From Science Fiction to Business Function: How AI Is Changing Business Travel

AI is no longer just a smart calculator or forecast engine. It's firmly entering the world of the absurd, the delusional, and yes, the amusing. We have autonomous vehicles, snarky chatbots, image generators hallucinating dragons in hotel lobbies.

But as we ponder sci-fi fantasies, some of those previously visionary ideas are being cooked into the future of AI-powered travel management.  

The Most Ridiculous (But Amusing!) Things We Want AI to Do

• AI that Reads Your Mind Before You Think: Imagine, no ‘Hey AI,’ no commands, just waves of mental will like ‘Time to book a business trip to Singapore', and it's done.
• AI-powered Doraemon Gadget of the Future: What if we get a traffic shortcut portal. A teleportation machine or ‘Anywhere Door’ when meetings are running late or flights are grounded.
• AI Personal Life Coach that Fixes All Your Issues: From courageously choosing your life- partner to softly encouraging you to meditate, this AI would be your philosopher, therapist, career counselor, chef, and more.
• AI that Keeps Your Secrets Better Than Your Best Friend: An AI that promises total privacy, with no leaks and ironclad trust.
• Fully Navigable Virtual Worlds, Your Life as a Simulation: Imagine zero-gravity boardrooms, team lunches on Mars, and working in pajamas from a space station with Earth rising on the horizon.

These remain fantasies. But having them helps us see what industry leaders should aspire to - what’s just around the bend.

The Bridge: What's Already Occurring That Was Once Science Fiction

Here are some actual cases demonstrating AI is already encroaching upon what was once sci-fi terrain:

• Voice assistants arguing back: AI is now capable of acting as pushback or better suggestion assistants e.g., ‘Do you really want another 6 AM flight?’ This is not necessarily flawless, but firms are testing more context-based assistants.
• AI-Generated Art Just as Real: Art and visuals, even logos created by AI are being critiqued by humans - frequently argued whether made by human or machine. From being deployed in advertising materials to immersive environments - AI is everywhere.  
• Predictive Travel & Expense Tools: AI tools can now forecast where you will travel, when costs are high, auto-suggest booking windows, and more.  

Industry Trends, Reports & Examples  

A study by BusinessWire reported that more than 90% of business travel managers are implementing AI or generative AI in some capacity. Top drivers in this are cost savings (71%), traveler experience improvement (68%), data analysis improvement (63%). While the top use cases include booking optimization, cost savings through pricing, and chatbot-enabled traveler support.  

Moreover, the ‘AI in Tourism’ global market is expected to increase from USD 2.95 billion in 2024 to approximately USD 13.38 billion by 2030, a CAGR of 28.7%.  

A larger ‘AI in Travel’ market report by Market.Us estimates growth to USD 2,903.7 billion by 2033, a CAGR of 36.25%. This covers booking, pricing, personalization, operations etc.  

Amex GBT’s business traveler surveys reflect a mood of optimism: for instance, 95% of frequent business travelers are convinced that AI will improve their business travels. Most common benefits mentioned: convenience (44%), cost savings (43%), streamlined expense reporting (41%).

On hotel and lodging business side, 63% of respondents are using AI to improve revenue management including prices, yield, inventory, and more, as per EY's survey.

Enter Business Travel - Where AI Dreams Become Surprisingly Practical

• AI-Driven Risk Analysis: Screens news, geopolitical indicators, and health warnings to alert travelers before departure and offer alternative plans - minimizing liability and preventing expensive setbacks.
• Intelligent Itinerary & Booking Automation: Forecasts fares, suggests optimal booking windows, and reschedules flights or hotels automatically when disruptions take place - preserving travel budgets and maintaining policy adherence.
• Expense & Reconciliation Automation: Classifies expenses, identifies policy infractions, and reconciles receipts against itineraries - reducing labor and accelerating close-outs.
• Personalized Traveler Experience: Personalizes hotel selection, route preferences, and local information - enhancing loyalty and minimizing traveler fatigue.
• Real-Time Disruption Management: Offers immediate substitute plans and local tips when flights are disrupted or meeting points are altered, reducing downtime and optimizing efficiency.  

Google Cloud collaborated with Air France-KLM to roll out generative AI and other technologies to examine huge amounts of data such as, travelling habits and passenger preferences to enhance predictive maintenance, optimize flight operations and airport operations. The outcome, what took hours of data analysis previously now takes just minutes. (Reuters)

Future Possibilities We are Secretly Hoping For

These aren’t just daydreams as many are foreshadowed by current R&D, investment flows, and emerging tools.

• ‘Life Coach AI’ for Corporate Travel: AI that monitors your itinerary, your workload, your wellness, sends nudges such as ‘stop working, stretch, explore local culture and food, and more. Already tools that monitor fatigue, schedule meals and wellness in travel is being integrated.
• Empathy / Mood Detection Engines: As generative AI and multimodal models evolve, detection of traveler frustration (e.g. delays, queues) and automatic mitigation or response may be feasible.
• Teleportation-Lite Solutions: Perhaps not portals, but Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality for conferences, distant site tours, immersive hotel/venue previews can eliminate the necessity for some business travel trips entirely.
• Complete Confidentiality: Travel and expense platforms use secure data pipelines, advanced encryption, and decentralized learning to keep information private. With growing concerns about data privacy, companies are investing heavily in these protections.

Trends & Risks Leaders Should Monitor

To stay ahead, business leaders must balance caution with opportunity.

• Data Privacy & Trust: Consumers and businesses insist on robust assurances. One incident or abuse of travel data can harm the entire reputation.
• Integration Complexity: Creating AI-driven travel management typically involves piecing together numerous data sources - legacy infrastructure, numerous suppliers (airlines, hotels, ground transportation), different standards.
• Bias & Fairness: Personalization by AI can create unfair pricing, segmentation problems, and discriminations that require regulation.
• Regulation & Compliance: Border travel means regulatory risk such as visa regulations, health compliance, cross-border data flows which need to come into line with AI platforms.
• User Acceptance: Even regular business travelers want some human override or control. Excessive automation without transparency can be counterproductive.

From Fantasies to Practical Business Travel Solutions

AI for business travel isn't simply penny-pinching; it's redefining what business travel management can be.  

If teleportation isn't yet available, you can still:

• Reduce travel expenses dramatically with improved forecasting and automation
• Enhance traveler satisfaction, retention, and reputation by providing seamless, proactive travel support
• Enhance safety, risk management, and compliance  

Now is the time to shift from ‘experiencing’ AI in business travel to owning it. Investigate platforms that provide AI-driven travel management, expense automation, risk assessment, and traveler experience tools. Evaluate gaps in your existing systems - is your data AI usable? Is your infrastructure prepared?

Connect with our subject matter experts to learn more.