This isn't the first time Bailey has been recognized for his
outsized influence in managed travel. He's built technology, piloted with
startups and collaborated with traditional suppliers to drive innovation
through corporate travel technology stacks. This time, however, he may have
crossed beyond influencer status to provocateur, galvanizing the voice of the
travel buyer as the industry enters a time of transformation.
While he does not take personal credit for all the ideas and
questions expressed in 2018's Corporate Travel Innovation Manifesto, which
landed on LinkedIn (naturally) in April, he organized the group behind its
publication and has functioned as both its most active distributor and
defender. He has proceeded to develop with likeminded buyers collaborations
that approach a handful of the concepts defined in the document.
Those concepts include traveler-controlled profiles and the
potential for blockchain-based travel distribution and payment, which could
take certain fees out of the travel management equation and redistribute value.
It's a change that Bailey said might look "dangerous" to traditional
suppliers but one that buyers and corporate travel startup technologies were
eager to embrace. The manifesto also took on potential conflicts of interest
baked into current travel management models—and urged buyers to dig deeper on
these conversations with their suppliers.
"Transparency is something that we talk about with all
our suppliers," Bailey told BTN in conversation about the manifesto this
summer. "Any sort of bias or preferencing—away from saying, 'We want the
best value for what the traveler wants based on the corporate travel program,'
or anything that pushes away from that—makes me suspicious." He added that
those conversations had increased in the months since publication of the
manifesto. "There are lots of conversations about transparency and understanding
intent," he said.
In terms of steps forward, Bailey and his
Microsoft Travel team have spoken publicly about implementing a "mock-chain"
to model new processes and commercial terms against traditional paradigms.
Bailey also has talked about collaborations underway with EY's Karen Hutchings,
another of BTN's 2018 Most Influential. Per usual, Bailey is not looking out
just for his own program. "I don't want to build one-off solutions for
Microsoft, but in reality, we sometimes need to do some proof of concepts and
work with startups to push along new alternatives for the industry," he
told BTN. "Eventually, the industry has to respond to these changes, as
well. We want to help get people in front of that."