Photo Credit: Expedia's new San Jose engineering hub for AI and ML. Adriana Lee/Skift
Expedia is taking its AI recruitment fight to the heart of Silicon Valley, with a new San Jose hub for AI and engineering just a 10-minute drive from the Googleplex. But can it court tech and AI talent away from Big Tech? Here's the pitch.
LinkedIn X Facebook Email Gift What specific AI products or traveler-facing tools is the San Jose hub expected to deliver? What is Expedia's timeline and target headcount for fully staffing the San Jose facility? How does Expedia's AI talent and compensation strategy compare to rivals like Booking.com and Airbnb? Select a question above or ask something else
Every big travel brand says it's in an AI race, but execution depends on who can attract top technical talent capable of turning AI into tools that travelers and partners actually use.
Expedia's new San Jose outpost is one answer: Located on North First Street, less than 10 miles from Google’s headquarters, the Silicon Valley location is its epicenter for AI and machine learning. It was built with recruitment in mind, and it now puts Expedia in the same hiring pool as Google, Cisco, Adobe, PayPal, eBay, and more.
Chief Technology Officer Ramana Thumu told Skift that hiring delays could push project timelines. Deadlines planned for 12 months can expand to 18 — an eternity in the fast-moving world of AI development.
Julia Elliott, Expedia Group's vice president of technology and chief of staff to the CTO, left a decade-long career at Google to join Expedia in January. The reason: Travel has “interesting problems to solve,” she said.
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Tags: agentic AI , expedia , hiring , the prompt
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