Strategy & Direction
Growth, a new concept or a change of direction is under consideration, but the choices and consequences are not yet clear enough.
Outcome: a reasoned recommendation with assumptions, trade-offs and decision conditions.
Cross-Point · Independent advisory · Zug
Decide what is worth changing.
Then make it work.
I help owners and leadership teams test difficult decisions, see where technology can create real business value, and turn their choices into better execution. With more than 30 years in international hospitality.
Situations in which leadership teams bring me in
An important decision has consequences, and not all of them are equally visible.
Plenty of activity, plenty of reports. And still no clear view of the results.
The business has grown. Its management arrangements have not.
A convincing technology proposal is on the table. Does it really fit?
A new concept looks promising. What has to hold for it to work?
Every decision also changes something else.
I examine those connections before I recommend what to do. Then I help make the chosen course workable in daily operations.
30+
years in international hospitality
Riccardo Giacometti combines more than 30 years in international hospitality with his current work as an independent advisor. In senior operating roles and as a general manager, he has seen how closely commercial results, service quality, people and well-run operations depend on one another.
That perspective shapes his advice on strategy, leadership, business management and the practical use of technology and AI.
- Based inZug, Switzerland
- Focus regionsEurope, the GCC, Southeast Asia
- Way of workingYou work directly with me. For clearly defined tasks I bring in external specialists, in agreement with you.
Why an external view, when you have a leadership team?
Often the open question sits between functions, involves a difficult trade-off, or needs an independent view before you commit.
- A new systemchanges responsibilities.
- A service promisechanges staffing and operating requirements.
- A financial targetchanges priorities.
- A growth initiativecompetes with existing operations for time and attention.
Five areas. One connected view.
The areas are ways in, not departments. Many questions touch several of them. Choose what concerns you: your topics appear in your enquiry.
Business Performance
Plenty of activity and reporting, but leadership cannot clearly connect it to the quality of results.
Outcome: a performance issue tied to a management decision, and a way to assess whether the intervention worked.
Leadership & Organisation
Decisions keep moving upwards, accountabilities are unclear, and capable people cannot act without escalating.
Outcome: clear decision responsibilities, a revised scorecard or a practical escalation arrangement.
Technology & AI
An opportunity or a convincing proposal, but business value, operational fit and effort cannot yet be judged.
Outcome: a decision to proceed, revise or stop, a bounded pilot or a tested workflow.
Transformation & Execution
The direction is agreed, but dependencies, competing priorities or missing decisions are holding progress back.
Outcome: a workable way to manage the initiative, with responsibilities, sequence and decision points.
Which area applies becomes clear from your actual question.
What working together can change in practice
Examples, not packages. Which of them apply depends on your task.
A sound investment decisionLeadership decides on a commercial priority, with its assumptions and conditions made explicit.Decision paper with alternatives
Greater management capacityA recurring escalation is resolved at the appropriate level.Revised decision responsibilities
More reliable deliveryA critical dependency becomes visible in time to act.Validated implementation plan
Useful application of AIA workflow is tested before it is expanded.Tested workflow with clear responsibilities
A document alone does not prove an effect. So we agree in advance how we will know whether a change is holding.
How we work together
You work directly with Riccardo Giacometti. Depending on the task, as ongoing advisory, a focused assignment or a practical development format.
- Ongoing executive advisoryWithin an agreed mandate: examining important choices, reviewing progress, challenging assumptions. We agree the rhythm and scope at the start.
- Focused assignmentsFor a particular decision or business issue, such as assessing an initiative, reviewing how a business is managed or preparing an implementation approach.
- Executive and team developmentFocused workshops and role-specific AI development, based on the work your people actually do.
Additional implementation work and external specialists are agreed separately. Management responsibility stays with you unless something else has been agreed.
A recommendation starts with the business need. It can also be to change, defer or stop.
Scope, responsibilities and fees are agreed before work begins.
Publications · Research for hospitality
Two reports on AI in hospitality
- Who holds the keys?Twelve hotel AI trends for 2027: what AI may now decide for a hotel, what has been shown to work, and what to switch on next.
- The Invisible ShortlistAI already shapes which hotels your guests consider.
Examples of the work
Anonymised. They describe the work done, not a guaranteed result.
Measures that match the mandate
- Situation
- An executive was assessed on operating measures that covered only part of their actual responsibilities.
- Contribution
- An analysis of the gap between mandate and scorecard, and a proposal for what should be assessed instead.
- What was produced
- A revised assessment framework that follows the actual responsibilities.
Reporting that leads to decisions
- Situation
- Extensive commercial reporting, but no clarity about who has to act on what.
- Contribution
- A framework that connects each metric to a definition, an accountable decision and a management review. Open data dependencies are named explicitly.
- What was produced
- Documented decision logic, responsibilities and data requirements.
Leadership under opening pressure
- Situation
- A hotel opening with limited resources and heavy demands on leadership.
- Contribution
- Reporting needs and responsibilities were clarified before any tools were selected.
- What was produced
- A way of managing that started from the operation, not from the software.
What decision is in front of you?
An important decision, a new initiative or a challenge on which you would like an independent view?
Write to me in a few sentences about what is at stake. I will review your enquiry and reply on whether and how I can help.
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