Aakarshan Saxena

building the world’s first fully
automated 10 ⭐ hospitality chain
making hospitality feel like magic @markoniAI
#makemagic✨

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

3.5 hours. 35 lessons. One conclusion I did not expect:

The next giant in Indian travel may not look like a travel company at all.

It might be a 25-year-old outsider who understands AI, owns the experience, and decides to operate the room instead of listing it (hopefully me xD).

Here are the 11 key ideas that got me there.

@nikhilkamathcio

1/13 🧵 #makemagic✨

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

Everyone is building AI for travel.
The people who actually run Taj, MakeMyTrip, Treebo and StayVista just spent 3.5 hours with Nikhil Kamath explaining why most of it will fail. I watched every minute so you don't have to. Condensed in just 35 lessons 👇 https://t.co/0nVaav2REq

[Chamath Palihapitiya @chamath]

“People are working 12 to 13 hours a day just to press enter.”

We are turning an entire generation of technical experts around the world into the equivalent of retirees pushing a button in front of casino slot machines.

Essentially the brain rot of doom scrolling social media is coming for your development team…

This will have lots of long run implications on companies. Most important of which, is that it will make existing moats even more brittle.

The value of automated software is not making the software faster.

It is understanding your intention and making the software BETTER.

Better edge.
Better design.
Better alpha.

But if you don’t slow down and map out your intention, you will just make your shitty code faster.

We built 8090’s Software Factory to do this: when execution is a costless commodity, what really matters?

Over time, companies will realize that it’s:

1. Intention
2. Governance
3. Verification
4. Evidence

This is what will separate orgs consuming tokens and companies encoding their edge. This generally requires top down leadership from the CEO to the CFO/CIO.

Bottoms up tool adoption only increases costs and accelerates slot machine behaviors.

Good luck to all the players.

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

@biswaasen Guys this isn’t even 1% of his story xD
@biswaasen we should do a podcast soon once we’re famous xD

[V @vihan13singh]

can't be complaining about too much on your plate when the goal was to eat well

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

On a serious note tho-

If you’re someone who’s been thinking about starting up, just take the leap man.

It’s never too late or too early to bet on yourself. #makemagic✨

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

When I started my first company, I was 19. First year, IIT Delhi (CSE).

I thought I was too young to start. Everyone told me so.

I definitely was naive. Maybe that’s why I started.

But now in 2026, that I’m 24, it almost feels like I’m too old to be a founder 😭💀

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

Most founders I see lately are teens xD

Like bro “is your JEE syllabus completed? 😂”

Don’t think I’d do such a rigorous JEE prep tho if I had GPT-6 Astra during 11th grade xD

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

@vihan13singh @akashizzle @prthvchndrn @Pranavchiku @aryannstarr @mukesh_dxb Looking sharp y’all

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

@aryannstarr Still waiting on muse to go live in India🙂‍↕️
But the correct answer is ����🥁
HUG✨

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

@aryannstarr @wrsrsh Will miss ya (see you in sf 🫂)

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

I'm building an AI that runs 100+ stays without needing me - @markoniAI

Not a chatbot that recommends restaurants. Not a voice bot that takes reservations.

A system that prices nights, finds guests, coordinates staff, requests for reviews and keeps operations moving -
Just like a Manager.

The future of hospitality isn't more software for more property managers.

It's the property manager becoming software.

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

When I ask most people what they do, they reply with their job role. Almost treating it as an identity.

However, when I ask founders, they usually reply with whatever their company’s mission or vision is. Their “purpose”.

Like if you’d ask me, I’d say - “I’m building the world’s first fully automated villa chain” or “I’m building the first hotel on the moon”.

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

When I ask most people what they do, they reply with their job role. Almost treating it as an identity.

However, when I ask founders, they usually reply with whatever their company’s mission or vision is. Their “purpose”.

Like if you’d ask me, I’d say - “I’m building the world’s first fully automated villa chain” or “I’m building the first hotel on the moon”.

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

Everyone you know is running someone else's source code. Genes wrote the first draft. Parents, teachers and job titles wrote the rest, & now AI...

Part 3 is where I stop inheriting purpose & start authoring it -
The Blindfold Series finale. #makemagic✨ https://t.co/r5vTHRCIxY

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

Everyone is building AI for travel.
The people who actually run Taj, MakeMyTrip, Treebo and StayVista just spent 3.5 hours with Nikhil Kamath explaining why most of it will fail. I watched every minute so you don't have to. Condensed in just 35 lessons 👇 https://t.co/0nVaav2REq

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

I can see some batchmates have a much needed post-IIT glow up ✨
Yeh JEE ke baad nahi hona chahiye tha? XD

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

@nicholasgannonp Absolutely!

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

Everyone is building AI for travel.
The people who actually run Taj, MakeMyTrip, Treebo and StayVista just spent 3.5 hours with Nikhil Kamath explaining why most of it will fail. I watched every minute so you don't have to. Condensed in just 35 lessons 👇 https://t.co/0nVaav2REq

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

100% on point.

[IndiaStartups @indiastartups]

@AstriferNox The real asymmetry: India can host the Mahakumbh — 600M+ footfall — yet captures just 10M foreign tourists. The moat for an AI-native hospitality chain isn't the booking agent; it's owning the guest conversation where the OTAs take the margin today.

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

3.5 hours. 35 lessons. One conclusion I did not expect:

The next giant in Indian travel may not look like a travel company at all.

It might be a 25-year-old outsider who understands AI, owns the experience, and decides to operate the room instead of listing it (hopefully me xD).

Here are the 11 key ideas that got me there.

@nikhilkamathcio

1/13 🧵 #makemagic✨

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

DO NOT READ #TheBlindfold Series (if you'd rather keep the blindfold on)

This thread is from my final essay: The Blindfold of Purpose #genevsmeme -

Most people do not choose a purpose.

They inherit a procedure.

Follow it long enough and motion starts to feel like meaning.

Then the dangerous sentence appears:

My purpose is mine.

Often, it was installed before you knew you could refuse it.

🧵 #makemagic✨

[Aakarshan Saxena @AstriferNox]

@vihan13singh @ycombinator Y?