Airport Experience® News - Post-Conference Issue 2026

Left: Brian Sano of Intuitive AI engaged the judging panel on details of his AI recycling assistant.

customer. With seven locations open and seven more on the way, including a presence in Amtrak stations, the concept requires only 350 square feet and turns orders in five minutes. The pitch ended with a flourish when the brand’s official mascot, Toni Rigotoni, entered the room for a ceremonial pasta cutting. Rounding out the showcase was Bennett Nast, managing director and founder of Interactive Airport Intelligence , whose Airport Dashboard gives airports and local business partners a unified view of upcoming flight schedules, translating that data into revenue projections and staffing insights. The dashboard can also support kitchen maintenance scheduling, staff training and trend identification. Scaling Your Business Another AXC panel focused on taking small businesses to the next level. Breaking into airports is hard enough. Scaling across them is a different game. At AXC 2026, three entrepreneurs who did exactly that shared what it took, what surprised them and what they wish they had known sooner. Ann Ferraguto, Below: Pilar Guzman of Half Moon Empanadas (right) shares her story while fellow panelists listen. Other participants were (l-r) moderator Ann Ferraguto of AirProjects, Inc., Ryan Black of SAMBAZON and Sheridan Mordue of Hip & Humble.

Several panels at AXC focused on new concepts and technologies that could be making their way into airports in the coming years. Business Pitch Showcase The AXC 2026 business pitch showcase gave entrepreneurs a rare shot at winning over a panel of airport concessions experts. Five companies took the stage, each bringing a product designed to solve a real problem in the airport environment. The range was wide, from artisan textiles to AI-powered recycling, and the judging panel paid close attention. Custom-designed scarves and blankets were not what most attendees expected, but Robert Paterson, vice president of operations at Patrick King Woollen Company , had the room’s attention. In business for 13 years, the company has products in gift shops, boutiques and tourist destinations, and airports are the next frontier. “There’s meaning and a story behind the plaid, and that’s what we do,” Paterson said. “We tell stories.” The mill shears its own sheep and hand-dyes its materials. “Once you touch it, smell it, feel it, you’re going to buy it.” Java House Brands senior vice president and general manager Paul Hillen took the stage to announce the company’s airport kiosk program for the first time. The family-owned brand, founded in 1991, manufactures all its products in Indianapolis and operates 13 cafes. The concept requires no machines and no baristas, offering cold brew and espresso in multiple flavors through retail displays, grab-and-go markets and vending options. Hillen’s pitch centered on one statistic: 25

percent of the 2 to 2.5 million people who pass through U.S. airports every day wait in line for a beverage. “The wait is over,” he said. There are 9,000 different recycling rules across the United States. That was the opening fact from Brian Sano, head of strategy at Intuitive AI , focused on a solution to a big problem in airports: discards. His company’s product, Oscar, is an AI recycling assistant that tells travelers whether a used coffee cup is recyclable, food waste or garbage, depending on local rules. Oscar has boosted recycling accuracy up to 96 percent and is already deployed in 15 airports and 60 universities. A family trip to Italy inspired what DalMoros Fresh Pasta president David Caruso brought to the showcase: fresh, made-to-order pasta with over 100,000 possible combinations, made in front of the

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AX NEWS APRIL/MAY 2026