Reimagining revenue strategy with Jason D’Agostino of Visions Hotels

Daniel here! In our January episode of The Spotlight, I was lucky enough to be joined by Jason D’Agostino, Corporate Director of Revenue Management at Visions Hotels, and we got a chance to talk about a wide variety of topics affecting modern revenue management and commercial strategy.

In this interview you’ll hear about Jason’s path, beginning in food and beverage and operations, all the way up to his current role, leading a dynamic revenue team overseeing 65 properties across multiple states and brands. Jason’s journey reflects the evolving nature—and growing importance—of revenue management in today’s hospitality world.

Below are some of the best highlights from our conversation, but be sure to watch the episode to get the full story!

From F&B to RevPAR: A revenue leader’s origin story

Jason didn’t start out in revenue. His early days were rooted in operations, specifically food and beverage. But as many hospitality professionals come to realize, real financial impact happens in rooms. A pivotal career moment came when Jason was asked to build a revenue management department from the ground up at Visions Hotels. With no formal background in the discipline, he took a leap—and never looked back.

“You don’t know revenue management until you’re actually in that driver’s seat.”

Since 2016, he’s built a team of revenue managers and analysts that supports Visions Hotels’ growing portfolio, which includes major brands like Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Best Western, as well as independents.

The increasing complexity of hospitality data

A major theme in the episode was the rising complexity of data. Jason agrees with the majority of industry professionals who feel that data isn’t just increasing—it’s becoming harder to manage.

Today's tools allow for deep granularity, but that comes at a cost: information overload. The challenge now is to distill that complexity into actionable insights that stakeholders can quickly grasp.

Top 3 data challenges: time, silos, and trust

In response to a recent Lighthouse industry survey, three major pain points emerged:

1. Lack of time to analyze data

2. Data silos across systems

3. Lack of trust in data

Jason shared that these are very real issues for his team, especially given the pace and scope of today’s revenue responsibilities. Stakeholders want answers quickly, and revenue managers are expected to deliver them without missing a beat.

He noted how technology helps—but only if used wisely.

AI: not a threat, but a force multiplier

Jason emphasized that AI isn’t here to replace revenue managers, but rather to enhance them. This is a view I totally agree with; so I wanted to dig in a bit more to learn about how Jason was using AI today in his daily operations.

At Visions Hotels, AI tools like automated note-takers are already transforming how his team operates. Instead of scrambling to document revenue call decisions, his team can now rely on AI tools to transcribe meetings and hyperlink key decisions, saving valuable time.

Looking ahead, Jason sees AI not just assisting with historical recall, but also helping build live, dynamic playbooks that adapt based on market behavior, special events, and hotel-specific context.

The future of revenue strategy: human + machine

One of the most compelling parts of the conversation centered on where AI and revenue strategy intersect.

Jason envisions a future where AI does more than suggest rate changes based on static rules. Instead, it will:

• Analyze past decisions and outcomes

• Alert when a property’s metrics fall into the "red zone"

• Suggest proactive, scenario-based playbooks

• Provide unbiased, data-backed projections and explanations

The human role? Validation, interpretation, and collaboration.

I think the vision that Jason brought up regarding the future of AI is great (and prescient), as this lines up with some of the enhancements we’re working on here at Lighthouse, especially with tools like Pricing Manager and Business Intelligence.

Since our various AI systems will be digesting so much data, the most practical way to get insights into the hands of a revenue manager, or someone on the commercial team would be to have easy-to-interpret alerts, playbooks, and summaries of the most important findings that the AI has uncovered.

Key takeaways

Here are the major insights from Jason’s conversation on The Spotlight:

• Revenue management is a career path worth growing into. Ops skills are transferable—and storytelling with data is the future. If you’re considering a career in revenue management, it could be a good fit for you if you are analytically minded, and Ops experience is a plus, not a detractor!

• Data is only valuable if it’s actionable. Break it down, build the narrative, and focus stakeholder attention on what matters most.

• The biggest barrier to better revenue decisions is time. Tools that eliminate repetitive tasks free teams up to focus on strategy.

• AI is an ally, not a rival. It helps scale insights, build memory, and enable smarter forecasting—but human oversight remains critical. Revenue managers are here to stay, but so are our AI enabled tools.

• The ultimate goal is dynamic, adaptive strategy. With AI indexing calls, flagging risk zones, and suggesting adjustments, revenue leaders will be able to stay ahead of change, not just react to it.

In hospitality, conditions shift constantly, and pressure to keep a competitive edge and grow revenue is paramount, it’s increasingly clear that the best strategies won’t come from siloed spreadsheets or rigid systems. They’ll come from tech-empowered teams who know how to blend the human and the digital, and from leaders like Jason who are constantly experimenting with new solutions to push revenue management forward.

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