Andreas S. Weigend, Ph.D., the former Chief Scientist of Amazon.com, has been appointed as Special Advisor for Agoda Company. Dr Weigend teaches Data Mining and E-Business at Stanford University, and works as an independent consultant with customer-centric companies. He conducts workshops and counsels top management at Fortune 500 companies, teaches executive courses at several of the world’s most prestigious universities, and delivers keynotes at conferences on topics including the impact of the internet on individuals, business, and society and the resulting opportunities.

Weigend—who jokes that his permanent residence is weigend.com—explains, “My career allows me to work with innovative companies around the world. Agoda.com is a perfect example of an emerging Asian brand that fully leverages for the latest relevant internet technologies, while retaining a commitment to personalized service. This balance between technology and service is easier to achieve in the East than the West.”

Singapore-domiciled Agoda maintains its operations office at the new Offices at Central World in Bangkok, where it currently employs about 160 people. Chief Operating Officer Robert Rosenstein says, “Our team here is multicultural, representing 15 nationalities. We all share a passion for travel and a belief that the internet can make travel more accessible and more enjoyable for customers around the world. Building on deep local expertise, we’re competitive in both price and quality. With the help of Dr. Weigend, we’ll continue capitalizing on the growth in the Asian travel market.”

Agoda has been operating e-commerce travel sites since 1997, offering hotel rooms at discounted prices to travelers worldwide. The company currently has English, Japanese and Chinese language sites and will be launching several other localized language sites in 2007.

As a significant expansion of its offerings, Agoda will also add flights to its extensive worldwide hotel inventory, passing on the benefits of packaging to its customers while giving them individual choice.
“Agoda.com is innovating ‘Travel 2.0’ by applying Web2.0 concepts in the online travel space,” explains Weigend, whose clients include SWISS International Airlines and China’s Alibaba. “I expect significant new ideas to emerge from Asia-based businesses that combine technology and service, and am excited to work with Agoda.”