Corporate travel buyers say AI in corporate travel is failing to live up to its billing, with one in five (21%) naming slow AI integration as a major technology frustration in new research published ahead of Business Travel Show America.
The survey of more than 200 corporate travel decision makers across North and South America, released before the event at the Javits Center in New York on 14 and 15 October 2026, reveals a widening gap between AI ambition and real world application. UK travel managers should take note, because the booking, expense and payment platforms in question are largely the same ones running SME travel programmes on this side of the Atlantic.
Despite the frustration, buyers still expect AI to have the greatest influence on corporate travel over the next 15 months, overtaking the global economic pressures and inflation that dominated last year’s survey. Advances in technology and data, dynamic pricing and geopolitical tensions were also named as key factors shaping the sector. The mood echoes earlier research showing that buyer trust in AI remains a hurdle even as adoption accelerates, and comes as separate figures suggest half of American corporate travel budgets are set to rise in 2027.
Customisation is the biggest pain point
Buyers’ top technology challenges centre on customisation. Some 44% said updates and customisation take too long, while 41% pointed to a lack of customisation options and 37% objected to paying extra for them. Poor integration between tools frustrated 31% of respondents, and 26% said they had insufficient access to data.
Tenise McCoy of Paysafe said the results show buyers “aren’t just looking for more technology or more tools”. What they want, she noted, are systems that communicate properly with one another, simplify administration and support better decision making.
Satisfaction with existing platforms remains lukewarm. Only 7% of respondents rated their current technology stack a perfect five out of five, while nearly half (49%) gave it a middling three. Just under 14% scored their systems at one or two, a signal of widespread dissatisfaction with the tools buyers rely on every day.
AI in corporate travel must be fast and accurate
Asked what single change they most wanted, buyers repeatedly called for greater flexibility, stronger reporting, better online booking tools, easier administration and closer integration across travel, expense and payment systems. Many also said they would prefer to pilot AI tools before full deployment, an emphasis on practical rather than theoretical innovation.
Katherine Vaillancourt of Samuel Son and Co said travel programmes must integrate AI quickly “without sacrificing accuracy”, adding that reliable data will be the true differentiator between simply deploying AI and generating measurable value.
Her point matches the conclusion of a recent Amadeus report on scaling AI in corporate travel, which identified trust, security and governance as the critical enablers for moving beyond pilots.
What UK travel buyers should do now
For UK businesses the practical lesson is to treat AI claims from suppliers with the same scrutiny American buyers are now applying. Before renewing a booking tool or expense platform, ask how long customisation requests actually take, whether they carry extra charges and how well the system shares data with the rest of the travel, expense and payment stack. Where a vendor offers an AI feature, request a limited pilot with clear success measures before committing the whole programme to it.
Business Travel Show America draws more than 500 travel and procurement managers to New York each year, representing combined travel and expense budgets of over $50 billion. Registration details are on the event’s official website.
