There are moments when you step back from the day to day of building a product and remember exactly why you started. WOHXpo 2026 was one of those moments for us at Hey Koala.
For three days, our team set up shop at South India's largest food and hospitality show, organised by World of Hospitality at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru. If you work anywhere in HoReCa, you already know the kind of energy this event carries. Thousands of hoteliers, restaurateurs, chefs, suppliers, and operators, all under one roof, all there to figure out where the industry is heading next. We were proud to be part of it.
Stall H406A, alongside Linengrass
You could find us at Stall H406A, sharing the space with our friends at Linengrass. It turned out to be a great pairing. They bring beautiful, practical linen to the hospitality floor, and we bring the AI layer that runs quietly underneath the guest experience. Different parts of the same operation, and plenty of visitors who needed both.
What I will remember most is the steady stream of conversations. We did not come to pitch at people. We came to listen. And the floor gave us a lot to listen to.
The conversations that made it
The best part of an event like this is who walks up to your stall. Over three days we got to meet and learn from some genuinely inspiring people in the hospitality sector. Founders and operators who are not just running businesses, but reshaping what food, beverage, and hospitality can look like in India.
One moment stood out. We had the privilege of welcoming Mr. Raghavendra Rao, founder of The Rameshwaram Cafe, to our stall. If you have followed the Indian food and beverage story over the last few years, you know what that brand represents: a simple idea, executed with such operational precision and heart that it became a phenomenon. Getting to talk with him about service, scale, and where technology fits into all of it was a real highlight of the show.
Conversation after conversation, a common thread kept surfacing. Operators are not short on ambition or hospitality. They are short on hours. The phone rings during the rush. WhatsApp piles up. Bookings, reminders, follow ups, and guest questions all land at once, and the team gets pulled away from the guests right in front of them.
What we showed on the floor
That is exactly the gap we built Hey Koala to close. We showed operators how our agentic AI answers every call and message, takes the booking, sends the reminders and confirmations, manages the walk in queue, and keeps the front of house running, all connected to the systems they already use. The point we kept making, and the point that landed, is a simple one: let the AI handle the routine so your people can focus on the guest. Smarter operations, better guest experiences, all powered by AI.
Why this is the room to be in
Events like WOHXpo are a reminder that hospitality is, at its core, a people business. The technology only matters if it gives those people more room to do what they do best. Walking the floor, meeting the operators, and hearing the same problems we obsess over described back to us in their own words is worth more than any slide deck.
To everyone who stopped by H406A, shared a story, or challenged us with a hard question, thank you. This is why we build. And to the team at World of Hospitality and our co-exhibitors at Linengrass, it was a genuine pleasure.
If we did not get the chance to connect at the show and you want to see what Hey Koala is building for hotels and restaurants, book a quick demo and we will show you what AI on your front desk and your floor actually looks like.
