Janette Roush
AI strategy for the business of travel.
25+ years in travel, from theater ticketing in the 1990s to leading AI strategy for international tourism marketing. Janette started experimenting with AI the week ChatGPT launched and committed to trying something new with it every day at work. That daily practice became a career pivot — and the Agents of Change program, where she shares the tools and workflows her team uses at Brand USA so the industry can put them to work.
Speaking on AI in tourism · Brand USA
Two ideas Janette is known for in the travel industry
Destination as a Service
As AI systems begin to answer travelers directly, destinations have a new job to do. Janette frames it as two parts: a verification layer, where AI checks claims against the local authority, and content portability, where a destination's first-person storytelling is made machine-readable so AI systems can use it.
“We're shifting from only being a creator of content to also being a steward of data. We still need to make the content — that's what feeds the systems.”
AI as the operating system of business
Janette's daily practice reshaped how she works, and it points to where the whole industry is heading. The shift she describes is from using AI in a separate window to doing the actual work inside it.
“AI isn't just a thing that lives inside a separate chat window that you go to ask questions to. It is now the operating system of business.”
“Most of us use AI. Few of us work inside of it. That's the shift.”
Janette Roush
Where Janette speaks
Talks on AI in tourism — for governors' conferences, global summits, and destination marketing organizations across the country and beyond.
Upcoming
Recent stages
Featured in the travel trade
“DMOs shift toward destination-as-a-service model in AI era”
“Destinations' high-stakes game with AI”
“Travel players weigh approaches to winning AI visibility”
Selected work
Personal Operating System
A live system for giving AI full context on your work — built with Claude Code and a file-based vault.
ExploreAI Visibility Audit
A tool to see how a destination shows up when travelers ask AI search engines where to go.
Try itAgents of Change Library
Webinars, tools, and resources the Brand USA team uses, shared for destination marketers.
BrowseBring AI in tourism to your stage
Janette speaks to industry partners and stakeholders about putting AI to work in tourism. Speaking is arranged through Brand USA.
View Speaker Availability via Brand USA