Travel managers have heard plenty of promises about artificial intelligence over the past two years. A recent BTN webinar featuring Navan President Michael Sindicich took a more grounded approach, focusing on what AI can actually deliver for travel teams today rather than where the technology might eventually go.

The conversation centered on a simple idea: AI works best when it takes over repetitive, low-judgment tasks and leaves the decisions that require human context to actual people. For travel coordinators drowning in post-booking requests and policy questions, that distinction matters more than any list of features.

What This Means for Business Travel

Corporate travel programs generate a steady stream of administrative work that has little to do with actual trip planning. Rebooking after a flight change, answering the same policy question from five different employees, chasing receipts for expense reports: none of this requires deep judgment, yet it eats up hours every week. Sindicich's point was that this is exactly where AI earns its keep, handling the mechanical parts of a travel request so coordinators can focus on the exceptions that actually need a human.

That framing matters because it pushes back on the idea that AI is coming for the travel coordinator's job. Instead, the more realistic near-term shift is toward AI clearing the routine backlog so people can spend their time on traveler relationships, vendor negotiations, and the judgment calls that come up when a trip goes sideways. Post-booking workflows and traveler support are the areas where this is already happening, not some future roadmap item.

Travel Coordination Take

  1. Identify your team's most repetitive requests first. Rebooking, itinerary changes, and basic policy questions are usually the biggest time sinks and the best early candidates for AI assistance.
  2. Keep a human in the loop for anything involving cost exceptions, VIP travelers, or unusual circumstances. These are the situations where judgment and relationships still outperform automation.
  3. Audit how your current booking tool already uses AI. Many platforms have quietly added automated features that coordinators aren't using simply because no one flagged them.
  4. Set expectations with travelers about what's automated versus what still goes through a person. Confusion about who (or what) is handling a request creates more support tickets, not fewer.
  5. Track time saved on routine tasks before expanding AI into new areas. Proving value on the easy wins builds the case for tackling harder workflows later.

Key Takeaway

AI's real value for travel coordinators right now is less about replacing decisions and more about clearing the clutter that keeps them from making the decisions that actually matter.