Artefact’s Florent Bernard lands 2026 consulting honor in travel and hospitality

Artefact said Florent Bernard, who leads its Travel, Tourism & Transportation practice, was named one of The Consulting Report’s top leisure and hospitality consultants and leaders for 2026. The recognition underscores growing demand for data, generative AI and agentic transformation in travel, tourism and transportation.

Why it matters: - Travel and tourism is expected to contribute $12 trillion to the global economy in 2026, or nearly 10% of global GDP. - Operators in hospitality, aviation, transport and entertainment are under pressure to improve customer experience, modernize operations and get more value from data and AI. - Bernard’s work sits at the center of that shift, with a focus on enterprise-scale transformation rather than isolated AI pilots.

What happened: - Artefact announced that Florent Bernard was named to The Consulting Report’s Top Leisure and Hospitality Consultants and Leaders of 2026. - Bernard is Managing Partner and Global Lead of Artefact’s Travel, Tourism & Transportation Practice. - The recognition was announced Sept. 1, 2026, in New York. - Bernard was recognized alongside leaders from PwC, Deloitte, Capgemini, EY, Accenture, Slalom, Teneo, McKinsey & Company and Egon Zehnder.

The details: - Bernard joined Artefact in September 2022. - Bernard has led large-scale data and business transformation work for global travel, tourism and transportation organizations. - Bernard advises Accor, VINCI Airports, Groupe Barrière, Air France and SNCF on data strategy and deployment of generative and agentic AI solutions. - Bernard’s work includes data strategy, customer personalization, operational intelligence, generative AI, agentic workflow design and AI governance. - Bernard said travel and hospitality organizations have an opportunity to use AI to improve efficiency and redesign how they understand, serve and retain customers. - Bernard said the recognition reflects the work of clients and teams turning data and AI into operational and customer impact. - Bernard holds an engineering degree from ETH Zürich and an MBA from INSEAD. - Bernard previously worked in McKinsey & Company’s Digital Practice and as an entrepreneur in the construction sector. - Bernard also represented Artefact at Viva Technology 2026, leading sessions on advanced AI and business transformation.

Between the lines: - The recognition signals that consulting firms are increasingly being judged on their ability to turn AI into measurable industry change, not just strategy language. - Bernard’s mix of technical, consulting and operating experience gives Artefact a profile that blends implementation depth with boardroom-level advisory work. - The focus on agentic AI suggests the market is moving from generative AI experimentation toward workflow automation and broader enterprise adoption.

What's next: - Artefact is likely to keep positioning Bernard as a public face for its travel, tourism and transportation work. - Bernard’s client portfolio suggests continued demand for data strategy, personalization and AI governance across large travel and hospitality groups. - The sector’s 2026 growth expectations point to more investment in AI-driven operating models and customer experience tools.

The bottom line: - Bernard’s recognition reflects a bigger industry trend: travel and hospitality companies now want AI that changes operations, not just AI that demos well.