Corporate Travel Faces Shift Toward Purpose, AI, and Sustainability

The corporate travel industry is undergoing major changes, driven by evolving work models, emerging technologies, and growing sustainability demands. At Phocuswright Europe 2025, a panel of industry leaders explored how these dynamics are reshaping a sector valued at $1.4 billion in 2024.

Jenny Sabineu, senior manager of travel and sustainability at Salesforce, said hybrid work is redefining how and why employees travel. She noted that business trips have become more intentional, with workers carefully considering the purpose, timing, and duration of travel. “It’s now more purpose-driven,” she said, as companies aim to balance productivity and cost-efficiency with employee well-being.

Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel at SAP Concur, added that face-to-face interaction remains vital in a digital-first world. While remote meetings can sustain existing relationships for a while, Sultan emphasized the irreplaceable value of in-person encounters for building new business connections. “Business travelers need to get out, and they want to get out,” he said, pointing to the desire for authentic human engagement despite technological advances.

Agentic artificial intelligence also emerged as a major talking point. Jean-Christophe Taunay-Bucalo, president and COO of TravelPerk, said travelers will soon shift from filter-based search to conversational prompts as AI takes center stage. He described a dual-layer AI approach—one for front-end customer interaction and another for backend process optimization—to boost speed and efficiency across travel programs.

Panelists agreed that companies must prepare for a transition period where some users adopt AI quickly while others prefer familiar tools. Meanwhile, sustainability continues to play a central role in corporate travel decisions. As companies weigh environmental impact alongside cost and convenience, technology will be essential in enabling smarter, greener travel strategies.

Tags: phocuswire, SyndicEx250727B

Corporate Travel Faces Shift Toward Purpose, AI, and Sustainability

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