What’s the best business travel approval process for your company?
Corporate travel is entering a new phase of innovation, driven by AI, automation and deeper platform integration. As organisations look to 2026, these advancements will transform how teams use AI to forecast travel demand, plan and book trips, manage risks and deliver proactive support.
CTM’s technology leaders, Joel Bailey, Global Chief Technology Officer, and Eric Ediger, Global Head of Automation & Machine Learning, explore the trends set to redefine business travel. Watch the discussion below.
How will travel tools integrate more seamlessly into everyday workflows?
Travel booking and management will increasingly happen inside platforms employees already use daily, such as Microsoft Teams and Outlook. This integration removes friction by eliminating system switching and aligning travel directly with calendars, meetings and collaboration workflows.
How is AI evolving to deliver greater personalisation, efficiency and value?
Travel technology is shifting toward behaviour-driven personalisation. Instead of browsing extensive options, travellers will receive a smaller set of relevant choices shaped by policy, colleague patterns, past behaviour and preferred airlines or hotels.
This creates faster, more intuitive bookings and value returned to the business through savings and productivity.
What’s next for AI automation within CTM’s ecosystem?
CTM’s 2026 focus is predictive intervention. Building AI that anticipates and addresses problems before travellers know they exist. This includes scenarios such as:
- flagging visa requirements 60 days out
- forecasting flight disruptions
- proactively securing alternate options
CTM is piloting zero-touch booking for routine trips where AI manages everything from the initial request to expense reconciliation. The goal is to free the travel managers’ time to spend on strategy and not transactions.
What’s exciting about the future of travel technology beyond 2026?
Travel is shifting from reactive to proactive. In the near future, travellers may accept a meeting invite and receive flight and hotel recommendations instantly inside Microsoft Teams, aligned with policy, sustainability goals and preferred options.
This is where AI and integration converge to deliver meaningful value: anticipating the traveller’s needs, reducing decision fatigue and making every step of the journey faster, smarter and more intuitive.
Why is transparency essential for building trust in AI-powered travel?
AI adoption hinges on trust. CTM’s “transparency by design” framework supports this through clear audit trails, AI passports that outline model training and testing, reversible automation and federated learning to protect data. Trust provides the foundation for simpler, more reliable travel experiences.
How is CTM building its next-generation global platform?
CTM is developing a unified global platform that brings together global capabilities through centres of excellence. This platform will enable core services such as Sleep Space, traveller profiles and HR integration to be delivered consistently worldwide, strengthening user experience and innovation speed.
What challenge will AI have the greatest impact on?
The biggest impact won’t be any single feature. It will be to establish the ‘trust flywheel’. The ‘trust flywheel’ will show travellers:
- we’ve searched comprehensively
- applied policy intelligently
- provide recommendations that meet traveller requirements and preferences
Travellers want to know that every fare source has been searched, and every policy has been applied. As trust grows with every successful trip, the need to double-check external sites reduces, and booking moves naturally back into approved channels.
How can travel managers prepare their travel programs for AI?
Travel managers can focus on three areas:
- Data readiness: ensure clean, structured inputs so AI can optimise outcomes.
- Traveller adoption: pilot new features to build confidence and reduce friction.
- C-suite storytelling: communicate AI’s value clearly through outcomes such as reduced fees, improved compliance and fewer disruptions.
To get the most from AI-enabled travel forecasting and automation, travel managers will need to focus on organisational readiness and traveller trust, not just activating new tools.
