Amex GBT and KAYAK push business travel towards a new phase of distribution
Business travellers they will no longer necessarily have to open a traditional booking tool to organise a business trip. Egencia and KAYAK for Business are developing models in which enterprise AI assistants I can access inventory, company policies and booking functions.
American Express Global Business Travel and KAYAK for Business are pushing business travel towards a new distribution phase: booking is becoming a feature available from AI tools that employees already use in their daily work. The difference compared to previous chatbots is significant. AI no longer serves only to recommend a flight or hotel, but gains access to systems that can check travel policy and execute the transaction.
Egencia is introducing bookings within Claude
Through Egencia, Amex GBT has launched an AI connector for Anthropic's Claude. From a conversation with the AI assistant, users can search, book and manage policy-compliant flights and hotels without switching to a separate booking tool. The company states that the solution uses its own agent-to-agent architecture, while Egencia's conversational AI functionality is also expanding to Google Chat. Integration through Microsoft Teams is also being tested for Neo users.
The location where the business trip actually begins is changing. Instead of the employee going to the OBT, the travel function is coming into the employee's digital working environment.
KAYAK is integrating its own platform with corporate AI agents
KAYAK for Business has started with a somewhat different approach. Alongside AI itinerary creation and conversational support within its own platform, it has introduced an agent-to-agent connector. This enables companies to connect their own enterprise AI assistants with KAYAK's travel system. KAYAK provides the inventory, travel policies and booking functions, while the corporate AI brings context about the traveller.
A new feature was introduced at the end of July following a pilot phase with selected users. KAYAK is already positioning its enterprise product as a combination of the booking experience, corporate policies, direct supplier connections and travel management.
The booking interface is no longer the sole entry point
For TMCs, OBT platforms and suppliers, the architecture behind the AI is more important than the chatbot itself. If a booking is initiated from Claude, Teams or a company's internal AI assistant, value is shifting towards API quality, content availability, policy rules, traveller profiles and the ability to execute transactions securely.
This could also impact hotel and airline distribution. Content that is not properly structured, accessible through appropriate connections, or integrated into corporate policy may become less visible to the new generation of booking agents. In other words, enterprise AI is gradually becoming another distribution channel, rather than just an addition to the existing interface.
