The competition in on—and on stage—at the Business Travel
Show Asia-Pacific, April 14 and 15 at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Five
finalists have made it through to the pitching round, where they will face a panel
of judges and, new this year, a voting audience to vie for the panel’s
Innovator of the Year awards or the attendees’ People’s Choice award.
With the managed travel industry—like most other industries—transfixed
on artificial intelligence strategies and applications, there is no doubt that
each of the finalists will present technology solutions powered in some way by
AI. Though each competitor has its own angle on which travel inefficiencies and
challenges they can address. Meetings, core travel management, traveler experience
and sustainability are all represented.
Judges for the 2026 technology-forward faceoff include last
year’s Innovator of the Year winner Trip.Biz product director Terence Eng,
Accenture global travel director Priyanka Jakhmola, MSD International JCAP operations,
travel, meetings, card and fleet Adeline Kang and BTN Group VP of content
Elizabeth West. Pitching to these judges are the following companies:
China Smart Mice Group—Founded in 2015 and
headquartered in Beijing, this firm is an integrated MICE service provider,
delivering more than 600,000 meetings and events annually for multinational
clients. Its “Smart MICE” platform combines technology and service innovation
through a proprietary digital platform, a vetted sustainable supplier ecosystem
and a nationwide executor network of more than 30,000 professionals. AI-driven
analytics provide actionable insights, improved efficiency, compliance, cost
control and sustainability. China Smart Mice Group also helps set industry environment,
social and governance compliance standards
FCM—FCM is one of the world’s largest business travel
management companies, providing 24/7 support across nearly 100 countries. As
the flagship corporate division of ASX‑listed Flight Centre Travel Group, it
offers access to an extensive global network of air, hotel and ground transport
options. Trusted by thousands of multinational organizations, including Fortune
and FTSE 100 companies, FCM combines intuitive technology and expert teams to
deliver agile, high‑value corporate travel programs that simplify travel
management and maximize return on investment.
Nowadays—Nowadays is an AI-powered meetings and
events platform that automates venue sourcing, negotiations and event
management for corporate teams. Built by MIT and Ivy League engineers, the
platform uses a proprietary database of more than 400,000 global venues.
Clients submit event needs in natural language, and the AI structures RFPs,
contacts venues by email and phone, negotiates in local languages and delivers
proposals. The company claims to save clients more than 135 hours per meeting.
Centralized reporting brings unmanaged meetings spend under control, driving 20
to 30 percent savings. Nowadays won Business Travel Show Americas Innovation
Faceoff in October 2025.
Thrust Carbon—Thrust Carbon helps organizations
reduce the cost and emissions of business travel by changing traveler behavior.
The company combines market-leading emissions data with real-time decision
support tools and specialist advisory services to help enterprises understand
their travel impact and influence choices at key decision points. Thrust Carbon
supports more than $100b in travel spend and has been recognized through
multiple AlTA and BTN industry awards.
TruTrip—TruTrip since 2019 has operated as a digital
travel management company designed for complex, real‑world organizations. Built
to address leakage, waste and process friction, TruTrip functions as a Travel
OS that embeds intelligence directly into booking and approval workflows. Its
4.0 architecture actively guides traveler decisions in real time while managing
operational complexity, including multi‑entity structures, local payments, tax
compliance and duty of care. The platform integrates policy, commercial logic
and infrastructure to deliver clarity, control and intelligent travel spending.
Artificial Intelligence Ascends on BTS APAC Conference
Agenda
The APAC Innovation Faceoff is just one angle for artificial
intelligence baked into the conference agenda. Directly following it on day one,
participants can attend AI in Action: How corporate travel programs and their
supplier partners are using AI today.’ The session will examine current
applications of AI across the corporate travel ecosystem. Also on day one,
conversational attendee-led discussions will happen in the BTN Distribution
& Technology Community, guaranteed to touch on AI topics in this relaxed
and open format. On day two, catch up with where travel buyers across the
industry stand with their own travel program AI implementations. Business Travel
News VP of content Elizabeth West will present a preview of data from the
latest BTN Intelligence research and report—AI in Managed Travel—scheduled to
publish on April 20. APAC attendees will be the first to see the data and benchmark
their own AI progress.
Winners of the Business Travel Show APAC Innovation Faceoff will be announced April 15 at the end of the show.