Paint Job — The Test That Tells an AI-Native Build From One That Just Got a Coat

Building AI-Native Products: how to tell a system designed around AI from one with AI added on

Sahil Nijhawan builds AI-native platforms and can tell within minutes when a business has only been decorated with one. As CEO Oceania at Nexus DMC, he built HostOS, an operating system for short-term rental hosts, and TravelTwin, an AI travel platform, from a blank page rather than adding a chatbot to something that already worked. His test is simple and uncomfortable: pull the AI out and see whether the workflow still stands. Most businesses pass that test, which is exactly the problem, because the ones that collapse are the ones where AI is doing real work instead of sitting on top. He rebuilt after COVID took a $22 million travel business to zero, so he is blunt about the cost of retrofitting when a rebuild was the honest answer. Listeners get the questions to put to their own stack, and a straight call on when another integration is money wasted.

About Sahil Nijhawan

Sahil Nijhawan, podcast guest

CEO and Director Oceania of Nexus DMC, Entrepreneur and Startup Investor

20+ years Travel industry experience$22M Annual sales built before joining Nexus DMC30+ Real estate projects sold in 12 monthsFirst employee Joined a future leading Australian private-fleet company

Sahil Nijhawan is a Melbourne-based entrepreneur and operator-investor building across travel, technology, real estate, construction, and consumer brands. Over more than two decades, he has developed a practical view of how businesses grow: through strong operators, trusted relationships, community access, and the ability to adapt when the market changes.

His career began in travel with Ebookers and Expedia, before moving into private aviation as the first employee of what became one of Australia’s largest private fleet companies. From there, Sahil built businesses across retail travel, inbound tourism, and destination management, working in the middle of the travel ecosystem where agents, suppliers, tourism boards, sporting clubs, membership groups, and global travellers all connect.

Before joining Nexus DMC as Director and CEO Oceania, Sahil had built a portfolio of retail travel stores and an inbound tourism business generating around $22 million in annual sales. Then COVID hit, and the businesses went to zero. He shut things down and took work wherever he could find it, including real estate, supermarket shifts, and teaching RSA certification courses in schools. Real estate became the bridge back: he sold more than 30 projects in 12 months, rebuilt momentum, and later used that experience to invest in a construction company.

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