An AI-based Travel Planner
Desti was a start-up that pioneered the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for travel search and planning. It was a spin-off from SRI International founded in 2011, and was acquired by HERE (formerly Nokia Here / Navteq) in 2014 to power Here’s search and places capabilities. Desti used artificial intelligence and natural language understanding to create deep knowledge of destinations by reading everything about them – from professional articles to consumer reviews. It then used a conversational user interface to allow users to search specifically for what they want and get the best results immediately.
The Main Characters
NADAV GUR – FOUNDER & CEO
Nadav founded Desti as a spin-off from SRI International where he was an entrepreneur-in-residence. He is also the founder & CEO of WorldMate (acquired by Carlson Wagonlit Travel). In 2015 he left Here and has been involved as a founder and advisor in several companies in automotive, AI and mapping.
IMRI GOLDBERG – FOUNDER & CTO
Imri joined Desti as plnnr.com that he founded was rolled into Desti. As CTO he ran all engineering efforts and was behind much of the innovation as well as the rapid delivery of cutting-edge search and user experience features. He is now VP R&D at Flytrex, a drone-delivery startup.
OFER MELNIK, PHD – CHIEF SCIENTIST
With a theoretical and applied grounding in Machine Learning, Statistics, Analytics and Natural Language Processing and a post-doc at Rutgers University with a focus on Deep Learning, Ofer brought cutting-edge science skills and was behind AI breakthroughs like Article Search and Review Analysis. Ofer is still leading research teams at Here.
MOSI SHUCHMAN – FOUNDER & VP PRODUCT DESIGN
Mosi was the founder & CEO of plnnr.com and joined Desti together with Imri. He was the spirit behind the apps’ striking visual design and delivered much of the innovation on user experience, now emulated by many hotel booking apps. After Desti he joined Even, a music hardware company.