Episode 4: How Marcell Bradea Uses AI Agents to Scale a Tourism Marketplace

Episode Overview Marcell Bradea, CEO and Head of Product at HAP, joins Ziv Raviv to discuss how AI agents and vibe coding are reshaping the future of travel discovery and tourism marketplaces. HAP is building a spatial discovery platform that helps travelers discover, plan, and book experiences through a map-first interface designed specifically for tourism. Marcell shares how the company evolved from early product-market fit in Europe to global expansion into destinations such as Greece, Croatia, and Japan. The conversation explores the challenges of scaling a consumer startup, the realities of fundraising, and how AI agents are becoming deeply integrated into product development, operations, and growth workflows. Marcell also explains why traditional travel discovery tools fall short and how HAP approaches trust, discovery, and trip planning differently. What You Will Learn How HAP uses AI and spatial discovery to improve trip planning Why Marcell believes AI agents are changing startup operations The difference between a travel platform and a tourism marketplace How vibe coding and agentic workflows accelerate product development Why trust and reliability matter in travel discovery The challenges of scaling a global consumer startup About the Guest Marcell Bradea is the CEO and Head of Product at HAP, an AI-powered tourism marketplace focused on helping travelers discover, plan, and book experiences more naturally. With a background in product engineering and travel commerce, he is building a map-driven platform designed to simplify travel discovery and trip planning at a global scale. Connect with Marcell: LinkedIn Learn more about his company: WebsiteHapp Travel on the App Store