The Way We Build Automation Is About to Change. Here's Why DMOs Should Care.

I was watching a video the other day about agentic workflows, and it got me thinking about where this is heading for destination marketing, and our own business for that matter.

Most of the automations we use today only do exactly what we tell them. You set up a workflow, configure each step, connect it to the next one, test it, hit an error, figure out what went wrong, fix it, test again. Every connection, every variable, every condition.

That's all on you.

But change is always happening in the world of AI. 

With agentic automation, you basically describe what you want to happen, and the system figures out how to get there. Instead of building every piece of the puzzle yourself, you just define what you want the puzzle to look like.

Think about it like hiring someone onto your team. You wouldn't explain every single task in excruciating detail. You'd explain the outcome you're looking for, what problem you're trying to solve, what tools you're working with, and what the end result should look like. Then they'd go figure it out.

That's the agentic shift.

Why I Think This Matters for DMOs

I've worked with a lot of DMOs over the years, and one thing I've noticed is that teams are almost always stretched thin. There's never enough time, never enough resources, and the to-do list just keeps growing. Coordinating with stakeholders, managing content across platforms, responding to travel trade inquiries, pulling together board reports. Each of these typically involves workflows that someone has to manually build, maintain, and troubleshoot.

What I find interesting about agentic automation is that it could change that equation pretty significantly.

Here's an example that probably sounds familiar. 

After a trade show, your team comes back with a stack of business cards and booth scans. Following up with each one personally may take weeks. With agentic automation, you'd describe: "Take our trade show leads, research each organization, segment them by meeting size and industry, and draft personalized follow-up emails referencing why our destination fits their needs."

Or think about site visit coordination. When a meeting planner wants to visit, someone has to coordinate with multiple hotels, venues, and restaurants to build an itinerary. With agentic automation, you'd say: 'When a site visit is confirmed, pull the planner's event requirements, match them with available partners, draft outreach to each partner requesting availability, and compile responses into a proposed itinerary. Agentic automation can just figure out the connections.

A Few Things That Stand Out to Me

Self-healing is probably the biggest one. 

When a workflow breaks in traditional systems, you read the error, tweak the configuration, test again. That loop eats up a lot of time. With agentic systems, the agent handles that loop for you. It reads the error, tests a fix, iterates until it works. It's like having someone sitting next to you who handles the debugging.

Natural language control is another. 

AI platforms like ours let you describe what you want and we (or AI) can build it for you. But what's changing now is how much smarter that process is getting.

The thing is, this new generation feels different. Instead of just taking your prompt and running with it, it first interviews you. Who's the audience? How often should this run? What happens if the data is incomplete? It asks the clarifying questions before building anything. And once it's running, you can modify it the same way. "Add an approval step before any email goes out" or "Log all responses to our monthly report spreadsheet." And it just does it.

Security is built in. 

One concern I had was whether all this auto-generated code would be secure. But the same AI models that are writing the code can also review it for vulnerabilities. On every change. It's like having a security-conscious developer double-checking everything. Are credentials hidden? Is visitor data being logged where it shouldn't be?

Connecting your tools gets simpler. 

If you've ever tried to connect third party platforms to your existing tools you know the pain. Reading documentation, figuring out authentication, getting the request format right.

With agentic automation, you just say what tools you want connected and provide the API keys. "Pull our event calendar, cross-reference with weather forecasts, and send a weekly email to our newsletter subscribers highlighting upcoming outdoor events when the weather looks good." 

The agent figures out the rest.

What This Doesn't Change

I want to be clear about something. The barrier to building these automations is dropping. That's true. I know because we work in it everyday. But what destinations actually need hasn't changed.

They need someone who understands traveler behavior and can translate that into meaningful campaigns.

They need someone who can work with stakeholders, from city councils to hotel partners, and navigate the politics that come with destination marketing.

They need someone who can tell the story of a place in a way that actually moves people to visit.

The implementation layer is getting easier. The strategy, the relationships, the storytelling? 

Those are becoming more valuable, not less.

What I'd Suggest

You don't need to rebuild everything overnight. But I think it's worth paying close attention to.

Start experimenting now. The teams getting comfortable with these tools today will probably have a big advantage as they mature.

Think in outcomes, not steps. Instead of mapping out every node in a workflow, practice articulating what success looks like. What data goes where? What triggers what? What should happen when something doesn't match your visitor personas?

Look at your most repetitive tasks. Trade show follow-ups. Partner communications. Social media scheduling. Report generation. These are probably your best candidates for early experiments.

The tools are changing. But the fundamental skills, understanding your visitors, your community, and what makes your destination worth visiting, those remain your competitive advantage.

I don't have all the answers here. None of us do. But from what I'm seeing, this is worth paying attention to sooner rather than later.

Inspired by Nate Herk's video on agentic workflows.