Travelport and Cognizant expand their collaboration: artificial intelligence enters the heart of reservation systems
After completing the first phase of modernisation, Travelport and Cognizant are accelerating the development of artificial intelligence designed to streamline bookings, ticket amendments and the day-to-day operational processes of travel agencies.
Travelport and Cognizant announced on 27 October a new phase of their strategic partnership aimed at integration of artificial intelligence into Travelport's technology platforms, products and business processes. The collaboration between the two companies, which has been ongoing for some twenty years, is now being directed towards developing a distribution infrastructure in which AI would have a significantly greater operational role.
The first phase of the modernisation, launched in May 2026 in collaboration with Anthropic, has been successfully completed. The technological architecture required for further development has been established, and the next step involves applying AI tools to software development, business process automation and the creation of new functionalities for travel agencies and suppliers.
TripServices at the centre of development
The first concrete focus is Travelport TripServices, a modern API platform that supports bookings, amendments, refunds and other activities related to travel processing.
Cognizant's development teams are beginning to introduce artificial intelligence writing program code, creating tests and verifying software changes. The aim is to accelerate the development of new functionalities while increasing system reliability.
For Travelport, this is an important part of a broader transformation. Rather than adding an AI assistant to its existing booking tools, the company intends to gradually integrate artificial intelligence into the very infrastructure that processes travel transactions.
Teams from Cognizant in 18 countries will participate in the project.
What does that mean for travel agencies?
The most interesting part of the partnership concerns the possibilities of automating tasks that currently take agents a great deal of time.
Reservation changes, ticket reissuance, refund processing and travel disruption management often require several successive steps and checks. Development AI functionalities It could simplify some of those activities and reduce the need for manual processing.
Travelport also wants to bring travel-planning systems powered by artificial intelligence closer to actual booking platforms. One day, a traveller could describe a more complex journey in plain language, while the technology behind the scenes would help find suitable options and turn them into a confirmed booking.
However, it is important to distinguish between development plans and the features already available to users. The completion of the first phase of the project primarily means that the technological foundations have been laid. The latest announcement did not specify a precise timeframe for when all the new AI capabilities will be available to agencies.
From software development to distribution automation
The partnership covers three areas: the modernisation of technological infrastructure with the help of AI tools, the automation of internal business processes, and the development of new functionalities within Travelport's products.
Travelport's Chief Executive Officer John Mangelaars particularly emphasises the opportunities to better understand travellers' needs, to assemble complex itineraries more quickly and to identify issues that could affect travel at an earlier stage.
For travel agencies, what will matter more than the technology itself is how many of these features actually make their way into day-to-day operations. Faster processing of changes, easier access to content and fewer administrative steps could deliver tangible benefits, but that will depend on the functionality Travelport provides and its reliability.
The latest announcement confirms the continuation of the project unveiled in May, but also provides a more concrete indicator of progress: the first phase of modernisation has been completed, and work on integrating artificial intelligence into TripServices and the associated processes is entering the next stage.
