For more than twenty-five years, Saro Spadaro has played a central role in shaping the hospitality and real estate landscape in the Caribbean. At the helm of The Maho Group, based in Sint Maarten, he has built a business ecosystem that blends upscale resorts, residential developments and customized services. His journey began after graduating in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan and has evolved through a consistent mix of strategic foresight, operational discipline and grounded leadership. Today, his focus extends toward the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. Saro Spadaro has long recognized AI not just as a technical asset, but as a strategic lever with the power to reshape how hospitality businesses engage with their guests. He believes that in an industry where service is increasingly defined by efficiency and personalization, the ability to integrate AI into operational and digital touchpoints is no longer optional. Businesses that fail to do so, he warns, will lose competitive ground. From his perspective, the hospitality sector must rethink how it presents itself online. Digital channels should become more intuitive, transparent and capable of enabling intelligent interaction. At the same time, next-generation language models offer new opportunities to personalize the customer journey. These tools can support decision-making, anticipate preferences and simplify complex choices. But they must be implemented responsibly, ensuring data protection and genuine usefulness for the end user. Despite the shift toward automation, Saro Spadaro keeps the human element front and center. He sees artificial intelligence as a resource to empower people, not replace them. In his view, no guest experience is complete without meaningful human interaction. The real value of AI lies in equipping teams with better tools to understand and serve customers more effectively. This balance leads to tangible benefits across the board: enhanced service quality, lower operating costs and more sustainable practices. There are already several areas where this approach delivers results. Predictive maintenance for infrastructure, smarter inventory management in food and beverage services, and better control over cleaning products and energy consumption are just a few. These optimizations benefit not only the organization but also the environment and the overall guest experience. Spadaro’s view of leadership is deeply tied to presence and responsibility. That became clear in 2017, when Hurricane Irma hit Sint Maarten. Rather than retreat, he stayed on the island to coordinate evacuations and oversee the rebuilding efforts. It was a defining moment that exemplified his philosophy: lead from the front, especially in times of crisis. As The Maho Group continues to grow its international footprint, Saro Spadaro remains focused on shaping the next chapter of hospitality. For him, entrepreneurship is a matter of alignment between vision, words and actions. It is this consistency that defines his leadership style and anchors his approach to innovation. Grounded, ambitious and people-driven, it offers a clear direction for what comes next in the global travel and leisure industry.
Anna Biddle
Editor-in-Chief at zSHARE, exploring SaaS and more. Contributor at The Next Web, and Forbes.