`There’s a metaphor that I like to use to describe what this technology platform is: I compare it to mise en place, which is a French
`phase that translates to “everything in its place.” In the kitchen, one of the most important rituals the team goes through is the
`prep work — the arrangement of ingredients and tools that will be used during service. The goal is for the team to be efficient
`during service with everything prepared within arm’s reach.
`
`In a technology platform, the ingredients are our data from different sources, for example reservations systems, loyalty systems,
`the CRM platform, and so on. These are typically all housed in different places on the back end. Using what we call an API
`façade, we are presenting what appears to be a single API that front-end developers can use to access this data very quickly and
`efficiently. We can enable front-end developers to quickly create and iterate on new user interfaces.
`
`HT: Can you talk a bit more what the API façade looks like?
`MO: The goal is to simplify a collection of APIs into one uniform API. When you have different vendors that provide different
`technology solutions, they typically have APIs that look different; they could even be proprietary. The goal is to minimize
`context switching that takes place when a front-end developer is creating an application. We’d like for them to learn just a single
`type of API and access data from multiple sources.
`
`HT: Are there solutions that you do think are right to outsource? If so, how are you identifying those?
`MO: Focusing on the entrepreneurial nature of how we’re growing the business, there’s a need for a hybrid approach. We want
`strong partnerships with key vendors who supply technology that we would never want to bring in-house because it won’t
`necessarily differentiate us. We want to focus on our real mission, which is caring for people, and on the interface. We’d like to
`be at the edge of the technology stack, where we can very carefully measure a guest’s response to software and technology and,
`listening through feedback, adjust it to meet needs. There’s a lot of API integration with many key vendors that will continue
`indefinitely.
`
`HT: Let’s switch gears and talk about how Hyatt is addressing innovation in other areas. I’d like to get your thoughts on
`a few specific technology areas. Let’s start with Big Data.
`MO: It’s certainly one of the hot buzz words in technology today. The interesting thing to me is that a lot of companies that
`pursue a Big Data solution actually don’t have a Big Data problem. If I turn that around, I’ll tell you that we have every intention
`of creating a Big Data problem here at Hyatt. We aim to instrument all the touch points; everything that is exposed to an associate
`or a guest needs to be measured to ensure we’re providing the optimal experience.
`
`This ties into analytics, and we’re in the process of adding a new platform service for real-time streaming analytics for a concept
`that’s known as Big Fast Data. We’re deploying a technology that was open-sourced by Twitter called Apache Storm
`(storm.apache.org). We’re looking to move to a state-of-the-art solution, rather than relying solely on a traditional, nightly-batch,
`data-warehouse model. Our goal is to collect all of the events of interest and look for patterns in real-time so that we can drive
`innovation with the guest experience.
`
`HT: Several major brands have announced rollouts for mobile key. Can you tell us what Hyatt is working on here?
`MO: I can tell you that we are testing several solutions in pilot deployment. We’re applying our empathetic listening practice to
`that as well, with many people trying the solution to make sure it’s ready for the guest. We don’t want to deploy a solution too
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`early; we want to optimize the guest experience first.
`
`HT: Outside of mobile key, what can you tell us about Hyatt’s approach to mobility?
`MO: We like to apply a mobile first strategy when we’re designing products. To serve people best, we need to recognize the
`growing use of mobile devices. One example is using tablets for common tasks like check-in. Andaz is one of our brands that has
`done pioneering work in this area. There, it’s a very pleasant experience to walk through the front door and, instead of going to
`the front desk, have an associate walk up to you and use a tablet to complete your check-in. At Hyatt Regency O’Hare, they have
`associates on the airport shuttle bus checking-in guests on the ride to the hotel.
`
`In order to create and support some of these efforts, it ties back to the platform. When we think about a product or service, we
`develop the API first so it can be shared with mobile application developers, hyatt.com, or another channel.
`
`HT: Looking ahead at the next frontier for connected devices, what are your thoughts on the buzz around Internet of
`Things, and even wearable devices?
`MO: Internet of Things is another subject that relates to Big Data. If there is the ability to connect a device to our network and
`collect data to help us provide the optimal experience — for example if it were possible for a lamp to send us an alert that a bulb
`has burned out — that’s the type of application that we’d look forward to.
`
`In terms of wearables, with guests wearing the device, I’d be very interested in how we can provide an augmented reality
`experience to our guest. Perhaps they’d like to learn more about a piece of art they’re looking at in one of our Park Hyatt hotels,
`for example.
`
`HT: With all that in mind — the desire to iterate rapidly and strengthen internal resources — what are you looking for as
`you bring IT muscle into the organization?
`MO: Number one is definitely empathetic listening. This is one of the core principals of what we call “Hyatt Thinking,” which is
`based on design thinking. It’s a key to innovation and helps us focus on rapid prototyping and continuous delivery of new
`products and services in an iterative fashion. The most important thing is listening to the customer and applying that feedback.
`
`The second attribute would be speed, and the ability to quickly learn about how our industry and technology are developing.
`When we hire technologists, we don’t look for a specific skill set, rather the passion and aptitude for technology so the person is
`more of a lifelong learner.
`
`And third is someone who is a pleasure to work with and is caring. When we think about authentic hospitality, it’s not only how
`we serve our guests, but how we work with each other at Hyatt as well.