Innovating Travel with AI: the Warwick Alumnus behind Holiwise

Innovating Travel with AI: the Warwick Alumnus behind Holiwise

From financial analyst to entrepreneur, Albin Eriksson Lippe has carved out an impressive path since graduating from Warwick. Now CEO of Holiwise, the AI-powered travel platform he co-founded in 2024 with a fellow Warwick alumnus Kristian Lexeklint, Albin made the bold decision to leave a stable career in finance to pursue the autonomy and ambition of building something new. His entrepreneurial leap has already earned industry recognition: this year he was named one of TTG’s Top 30 Under 30 Travel Leaders 2026, a prestigious accolade from one of the UK and Ireland’s leading travel media organisations.

We caught up with Albin (BSc Economics 2019) to learn more about his journey from banking to entrepreneurship and the lessons he’s gathered along the way.

What originally attracted you to study Economics at Warwick?

I’m originally from Sweden, and during high school I knew I wanted to study abroad in an international environment. When I researched universities, Warwick stood out for the strength of its Economics Department, a strong international reputation and impressive alumni. A friend spoke highly of the university, so I visited for a day and that’s when I decided to apply.

My time at Warwick became some of the best years of my life. On a personal level I had a lot of fun and made friends who remain some of my closest today. Professionally, the academic rigour of the course prepared me exceptionally well for my first role at Goldman Sachs.

After graduating, you spent five years at Goldman Sachs. How did your Warwick education prepare you for such a competitive environment?

At Warwick and later at Goldman Sachs, I was surrounded by highly ambitious and intelligent people. Early on, I hesitated to ask questions for fear of saying something wrong, a mistake that made things harder than they needed to be. Once I realised most people feel the same, I became far more comfortable asking questions, which proved essential when I started at Goldman Sachs.

The technical preparation helped, too. Covering macro hedge funds meant I already understood interest rates, inflation and policy functions, so I could follow conversations from day one and progress quickly, especially in the early stages.

What motivated you to leave a successful career in finance for entrepreneurship?

I really enjoyed my time at GS and learned a huge amount; it was an excellent start to my career. But I’ve always been entrepreneurial, and I knew I wanted to build something of my own. Towards the end of my time there, I became fixated on the travel industry problem that Holiwise now solves; I walked to work every day thinking about it and what might happen if I was right.

There was also a simple asymmetry: I was early in my career and knew that I wouldn’t regret trying, even if I failed – but I would regret never trying at all.

How has Holiwise evolved since you first launched it?

We started Holiwise in 2024, and the business has changed significantly since then. The first version was a discovery tool that used AI to help people decide where to travel. Real usage taught us two things: inspiration is only one part of the problem, and human relationships sit at the heart of luxury travel.

Today, we operate as a luxury travel agency, supported by internal AI models that automate most of the manual work traditionally done by humans. This makes our agents more efficient and enables us to offer better pricing than traditional agencies. The results have been strong – over half of our bookings come from organic referrals, and more than 80% of customers return to book again.

What lessons did that teach you about innovation, adaptability and building a business?

There are many lessons, but three stand out. First, you’ll be wrong about which part of the problem matters most - customers will tell you, but only if you ship quickly and observe how they behave.

Second, choosing the right co-founders is critical. It’s the single most important decision you make and often the difference between success and failure.

Third, adaptability isn’t the same as changing direction. The discipline lies in maintaining conviction in the vision, while remaining flexible about everything else – and being ready to pivot when needed.

What balance between AI and human expertise do you think will define the future of work?

I often hear the balance framed as AI versus human expertise, which misses the point - and our business shows why. AI excels at search, comparison and pattern recognition across large data sets, far beyond human capability. But human expertise matters for relationships, for speaking to hotels about an upgrade and for handling disruptions that require judgement. That’s why we pair our models with real travel experts rather than replace them.

This is a pattern that appears across many industries. My expectation is that AI will take on volume, while humans move further into judgement, trust and accountability. In that world, sales skills become more important, not less.

What are your ambitions for Holiwise over the next few years?

My main ambition is to scale Holiwise into a leading global travel tech platform that transforms how premium travellers plan and book trips. It should be the first place they go, with models that understand their preferences and secure better prices than anywhere else. What makes it compelling is that the technology is now ready - the models we’re building can interpret traveller preferences in ways that simply weren’t possible a few years ago.

Thank you to Albin for sharing his story. We wish him and Holiwise every success.