A newly published report from Amadeus examines how artificial intelligence is shifting corporate travel leaders’ focus from operations to strategy. Orchestrating Success is a 17-page report.
The report is aimed at two audiences. One is corporate travel managers and finance teams seeking to harness AI to reduce repetitive tasks, drive efficiencies and focus on higher-value strategic priorities. The other is business travellers.
“Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the defining topic of our time, transforming the future of corporate travel,” begins the report’s foreword, by Mark Cullen, Chief Commercial Officer at Amadeus Cytric.
Acting as an orchestration layer, AI is changing corporate travel, which has traditionally been run on a stack of separate systems.
Its use is freeing people from manual, repetitive and tactical work. This means that roles are becoming more strategic.
Orchestrating Success acknowledges that today’s business travellers are demanding more from organisations and service providers, increasingly expecting real-time, integrated data as standard.
The report highlights current and emerging AI use cases, exploring how new opportunities can help users including travellers, corporate travel managers and finance teams.
It features interviews with Amadeus executives and insights from travel management companies.
Key findings of the report include that AI is a factor in resetting expectations relating to corporate travel experience. Business travellers now expect a conversational, seamless experience throughout trips, not only at the point of search.
Gemma King, Chair of the Board of Directors at the Institute of Travel Managers, is quoted as saying: “AI allows travel managers to become the conductor rather than the administrator. It removes much of the tactical burden, giving us the time and insight to make strategic decisions that maximise value, manage risk and support wider business objectives.”
Orchestrating Success looks at what has been delivered and what is coming.
Some AI capabilities are already live, including conversational searches and receipt capture. Other capabilities are emerging, such as near-zero-touch trips.
Strong governance is cited as vital for the future deployment of AI solutions. The report emphasizes that they must be “safe, secure and policy compliant”.
It suggests that the organisations that move first will be the ones that can use AI solutions to turn travel managers into strategic leaders.
The full, four-part report is available to read online.
