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Corporate travel AI carries a mighty promise. Buyers, however, want proof. They need tools that work, not one more shiny screen with a clever name.

New research from Business Travel Show America says a gap is opening between AI plans and daily use. It surveyed more than 200 corporate travel decision-makers in North and South America. Of those buyers, 21 per cent named slow AI integration as a key tech frustration.

Yet buyers are not turning their backs on it. Quite the opposite. AI is now the factor most likely to shape business travel in the next 15 months. 22 per cent chose it, up from 19 per cent in the prior survey.

The message is not anti-AI. It is anti-faff. Buyers want systems that save time, join the dots and give sound answers. They would also like the booking tool and expense platform to speak to each other before a traveller reaches the airport desk.

AI overtakes inflation as the leading influence

Global economic pressure and inflation lost the top spot. This factor fell from 26 per cent in 2025 to 16 per cent in 2026. Advances in technology and data rose from 15 to 17 per cent. Dynamic pricing and rate talks doubled from 8% to 16%.

Factors expected to affect business travel	2026	2025
AI	22%	19%
Advances in technology and data	17%	15%
Global economic pressures and inflation	16%	26%
Dynamic pricing and rate negotiations	16%	8%
Geopolitical tensions and conflict	11%	13%

The figures deserve attention, but they should not be stretched too far. The published release says more than 200 buyers took part across the Americas. It does not provide fieldwork dates, the sampling method, or a margin of error. The results offer a useful view of buyer sentiment. They are not a census of the whole corporate travel market.

Even with that caution, the trend is clear. Economic pressure has not vanished. It now shares the table with a more pressing concern. Buyers have plenty of technology, but too much of it is slow to set up, costly to change and poor at talking to other systems.

Customisation is still a stubborn roadblock

Buyers could select up to three tech frustrations. Slow updates and customisation led the list at 44 per cent. A lack of custom options followed at 41 per cent. The extra cost of such work troubled 37 per cent.

Poor links between tools drew 31 per cent, while 26 per cent cited weak access to data. So, the issue is not whether a platform can boast an AI feature. Buyers need to know if it works across booking, travel, expense, payment, reports and duty-of-care systems.

Tenise McCoy, Global Travel & Security Manager at Paysafe, put the demand in plain terms: “AI will absolutely be a major force in the future of business travel, but we still need to see more practical applications.”

McCoy said buyers were not just seeking more tools. They want their current systems to be more flexible, share data, improve reports and ease office work. That is a far more useful brief than sprinkling AI dust over an old platform and hoping nobody looks beneath the bonnet.

That is the heart of the matter. Buyers do not need AI to write a lyrical ode to seat 22B. They need it to spot waste, ease approvals, support policy, flag disruption and help travellers. It must do all that without adding another office chore.

Tech satisfaction stays firmly in the middle

The wider verdict on current tech was average. Only 7 per cent gave their tech stack five out of five. Almost half, or 49 per cent, gave it three out of five. Just under 14 per cent scored it at one or two.

Asked to name one desired change, buyers wanted more choice, better reports and stronger online booking tools. They also sought easier admin and smoother links between travel, expense and payment platforms. Several wanted to test AI on a small scale before a wider launch.

That wish to test first is sound. In managed travel, a slick demo is not the same as a sound launch. A poor restaurant tip may be annoying. A bad policy decision, risk alert or payment process can be costly and serious.

Katherine Vaillancourt, Director, Indirect Procurement at Samuel, Son & Co., Limited, struck the right balance: “To maintain a competitive advantage, travel programs must integrate AI quickly without sacrificing accuracy.”

She added that sound, reliable data will separate firms that merely deploy AI from those that gain real value from it.

Her warning separates fashion from fact. AI is only as sound as the data, controls and human checks beneath it. If that data is split or stale, the machine may answer faster. It will simply reach the wrong stop with great speed.

New York puts corporate travel AI to the test

These issues will move from the survey sheet to the show floor when Business Travel Show America returns to New York. It will run at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre on 14–15 October 2026.

The live agenda lists “Give travellers their time back: Solving real problems with AI-native, end-to-end solutions” at 12:40 pm on 14 October. A buyer-only talk on technology and distribution follows at 3 pm.

On 15 October at 1:40 pm, a panel will look at the changing role of online booking tools. It will cover chat-based search, large language models and new sources of travel content.

The Innovation Faceoff will showcase working products. Its confirmed line-up includes PredictX, Groupize, Cerebri AI and Travel Code. Other firms will tackle managed travel, meetings, expenses and booking.

Corporate travel and meetings buyers can apply for free entry and access to the education sessions. All buyer registrations are subject to approval. Suppliers must buy a visitor pass.

The industry has moved past asking whether AI will matter. It must now ask if AI is linked, accurate, flexible and worth the money. Buyers are ready for smart travel technology. They simply expect it to earn the adjective.