Airbnb's CEO on AI, Experiences and the Next Steps for Growth

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky sat down with Skift CEO Rafat Ali at Skift Global Forum in New York City on September 16, 2025. In front of the gathered travel leaders, Chesky said the company needs to diversify its business model to boost its bottom line. “I’m not happy about where the growth rate is in the company,” Chesky said at the Skift Global Forum in New York on Tuesday. “I think the company should be growing significantly faster. It should at least be growing in the teens.” Part of the growth, he said, comes from relaunching the Experiences product, expanding offerings to include boutique and independent hotels, and increasing international market presence. Chesky emphasized the need to rebuild the company’s structure to support multiple business lines, aiming for accelerated and sustainable growth. Chesky also explained why he believes the current generation of artificial intelligence is powerful enough to reshape the global economy - no artificial general intelligence required. What matters now, he said, is how companies apply today’s tools to real-world products. Watch the livestream and recordings from Skift Global Forum: https://my.skift.com/event/skift-glob... Connect with Skift LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠  / ⁠⁠⁠   WhatsApp: ⁠⁠⁠https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL... Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠  / skiftnews⁠⁠⁠   Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠  / ⁠⁠   Threads: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bs... X: ⁠⁠⁠  / skift⁠⁠⁠   Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠@SkiftNews⁠⁠⁠ (   / @skiftnews  ) and never miss an update from the travel industry.