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Less than a year ago, dontt.dk was the first media outlet to tell the story of Gustav Søgård and his newly founded AI venture, Opally.

Since then, the business has moved quickly. Opally now works with more than 50 hotels, has secured its first investment and added another notable name to its growing client list. Guldsmeden Hotels has partnered with the Danish start-up, rolling out its technology across the hotel group.

We caught up with 24-year-old Søgård to discuss a remarkable year, the new partnership and what comes next for Opally.

Gustav Søgård, Founder, Opally

When we last met Gustav Søgård at Sonny’s in Copenhagen, Opally was still in its early stages. The idea had grown out of a simple observation at his mother’s hotel: responding to a steady stream of guest emails was taking up valuable time. Could AI handle the routine enquiries, freeing staff to focus on their guests?

Since then, Søgård has left his previous job to focus on Opally full-time. What began as an email tool has evolved into a broader guest communication platform, spanning live chat, messaging and other channels. The company has grown from around 12 hotels in the onboarding pipeline to approximately 50 active hotel clients, and is now working towards 100.

The journey, however, has not been without its challenges.

“I think all those rejections, all those signals telling you to stop working on it, are part of the process. During the first few months, there were days when I genuinely wondered whether I should just stop,” says Søgård.

For him, progress has meant staying the course, listening to customers and continuously refining the product. As Opally moves into larger hotel groups, the demands are changing, too. Reporting, data security and information management are becoming increasingly important, requiring a more sophisticated product built to meet the needs of larger organisations.

Guldsmeden Hotels is Opally’s latest client. The partnership began through Gustavs brother, who is responsible for marketing and growth at the company. An introduction through a mutual contact gave Søgård the opportunity to present Opally to the hotel group’s team.

The need was clear. Reception staff were handling large volumes of emails manually, and Guldsmeden wanted to explore how AI could help. The group tested several solutions before choosing Opally.

The collaboration began with a chatbot at Bryggen Guldsmeden in Copenhagen. The initial trial focused on whether the technology could reliably answer practical guest enquiries about rooms, parking and the details of a stay. After several weeks of testing, the partnership expanded to include email assistance, before the full solution was rolled out across additional properties.

Today, Opally is deployed across all eight of Guldsmeden Hotels’ properties in Denmark, Norway and Germany, as well as on the group’s website.

For Søgård, however, the technology is not about replacing the personal hospitality for which Guldsmeden is known. Quite the opposite.

“I see the real value of human interaction coming through when guests arrive at the hotel. If receptionists spend less time typing away at their computers, they can focus on being hosts, ready to welcome guests and make them feel at home.”

Although Opally has expanded its product considerably, the ambition goes well beyond clearing hotel inboxes. Hotels remain the company’s primary focus, with Søgård also exploring how the technology can help drive more direct bookings and create a more seamless guest experience across every point of contact.

Opally is already working with a small number of restaurants, but the long-term priority remains hotels. The aim is to bring guest communication together in one platform and give independent hotels and hotel groups better tools to compete in a market increasingly dominated by major booking platforms.

“If you take a step back and look at the tools we’ve built since we started, it really comes down to giving hotels superpowers, so they can compete with Booking.com and Expedia, which are gaining so much influence in the market,” says Søgård.

Timing, he believes, is crucial. With AI advancing at an extraordinary pace, the coming months will be an important period for Opally as it continues to develop its product and make the most of the technology’s growing capabilities.

At dontt.dk, we look forward to following the next chapter of the journey.

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