IBM working with Travelport, a travel commerce platform, have created IBM travel manager an AI platform that oversees corporate travel expenses.
The platform uses Watson IBM’s AI offering. IBM Travel Manager intelligently tracks, analyses, predicts and manages all travel costs in one location.
Fiona Shanley, Travelport’s Chief Marketing Officer commented in the release that: “IBM Travel Manager, with Travelport’s data, is unlike any traditional travel spend reporting solution currently available today from travel management companies, suppliers, corporate booking tools or other third parties.”
“While other solutions only provide a fragmented historical picture, IBM Travel Manager combines and normalizes data from all key sources, allowing for more robust insights and benchmarking than other reporting solutions.”
Siloed Data Sets
The Travel manager taps into user data that is stored in siloed locations giving a unified access to these data sets. This is then combined with Travelport’s global distribution system and is then made into real-time predictive analytics which suggest what changes employees can make to help reduce travel expenses.
IBM found that: “Currently for businesses to get a full picture of travel patterns, a travel manager might have to sift through data silos from travel agencies, cards, expense systems and suppliers for end-to-end visibility of spend and compliance across all travel subcategories but this is usually undertaken in a historical view rather than in real time.”
Elizabeth Pollock, IBM Industry Client Leader for Travel & Transportation: “IBM and Travelport are using the power of AI to unlock previously unavailable insights from multiple internal and external data sources.”
“Travel managers can use this information to proactively drive improved supplier negotiations via real time and holistic data, enable budget holders to understand and change spending patterns, and improve travel policy compliance monitoring,” she noted.
Travelport is a UK based technology company that runs a travel commerce platform distribution, payment and technological solutions for the travel industry.
