17 years in commercial strategy and leadership · 5 years building and operating hospitality businesses · Now building AI-native systems for hospitality, travel and service operations.
From architecture to production — I design and build AI-native systems that operate in real hotels, with real guests and real operational consequences.
I didn't start in technology. I started in business. Over more than 17 years, I built my career across commercial strategy, marketing, sales and leadership. I then became a hospitality founder and operator, building and running Gaia Origen in Colombia for five years — from the concept, physical property and brand to guest experience, commercial strategy, digital systems and operations.
That operator experience changed the direction of my work. I began building technology around problems I had experienced firsthand: fragmented systems, guest communication, reservations, operations, knowledge, automation and direct demand generation. Today, through Next11, I combine that commercial and operational experience with hands-on AI systems architecture to build technology for hospitality, tourism and other areas where technology can create meaningful human or business impact.
- 2025 — Present
AI Solutions Architect & Automation Consultant
Ignacio Suárez ConsultingSelf-employed · InternationalDesign and implementation of generative AI and automation systems for hospitality, tourism and service-operations businesses. Focus on AI-native architectures, enterprise RAG, multi-channel conversational agents.
- 2020 — 2025
Founder & Product Architect
Gaia Origen Hotel Glamping & EcolodgeCali, Colombia · Available for acquisitionEnd-to-end founding and construction of the hotel, from concept to real operation — five years building with my own hands: physical space, brand, website, operations, go-to-market, and selected automation systems.
See the Gaia Origen opportunity → - 2020 — 2021
Regional Commercial Manager
Linea AdhesivaValle del Cauca, ColombiaLed the regional commercial strategy with focus on innovation and sales-cycle optimization.
- 2016 — 2020
Commercial & Marketing Director — Specialty Products
Cintandina S.A.Cali, ColombiaLed the commercial team across three cities. Divisional Salesforce implementation. Launched five new product lines.
- 2017
International Consulting
Neel Veterinary HospitalOklahoma, USAFull rebranding and web redesign for one of the leading veterinary hospitals in the United States.
and applied innovation.
Next11 is the structure through which I design, build and turn artificial intelligence systems into products, platforms and operational solutions.
The work combines software architecture, artificial intelligence, automation, knowledge systems, conversational interfaces and commercial strategy to solve real-world problems.
Hospitality and tourism currently represent one of Next11's most developed verticals, supported by direct operating experience and systems already built for hotels and tourism operators. But Next11 is not limited to hospitality: it is also the environment through which I develop products with a clear human, educational or wellbeing purpose.
Technology should not exist simply because it can be built. It should solve a real problem, enable a meaningful human experience or help knowledge, services and communities work better.
Purpose-driven products
TRIBA
Digital infrastructure for communities, knowledge and education, designed to help transform fragmented communities and disconnected tools into structured environments where content, courses, community and knowledge can coexist.
ChaTutor
An AI-assisted tutoring and learning system built around specialized knowledge, RAG and conversational experiences to support more personalized learning journeys.
FlowSoul / enjoYoga
A product and experimentation direction in wellbeing exploring the intersection of yoga, breathwork, contemplative practices, content, community and technology.
Product and experimentation directions in development within the Next11 ecosystem.
HELJA — Hospitality Operating System
Real-world hospitality implementation
Iceland
A hospitality operating system built for Helja Stay. It evolved from the limitations of the existing PMS into a layer connecting reservations, direct booking, guest communication, online check-in, staff operations, knowledge, automation and AI-assisted service. It was not a conceptual prototype: it was technology built around a real hospitality operation.
Next11 OS
Modular technology platform
Next11 horizontal architecture
Next11 OS brings together Next11's technology core: digital presence and visibility, knowledge and AI agents, customer relationships, scheduling, automation, sales, bookings, demand, content and vertical solutions.
HostRest360
AI-native hospitality platform
A functional, productized platform built from the architecture and operational patterns validated through HELJA. It integrates guest communication, reservations, operations, knowledge, automation, pricing and AI assistance for independent hotels, boutique properties and glampings.
Tours & Experiences Platform
Booking · Operations · AI-assisted sales
A functional commercial and operational platform for tour and experience operators. It integrates catalog management, products and pricing, availability, booking engine, content management, back-office operations and multilingual AI-assisted sales.
Gaia Origen — a hospitality and sustainability venture I built from the ground up. Five years designing, building, and operating a boutique hotel and glamping ecolodge in Colombia: concept, physical space, brand, website, commercial strategy, guest experience, and selected automation systems — all built end to end.
Gaia Origen is now available for acquisition. It's a proven hospitality asset with an established concept, location, sustainability practice, and operational track record — a real opportunity for the right buyer to take an already-built business forward.
WonderTrip is an emerging research and venture direction exploring a broader question: can artificial intelligence better understand what travelers actually want to experience — before and during a trip — and connect that intent more effectively with independent hotels, tours and local experiences?
The research connects traveler-intent intelligence, hospitality operations, content, distribution and direct-demand conversion, building on lessons from real hospitality and tourism systems I have already developed. A core direction is a longitudinal Traveller Intent Profile designed to understand, with consent, how needs, interests and decisions evolve from trip planning through the in-destination experience.
WonderTrip is currently being developed as a research and venture direction; it is not yet presented as a launched or funded company.
Selected venture explorations
Co-Founder, Aurora Mind (2024–2025) — exploration of AI-supported wellbeing and guided experiences. A direction that may be revisited as the work evolves.
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I design the complete architecture before writing code — schemas, contracts between modules, integration patterns, security boundaries. Implementation is accelerated with AI-native tooling, with verification gating every layer.
Human-in-the-loop, always. AI proposes, the human architect approves. The work is designed and built with verification, guardrails, and traceability at every layer. Next11 Agency OS is the operational backbone of this practice — a personal R&D lab where I validate AI-native patterns before deploying them in client systems.
Quality commitment
No system ships without verification, guardrails, and an audit trail — human review gates every layer.
Personal tooling
Curated library of specialized agent skills — architecture, frontend, backend, AI/RAG, testing, deployment — synced across projects. Each skill encapsulates a pattern validated in real production.
Stack, in brief
Next.js / React, TypeScript, PostgreSQL and pgvector for RAG, multi-agent orchestration with Anthropic Claude and OpenAI, Coolify / Vercel for deployment, Clerk for auth — and a curated library of AI-native development patterns reused across projects.
Research interests
My current research interests sit at the intersection of artificial intelligence, hospitality, tourism, sustainability and digital transformation. I am particularly interested in how artificial intelligence can help the fragmented independent tourism ecosystem better understand traveler intent, improve digital distribution, increase direct demand and operate more efficiently.
I am also interested in exploring how AI systems can support the full traveler journey — from initial intent and planning to the in-destination experience — creating value for both travelers and local operators.
More broadly, I am interested in how artificial intelligence systems can improve the way people learn, access knowledge, build communities and interact with digital services. I am particularly interested in applied research environments where these hypotheses can be tested with real operators, users and real-world contexts, producing measurable outcomes.
Education
- 2024Advanced Course in Generative AIUCAM Catholic University of San Antonio de Murcia · Spain
- 2015Intensive English ProgramMissouri University of Science & Technology · USA
- 2012International ManagementUniversitat de València · Spain
- 2010 — 2012MBA · Master's in Business AdministrationUniversidad Icesi · Cali, Colombia · GPA: 4.38 / 5.00
- 2005National & International MarketingUniversidad de Manizales · Colombia
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Travel, hospitality, wellbeing and contemplative learning have been an important part of my personal and professional journey. I am currently deepening my training in yoga, breathwork and contemplative practices while continuing to travel and work internationally.
I also use travel as a form of field research — observing how travelers discover places, make decisions, book experiences and interact with independent operators across different markets. That experience informs my interest in building technology that keeps the human — traveler, guest, learner, community member or operator — at the center.
Venture & Investment
WonderTrip, Next11 and emerging product and technology opportunities.
Research & Academia
Artificial intelligence, hospitality, tourism, traveler intent, knowledge systems, education and digital transformation.
Hospitality & Tourism
Technology, innovation and strategic implementations for hotels, tours and experiences.
Purpose-driven Products
Education, community, knowledge, wellbeing and human experiences enabled by technology.
Gaia Origen
Acquisition inquiries for Gaia Origen.