ANALYSIS – Embrace the future: How to start using AI in your corporate travel programme

Whether at work or at home, people are integrating artificial intelligence into more and more aspects of their lives – and corporate travel is no exception. Described by tech guru Salime Nassur, founder and CEO of the consutancy maars and a former marketing director of Google Cloud, as “the most important development since electricity”, travel managers are investigating how AI can help them look after travellers and control costs faster and smarter than ever before.

AI is becoming increasingly accessible in the workplace as it is embedded into familiar enterprise tools such as Microsoft Office, Salesforce and Slack. Travel service providers are also offering new or adapted products that incorporate AI. For example booking tools are transitioning from travellers clicking through drop-down menus to making trip requests by either writing or speaking in natural language (“I want to fly to Zurich next Tuesday at 1030”).

Travel managers are already adopting AI for standard tasks like document translation. Now they are going even further: using AI to develop their own tools for use by themselves or their travellers.

Here are five AI-based applications that are emerging in managed travel programmes.

FAQ chatbot assistants

The most common application of AI by travel managers so far has been to build chatbots to handle routine policy and process queries from travellers. Advanced versions even include realistic-looking animated avatars who speak the answer to the person asking the question.

Travel managers who have introduced chatbots say they speed up response times and free them from handling simple, repetitive information requests so they can focus on strategic work and complex traveller challenges instead.

Data analysis

Travel managers can now interrogate data sets from their travel management company and other sources simply by typing in questions using natural language (for example “What are the top ten routes we fly from Dubai?”).

It is also possible to train the data set to look for patterns. One example might be identifying preferred hotels with a low share of bookings in the city where they are located. An alert of this kind would warrant further investigation to understand why those hotels are attracting fewer reservations than expected and to take remedial action, such as sourcing an alternative preferred property.

Vetting expense claims

AI is becoming very useful for checking expense claims by travellers. It often proves to be smarter than humans at detecting anomalies, such as expense receipts for locations nowhere near where the traveller is supposed to be staying. It also identifies patterns, like claims for dining expenses that are consistently just below the threshold for a dinner allowance.

AI can help travellers too with preparing their expense claims, for example by pointing out if they need to add receipts or tax information. However, travel managers need to be aware because travellers are also beginning to use AI to create fake receipts.

Disruption management

AI can help travellers whose journeys are disrupted. The support starts pre-trip, with AI predicting reservation likely to be delayed or cancelled by factors such as poor weather or airport congestion. These trips can be monitored more closely so that assistance is ready if any problems do arise. There is also potential for automatic identification and rebooking of trips which encounter disruption, although automated rebooking is not yet generally considered fully reliable.

RFP support

Travel managers can deploy AI for support with request for proposal processes, including creating tender documents and evaluating pricing and contract terms.