American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI) initiative. The program will increase its focus on existing AI projects, drive purposeful innovation and greater efficiencies for clients and the corporate travel management ecosystem.
The immediate focus of the AI initiative will be adopting next-generation AI technologies and enhanced governance across four key areas of the organization: traveler care; finance; engineering; and enabling a modern workplace. The team will be conducting several assessments and partnering with legal, privacy, compliance, procurement and cybersecurity to determine the right technology solutions and advise on the new risks introduced by AI.
Michael Esquibel, SVP technology strategy and engineering, has been tasked with driving efficiency, productivity and progress through AI and has assembled a team:
- Marilyn Markham has been appointed VP, engineering & AI strategy, and will lead the team in fostering the adoption of AI capabilities across the organization in a secure, compliant and scalable manner
- Erica Trevino has been named VP, operations system strategy & optimization, focused on using AI for greater efficiencies on the frontlines for global travel counselors
- Jake Hautly has been announced as VP, finance systems strategy & optimization, dedicated to modernizing finance processes and creating greater confidence in financial forecasting
- Neil Kirk, VP of technology services, will be specially engaged in initiatives for staff productivity in view of updating enterprise tools with AI components
Amex GBT actively uses proprietary AI across its portfolio of services, including proactive disruption management and personalized recommendations. In 2020, Amex GBT acquired AI start-up, 30SecondsToFly, which has been instrumental in developing the natural language processing in Amex GBT’s chat and email channels. Amex GBT also acquired Egencia from Expedia Group in 2021, which brought additional AI and data science expertise, complementary technology, and enterprise capabilities.
For more information, visit www.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com.
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