Booking Holdings Launches Lola, an AI Assistant Built by Kayak Co-Founders
Booking Holdings has launched Lola, a wholly owned AI assistant built by Kayak co-founders Steve Hafner and Paul English, debuting Tuesday. Rather than an AI feature inside Booking.com, Lola is designed to be the OTA itself, aiming to carry a traveler from an open-ended idea to a booked trip in a single chat. Hafner reports to CEO Glenn Fogel and received a "greenfield" mandate to build from scratch with fresh code and branding. The team has been building Lola for five months and has about 20 employees split across New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Impact and considerations
By incubating an "AI-as-OTA" brand wholly owned and greenfield rather than adding a feature inside Booking.com, Booking Holdings signals that large OTAs now treat conversational booking as a standalone product line, potentially shifting the entry point for corporate travel sourcing and distribution.
Key points
- Lola was built by Kayak co-founders Steve Hafner and Paul English and launches Tuesday.
- Lola is wholly owned by Booking Holdings, with Hafner reporting to CEO Glenn Fogel.
- Fogel gave Hafner a "greenfield" mandate, letting Lola start with fresh code and branding.
- Lola is designed to be the OTA itself, not an AI feature inside Booking.com, aiming to take a traveler from idea to booked trip in one chat.
- The team has been building Lola for five months and has about 20 employees split across New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Sources and time
- Primary source
- Skift
- Other sources
- 0
- First source publication
- 29 Sept 2026, 21:01
- Page published
- 29 Sept 2026, 21:25
- Last updated
- 29 Sept 2026, 21:01
- Original links
- Skift Feed：Kayak Co-Founders Launch Lola — Booking Holdings' New AI Assistant: Exclusive (opens in a new tab)Primary source · en · Published 29 Sept 2026, 21:01