Johnny Thorsen, VP Strategy & Partnerships, Spotnana
It has been just about eight weeks since ChatGPT was launched, and
rarely have we seen a new software-based service make such a dramatic entry into global
consumer and work environments.
I am not going to bore you with a long list of brilliant examples
of what ChatGPT can be used for as there already are countless examples of this all over social
media and internet sites. This article is focused on identifying some of the potential areas for
usage of ChatGPT and similar next-gen AI platforms inside our beloved travel industry—and
hopefully with a few unexpected twists and examples which you haven’t already thought about.
The obvious case for AI in travel – For the
past two years we have seen stories about the global shortage of people to work
in the travel industry combined with the hard fact that a large number of
current employees are heading towards retirement and will be leaving the
workplace in the next few years.
The combined effect of these two mega trends is obvious—the travel
industry is running out of people fast, and we need to come with a plan B very
quickly. Even if we manage to convince a new generation of younger employees to
join us, we will lose them the moment they realize how old and outdated current
systems are and how inefficient the overall customer service experience
delivery platform is.
This is where AI comes in. What if we could automate 40 to 50
percent of all the transactions performed by human agents today? I’m thinking
of the most manual and repetitive tasks such as reading
an incoming email and providing a written response or giving
advice to a traveler going somewhere for the first time. The ability to make
this happen now that ChatGPT has arrived is suddenly very real, and this seems
to be a perfect example of the right technology at the right time.
The unexpected opportunity for AI in travel – With the
obvious case out of the way let us sharpen the pen and be more creative. How
about starting to apply AI in the area of travel supplier contract
management?
Before you stop reading, consider the following question: How much
time would you like to spend monitoring your supplier agreements on a
weekly basis to ensure you get the best value from these contracts and
identify any areas of underperformance as early as possible? While your
answer might be a few hours per week, the reality probably is that you simply
don’t have the time to monitor supplier contract performance on a weekly
or even monthly basis, so either you are only doing it once or twice per
year, or you have to resort to using an external paid consultant.
In either case, you are likely losing significant money unless you
pay a small fortune in consulting fees, which end up reducing the overall value
of your deals anyway. Imagine if you could activate an AI bot designed to scan
all the bookings constantly and identify any supplier contracts that appear to
be underperforming—either because the transactions are made with incorrect
prices or because travelers make bookings with the wrong suppliers. An AI bot
could literally provide you with an updated summary with recommended action
every morning while you sip your first latte.
The dynamic travel policy enabled by AI – Until
today, corporate travel managers around the world have followed a best practice
where 80 percent of travel spend (typically the top 10 destinations) is managed
tightly with complex and multi-layered travel policies often involving
pre-trip approval workflows and detailed expense reporting procedures.
Imagine if this was replaced by a “continuous travel policy
engine” powered by AI designed to analyze every single booking against the overall “wisdom of the
crowd” in the form of a global data lake with millions of bookings.
An AI policy engine could immediately compare the latest bookings
and determine if the prices paid and choices made by the traveler fall inside a box of
“acceptable choices” and therefore can be approved for processing, while any booking falling outside
the box will result in a fully automated alternative option being presented back to the traveler
along with information about why the booking was declined.
The role of the corporate travel manager in this model will be to
define the rules for the AI policy engine including the tolerance levels for deviation from the norm.
Rather than having a policy that focuses on class of travel or preferred supplier, the AI
engine could look at whether the chosen option is acceptable compared with the industry wide
average either for similarly sized companies, for companies in a similar industry vertical or
something else.
The virtual travel manager powered by AI – While the
dynamic travel policy opportunity no doubt is intriguing for travel managers,
the final option is the scary one - what if we can deploy a virtual
travel manager designed to not only optimize supplier contracts and
manage travel policy but literally capable of running the entire travel
program?
For years we have talked about how new technology eventually will
eliminate the role of the TMC, but perhaps the real threat comes from
another angle—a virtual travel manager will be capable of performing the
role 24/7 and will most likely deliver better financial results than a human
controlled travel program.
And don’t forget how a virtual travel manager can mine the data
lake constantly and identify the smallest opportunity for a qualified saving (say 100+ USD) in the
form of flying 1 hour earlier or later, staying at an alternative hotel or moving the meeting
somewhere else. No human travel manager is capable of doing this at scale, so the “AI Travel
Manager” could quickly become a new favorite of the CFO.
But wait, I hear you say, what about the importance of the human
touch in a travel program? Well, as nice as it sounds, I don’t think the
average traveler is feeling the human touch on most of their trips. They typically
book and manage the trip themselves and only call or email the corporate travel
manager when there is a major disruption or a very serious duty of care incident.
Having a virtual travel manager capable not only of identifying
major problems in advance, but also taking preventive actions and arranging large volume
re-bookings actually sounds very attractive.
And finally, by having an AI-powered travel manager in place,
corporations will be able to test new technology and services out much more
often and at a lower cost. The only major requirement will be to train the bot
on the new dataset in order to enable logical and sensible decision making.
A Step Too Far Or Moving Too Slow?
I will
leave you with this big glaring question: Just because we now have technology
capable of providing services like the above mentioned, does that mean
we should deploy these solutions in order to improve overall financial
efficiency? Or should we perhaps accept that travel is a human-centric
service that creates incredible value in the form of human contact before,
during, and after the trip and therefore needs to be managed and
delivered by people with all the potential inefficiencies this brings?
Regardless of where you land on this question, it is very likely
we will see AI becoming a fully integrated part of the human agent desktop and
workplace—with particular focus on automating repetitive low value tasks and
providing relevant recommendations for faster decision making to the travelers.
I
guess the answer depends on your mindset, personality and culture. I, for one,
have realized that I prefer some human contact as part of my overall travel
experience. If nothing else, it gives me someone relevant to share my own
travel adventures with—without using technology to do it!