HECTOR DOMINGUEZ‍

VP ENGINEERING, HILTON

Hector Dominguez is vice president of engineering, infrastructure and operations at Hilton, which encompasses more than 7,000 properties worldwide. He began work at the company 23 years ago as a systems engineer and now oversees the engineering, electronic communications, standards and architecture teams and the management of cloud technologies, enterprise monitoring, identity management, data center management, shared storage and more. Prior to joining Hilton, he worked briefly in the healthcare and transportation sectors.
‍

In 2017, Dominguez led Hilton’s move to the cloud, which culminated in the move of the company’s reservation system. “We had been working on the project for two years and were scheduled to make the changes when the pandemic hit,” he said, noting that much of the work had to be performed virtually. “It was amazing—and a little scary—to orchestrate work teams that way.” It was also a calculated risk. “We took tried-and-true practices that worked well and leveraged them in the move to our cloud platform in order to future-proof the business.”
‍

Approximately 70 percent of Hilton’s services now reside in the cloud, including reservations, the company website, internal systems that serve contact centers, and its new Property Engagement Platform (PEP). The payoff has been huge. Efficiency, flexibility and security have skyrocketed, along with guest service. What’s more, Hilton has handled volume demand increases of up to 300 percent. “I’m very proud of that effort,” he said. “It was a moonshot for us, and we did it.”
‍

Hilton’s investment in an API-led common infrastructure positioned the company to look at new products and solutions. For instance, PEP works particularly well within the API framework. “We’re taking HotelKey’s base products and layering Hilton features and functionality on top,” he said. So far, the solution has been rolled out to approximately one-third of the company’s properties.
‍

Dominguez works with a large number of vendors, in part due to the variety of Hilton hotel types and brands. “Our certification process is rigorous,” he said. “We also try to be good partners to our owners and listen when they bring technology to us. After all, they’re in the trenches using products firsthand.” As for the future, Dominguez plans to continue the move of Hilton’s property management system entirely to the cloud. “Our global network infrastructure is expanding by the day,” he said. “As we move to new regions, we extend our cloud presence.”
‍

More immediately, he wants to continue the foundational work he has already begun. “We’re heavily focused on standards,” he concluded. “Our mission is to deliver consistent service to every guest, regardless of the country or continent they’re visiting. That will continue to be one of our main goals over the next two to three years.”

‍

HECTOR’S INDUSTRY PREDICTIONS:

HOTELS WILL INCREASE THEIR USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
“Although a lot of guest-facing AI solutions are being marketed, I believe hotels will primarily harness AI to simplify operations and increase efficiency and then maintain the in-person interactions that are at the core of hospitality.”

GUEST CUSTOMIZATION WILL INCREASE.
“A combination of technology and service will result in enhanced guest personalization.”

THE USE OF DISTRIBUTED INFRASTRUCTURE POWERED BY THE CLOUD AND EDGE COMPUTING WILL INCREASE.

“This will enable faster delivery of services to guests and will allow us to navigate ever-changing regulatory requirements.”

‍