Edited by Chris Davis
Managing Editor, Business Travel News

Artificial intelligence has shifted from novelty to established tech. It's already changed managed travel processes, with the promise of further, maybe revolutionary, change to come. BTN surveyed travel buyers about the ways they are using the technology today, where they see the most value in it, and whether the AI use cases they've explored justify the investment. BTN supplemented the survey with buyer, supplier and tech-expert interviews to provide context for managed travel’s AI maturity. Read BTN's report below.

Travel program AI implementations vary significantly, as buyers take different paths on their technological journeys. The data also shows a gap between where AI is most widely used and where it is most effective. More than half of the travel managers whose organizations have deployed AI in travel have set up chatbots or virtual agents to support travelers. Those same users rated the effectiveness of those tools on average of 3.52 out of 5—not bad, but below the score of nearly every other tool in the survey (full chart below stories).

BTN's survey of travel managers on their organizations' deployment of AI in their travel programs showed that approaches thus far have varied significantly, as buyers take different paths on their technological journey based on their goals, corporate culture and comfort level, among other factors. Here are three accounts of AI implementation in corporate travel programs, each with a different approach but each with demonstrable success, along with the buyers' plans for the next steps.

Business Travel News fielded the 2026 AI in Travel Management survey from January 27-March 3, 2026 on the Credspark platform. BTN via email and through its newsletters solicited responses from BTN and BTN Europe readers as well as from members of BTN's Communities travel professional networks. A total of 293 qualified respondents answered the survey. Suppliers and consultants were disqualified. BTN editors used the Credspark platform to collect and analyze results. In the charts in this report, not all figures add up to 100 due to rounding. BTN editors conducted interviews with travel managers and suppliers to accompany the survey.

Of the respondents, 51 percent were employed by organizations based in the United States, with 29 percent and 18 percent employed by organizations in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, respectively.

Half of respondents were from organizations with 2025 travel and entertainment spend of less than $25 million. About 21 percent were from organizations that spent more than $100 million on travel last year.