The spa industry has continually evolved, and artificial intelligence is its next chapter, not a departure from its values. The question is no longer whether AI will reshape the industry, but how deliberately spa leaders guide that evolution.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS ALREADY IN YOUR SPA— whether you invited it or not. AI has a way of slipping into daily life disguised as convenience. It recommends the music we play during treatments, predicts when supplies should be reordered, schedules our appointments, filters résumés and answers client questions at midnight— without ever announcing itself.
For an industry rooted in human connection, intuition and touch, the idea of“ artificial intelligence” can feel at
odds with spa culture. Yet AI is no longer a tech-industry experiment or a future concept. It is rapidly becoming part of the business infrastructure that supports modern operations, and the spa industry is no exception.
Pulse has tracked AI’ s growing influence for years, from pre-Covid speculation to in-depth coverage of the rise of large language models( LLMs) such as ChatGPT. Throughout 2026, the magazine will continue to examine how AI is already shaping— and, some would argue, redefining— how spas operate, grow and serve their clients. as reported by ISPA Members in the 2025 year-in-review Snapshot Survey. the power of
DID YOU KNOW? AI doesn’ t“ think”— it predicts. Its effectiveness depends entirely on the quality and ethics of the data it’ s trained on.
What do we mean by“ AI,” really? Artificial intelligence is not a single tool or system— it’ s a broad category of technologies designed to learn from data, recognize patterns and assist in decision-making. In most spa environments, AI shows up quietly: in booking software that predicts no-shows; in marketing platforms that personalize offers; in analytics tools that forecast revenue and demand.
The spa industry has continually evolved, and artificial intelligence is its next chapter, not a departure from its values. The question is no longer whether AI will reshape the industry, but how deliberately spa leaders guide that evolution.
PULSE n FEBRUARY 2026 43