- AI could manage $700 billion in corporate travel.
- Only 36 percent call AI controls comprehensive.
- 69 percent of hotels plan AI-assisted sourcing.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD manage or authorize 37 percent of global corporate travel spending, or $700 billion, by 2028, according to research by virtual payment technology provider Conferma. The shift could change how hotels compete for corporate business, from sourcing and pricing to payment processing.
Owners, investors and developers may need to consider how automated purchasing will affect their properties’ ability to win corporate bookings.
Sapio Research conducted the study for Conferma in September, surveying 600 corporate travel and finance decision-makers in the U.S., UK, Australia and New Zealand. The $700 billion figure applies AI’s projected share of spending to the Global Business Travel Association’s 2025 business travel spending forecast. 28 percent of respondents expect AI agents to manage more than half of their organizations’ travel budgets by 2028.
“Giving an AI agent authority over company money is very different from using AI to recommend a flight or hotel,” said Mark Ledsham, Conferma CEO. “Businesses need clear limits on what agents can spend, where they can spend it and when human intervention is required. The controls around those decisions must remain fixed, traceable and accountable.”
Payment controls remain a challenge
Payment controls remain limited despite widespread adoption of safeguardsPhoto credit: Conferma
Although 81 percent of respondents said their organizations had some form of policy, control or payment safeguard in place, only 36 percent described those controls as comprehensive.
Among organizations with AI purchasing safeguards, 55 percent require human approval before an agent completes a purchase, 51 percent use real-time monitoring and 49 percent impose spending limits. 37 percent use single-use or controlled-limit virtual cards, a share expected to reach 48 percent by 2028.
Respondents most often chose virtual cards as the most secure payment method for AI-led corporate travel purchasing, at 30 percent. Digital wallets followed at 21 percent, while corporate cards and bank transfers each received 19 percent.
Trust varied by role. 86 percent of executive leaders and department heads said they trusted AI to manage travel bookings and spending, compared with 62 percent of travel and procurement decision-makers. Data security was a concern for 69 percent of executive leaders and department heads, 59 percent of finance respondents and 38 percent of procurement and travel management respondents.
AI moves into hotel sourcing
AI-driven purchasing may require hotels to provide clearer pricing, availability, booking terms and payment options.Photo credit: iStock
As companies delegate more purchasing to AI, hotels may face new requirements for pricing information, availability, booking terms and payment processing. Properties that cannot meet corporate travel program requirements could struggle to win bookings.
A June 2026 survey of 258 corporate travel managers by GBTA and Radisson Hotel Group found that 32 percent of hotel programs had used AI in their most recent request-for-proposal cycle, and 69 percent expected to use it in the next cycle.
The study also found 49 percent of hotel programs reported an increase in dynamic discounts, compared with 17 percent that reported an increase in fixed rates. Fixed rates remain part of corporate programs, but buyers increasingly combine them with dynamic pricing.
Hotel owners and operators may need to adapt corporate sales strategies as buyers use AI to evaluate options and manage procurement. Developers and investors may also need to consider whether future properties can support corporate clients’ technology, data and payment requirements.
Automated purchasing could simplify corporate bookings, but hotels will need to support transactions that comply with buyers’ spending rules and approval processes. How safely companies can delegate purchasing decisions will help determine how quickly AI moves from travel recommendations to financial transactions.
Separately, a recent Mews study found that guests prefer AI working behind the scenes rather than at the front desk. This makes back-office automation a potentially lower-risk investment, though few hotel leaders can yet demonstrate returns from AI spending.
