2025 - the Retrospect
This year i started a blog /journal to slow myself down.
To notice what I’m doing ,What I’m learning and What I’m avoiding.
2025 asked for attention ,Not the loud kind ,The patient kind.
This was a year shaped by experience — how it’s designed, how it’s felt, and how easily it’s broken.
It was a year where AI stopped being abstract and became practical.
A year where restaurants reminded me why hospitality still matters.
And a year where I kept returning to one idea: simple is not easy.
I’m writing this not as a highlight reel.
More as a considered walk back through the rooms.
Experience is what remains
We talk about experience too loosely.
It’s not the signage , Not the app ,Not the brand deck.
Experience is what lingers when you’ve left the building.
In museums, I saw this clearly again and again.
Visitors don’t remember floorplans They remember how welcome they felt.
Whether someone noticed them ,Whether the space made sense without effort.
I wrote a lot this year about visitor journeys because they reveal truth.
They show you where your intent leaks ,Where your values collapse under pressure.
And I’ve learned that:
Friction hides in small moments ,Warmth is always notice ,Consistency beats novelty
You can invest millions in content ,But one indifferent interaction can undo it.
That’s not theory ,That’s lived observation.
So I kept asking myself:
If I were visiting today, would I feel looked after?
Human + AI is not a slogan
AI arrived properly this year ,Not as hype ,As a tool.
I wrote about Human + AI because I was tired of the false choice.
People or machines , Warmth or efficiency -That’s not how good operations work.
AI, used well, does the quiet jobs:
Wayfinding
Translation
Personalisation
Forecasting
Removing repetition
That frees people to do the human work:
Conversation
Judgement
Care
Curiosity
Reading the room
The best experiences I saw this year used AI invisibly, guests didn’t talk about it, they just felt less lost.
Less confused ,Less rushed. and that’s the point.
Technology should disappear into service ,not announce itself.
I keep returning to this question when teams get excited about tools:
Does this give time back to people — or take it away?
Restaurants still teach us everything
I’ve always learned most about leadership from restaurants.
They show you what happens under pressure. With thin margins ,real guests no hiding.Two places stayed with me this year.
Five March
A room that understands rhythm.
No fuss.
No performance.
Just care.
You feel welcome without being managed ,Known without being watched.
That’s rare. It reminded me that hospitality isn’t about being impressive ,It’s about being attentive.
Then there’s 10 Tib ,A place that gets energy right.
Food that knows what it is ,a bar that hums.
Staff who look like they belong there.
Not perfect ,but alive. Both places do something quietly radical: They respect the guest’s time.
No over-explaining ,no showing off : Just delivery.
Every time I eat somewhere like this I write the same note to myself:
Why do we forget these basics elsewhere?
Simple is not easy
This phrase followed me all year ,I first heard it years ago.
But this year it landed properly.
Simple menus are hard ,Clear strategies are hard ,Calm operations are hard.
Because simplicity demands decisions.
It forces you to say no ,to remove good ideas ,To accept that not everything fits.
In leadership, I saw how often complexity is used as cover.
Cover for uncertainty ,cover for avoidance ,cover for fear.
When things feel messy, I now ask:
What are we actually trying to do? ,What could we remove? Where are we asking guests to work too hard?
Simple isn’t minimal , It’s intentional And it takes nerve.
Changing your mind is real work
One of the quieter threads in my writing this year was about changing your mind.
Not announcing it ,not branding it - Actually doing it.
I noticed how easy it is to defend old positions.
Even when evidence shifts.
Even when context changes.
In myself most of all.
I learned that:
Facts don’t move us — identity does ,we shift when we feel safe enough to let go and good leadership allows people to revise, not retreat
I’ve changed my mind this year about pace.
About how much is enough ,about when to push and when to pause.
And I’m still mid-edit ,That feels honest.
Experience is a moral choice
Here’s the thing I’m most sure of now.
Experience design is not neutral.
Every choice says something:
Who we prioritise ,Who we listen to and Who we expect to adapt
When a guest feels confused, that’s a decision.
When a team member feels rushed, that’s a decision.
When clarity is missing, that’s a decision too.
The best places I visited this year — museums, restaurants, cultural spaces — shared one trait.
They cared ,Not loudly ,Not performatively but Consistently.
What I’m carrying forward
I end this year clearer than I started.
I know that:
AI should serve humanity, not replace it
Hospitality is still my best teacher
Simplicity is leadership in practice
Experience is felt before it’s explained
And I know what I want to keep writing about.
What I want to keep building.
What I want to keep noticing.
So I’ll finish with the question I keep asking myself — and now you:
If someone experienced your work for the first time tomorrow, how would it make them feel?
That answer matters more than any strategy.
Thank you for reading ,for visiting and for paying attention.
Here’s to 2026 ,I’ll see you there🍷✨
Here's to a Bright Future rooted in our Rich Past 🧔
#experience #hospitality #AIandhumans #leadership #restaurants #culture #JamiejohnAnderson
