Ahmad Al-Dahle, Airbnb's chief technology officer, says the biggest question in artificial intelligence is not whether artificial general intelligence will arrive, but what people do with it when it does. In a recent conversation on The Deep View Conversations, Al-Dahle outlined how he thinks about AI's role in the next phase of product development, company leadership, and everyday life.
Al-Dahle's career has placed him inside several major shifts in modern technology. He worked on the early iPhone at Apple, later helped lead Meta's open-source Llama models, and now oversees technology at Airbnb. Across those roles, he has seen the industry move from mobile computing to large-scale AI systems, and he argues that the next wave should help people spend less time staring at screens.
At Airbnb, that means using AI to improve travel and support more meaningful interactions. The company has been exploring ways to reimagine the travel experience with AI, according to the conversation. The broader goal, Al-Dahle said, is to make technology useful in ways that encourage people to get back into the real world rather than remain absorbed in digital products.
Al-Dahle also said he believes AGI is inevitable. The source material does not detail a timeline or technical path, but it presents his view that the development of more capable AI systems is not a matter of if, but when. That perspective places him among a growing number of technology leaders who are treating AGI as a likely next stage rather than a speculative outcome.
The interview also touched on AI agents, which Al-Dahle described as changing the way executives work. He said these systems are becoming part of leadership and productivity workflows, suggesting that they are already affecting how decisions are made and how time is spent inside organizations.
Another theme in the discussion was open-source AI. Al-Dahle previously helped steer Meta's Llama effort, which aimed to broaden access to powerful AI models and reduce the concentration of influence in a few companies. In the interview, he discussed the future of open models and the impact of Llama, though the source material does not provide specific product announcements or new technical details.
His comments connect to a wider debate in AI over whether progress should happen behind closed systems or through more widely available tools. Al-Dahle's background suggests he has worked on both sides of that conversation, from Apple's tightly controlled product culture to Meta's open-model strategy and now Airbnb's consumer-focused applications.
A consistent point in the interview was that technology should ultimately create more room for human experiences. That idea reflects Airbnb's core business, which is built around travel, hospitality, and time spent in places away from home. It also reflects a broader countercurrent in the AI industry, where some leaders are emphasizing not only what models can do, but what they should enable people to do offline.
The conversation also referenced lessons Al-Dahle has taken from working with Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky. While the source material does not quote those lessons in detail, it suggests the interview covered how those leaders shaped his thinking about product design, company building, and long-term strategy.
For now, Al-Dahle's message is clear. He sees AGI as coming, agents as already changing work, and AI's best use as one that helps people reclaim time for the physical world.