Expensify’s approach to AI in business travel: Trust, automation, and efficiency
By Daniel Vidal - Chief Strategy Officer at Expensify. Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how companies manage business travel from booking flights to processing expenses and ensuring policy compliance. As corporate travel becomes more complex and distributed, AI-driven automation is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s a strategic advantage.
At Expensify, we see AI in corporate travel as more than just efficiency gains. It’s about building trust, eliminating friction, and helping businesses make smarter decisions – without sacrificing human oversight.
This is our perspective on how AI is transforming corporate travel management, and what forward-thinking organizations should consider next.
Learn why Daniel Vidal, the Chief Strategy Officer at Expensify, believes that “Within five years (probably more soon), it will feel like every one of your employees has their very own executive assistant booking and curating their business travel based on their likes, and the company's policies.”
What is AI in corporate travel?
AI in corporate travel refers to the use of intelligent technologies to automate, optimize, and continuously improve how companies manage business travel and travel expenses.
Rather than relying on manual processes, AI systems learn from data, adapt over time, and proactively assist travelers, finance teams, and administrators. While it feels like we’re just getting started, AI is moving fast and the future is going to be dominated by even more automation.
Three core AI technologies power modern business travel platforms:
Robotic process automation (RPA)
RPA handles repetitive, rules-based tasks that traditionally required manual effort. In corporate travel, this includes expense data entry, approval routing, and policy checks, dramatically reducing administrative workload.
Machine learning (ML)
Machine learning allows systems to improve with experience. In travel management, ML identifies spending patterns, predicts costs, and refines recommendations based on employee behavior and historical data.
Natural language processing (NLP)
NLP enables AI to understand and respond to human language. This powers travel chatbots, receipt interpretation, and conversational interfaces that make managing travel feel intuitive rather than transactional.
Together, these technologies replace manual tasks, reduce errors, and deliver better outcomes across travel programs. If you’re like me, you don’t really care about how it’s getting done; you just care that the combination of the above means you become more efficient… and that is awesome!
How AI is transforming business travel management
Corporate travel has shifted from static policies and spreadsheets to intelligent, AI-driven workflows. Leading platforms now automate decisions in realtime, helping teams move faster without losing control.
Expensify plays a central role in this transformation by connecting travel booking, expense management, and financial systems into a single intelligent platform. And with our intelligent collaboration platform, we make it easy to collaborate with each other, and with our AI: Concierge.
Intelligent travel booking and recommendations
AI-powered travel tools analyze airline and hotel pricing, traveler preferences, and company expense policies to recommend optimal booking options. This ensures employees get the best value without violating guidelines.
When booking is integrated with expense tracking, as it is with Expensify, companies gain full visibility from pre-trip decisions through reimbursement or reconciliation.
AI-powered chatbots and traveler support
Travel chatbots offer always-on support for employees on the road. From answering policy questions to rebooking disrupted flights, AI assistants provide realtime help without overwhelming internal teams.
Predictive analytics for travel spend
By analyzing historical data, AI can forecast travel expenses, identify anomalies, and surface opportunities for cost optimization. Finance teams gain predictive insight rather than reactive reporting.
Industry research suggests AI‑driven expense and travel automation can cut processing costs by roughly 30–50% and materially improve compliance outcomes, with organizations reporting meaningful drops in policy exceptions and higher compliance rates as analytics and automation are adopted.
AI-powered travel expense automation
Expense reporting has long been one of the most frustrating parts of corporate travel. AI finally changes that.
At Expensify, automation sits at the core of our platform, turning expense management into a background process rather than a bottleneck.
Automated receipt capture and categorization
With tools like SmartScan, AI extracts data from receipts and itineraries, categorizes expenses, and applies policy rules automatically. Employees simply snap a photo or forward an email/PDF.
Smart reimbursement processing
AI accelerates approval workflows by routing expenses intelligently and flagging exceptions in realtime. This means faster reimbursements and fewer delays for employees.
Faster reconciliation
AI accelerates reconciliation by automating expense coding and builds statement and reconciliation reports to reduce the time to close the books from days to hours.
Seamless accounting system integration
AI-powered expense platforms work best when deeply integrated. Expensify integrates with systems like QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero, and Workday, ensuring travel expenses flow directly into accounting and payroll without reconciliation headaches.
| Manual Process | AI-Automated Process |
|---|---|
| Hand-typing receipt data | Automatic receipt scanning |
| Manual expense categorization | Smart categorization |
| Delayed reimbursements | Realtime processing |
Why trust is essential in AI travel technology
As AI takes on more responsibility, trust becomes non-negotiable. Businesses must feel confident that AI systems handle financial data accurately, securely, and transparently.
Data security and privacy protection
AI platforms must safeguard sensitive traveler and financial data with enterprise-grade security, encryption, and compliance standards.
Maintaining human oversight in automated decisions
At Expensify, AI assists and humans remain in control. Clear audit trails, review options, and exception handling ensure automation enhances decision-making rather than replacing accountability. You set up the automation that works for your team.
Accuracy and reliability in AI-driven travel tools
Consistency matters. Reliable AI reduces errors, builds confidence, and encourages adoption across the organization, unlocking the full value of automation.
How AI improves travel policy compliance
AI enforces travel policy not after the fact, but in realtime, dramatically reducing manual review and compliance violations.
Pre-trip compliance: AI flags out-of-policy bookings before purchases are made
Expense-level compliance: Non-compliant expenses are automatically detected during submission
Reporting visibility: Finance teams access realtime compliance dashboards instead of manual audits
The result is stronger governance with less friction for employees, which = win/win.
The future of AI in business travel programs
AI in corporate travel is still evolving and the next phase is about intelligence, not just automation. Within five years (probably sooner, if we’re being honest), it will feel like every one of your employees has their very own executive assistant curating their travel based on their preferences and the company's policies.
Personalized traveler experiences
AI will tailor recommendations based on individual preferences, past behavior, and role-based policies, making business travel feel more human.
Advanced cost optimization through machine learning
As datasets grow, ML will uncover deeper savings opportunities, continuously refining travel programs over time.
Deeper integration across enterprise systems
The future belongs to unified platforms that connect travel, expenses, budgeting, and financial planning, eliminating silos and delivering realtime insights.
How to build an efficient AI-powered corporate travel program
For organizations adopting AI in travel management, success starts with the right foundation:
Assess current pain points: Identify where manual processes slow your team
Prioritize integration: Choose tools that connect seamlessly with accounting systems
Emphasize user adoption: Select intuitive platforms employees will actually use
One of the great things about AI and travel is that it’s bringing more and more solutions to SMBs, whereas corporate travel used to be reserved for large corporations. To see how AI-driven automation can simplify travel and expense management, click on the button below to watch a quick demo for free.
FAQs about AI in corporate travel
-
AI speeds up the entire expense process by automatically scanning receipts, matching them to transactions, flagging policy violations in realtime, and even prompting users for missing info.
Instead of manual entry and spreadsheet wrangling, AI handles the heavy lifting so finance teams can focus on reviewing exceptions, not chasing receipts. The result? Faster reimbursements, fewer errors, and way less busywork.
-
Pricing varies widely depending on the provider and features included. Some platforms charge per active user (e.g., $10–$25/month), while enterprise solutions may cost thousands per month for large teams.
Expensify offers transparent per-user pricing starting at $5 a month with no hidden fees, and you get AI-powered expense and travel tools included – not sold as expensive add-ons. -
Absolutely. AI tools aren’t just for big companies. Small- and mid-sized businesses use AI to automate approvals, surface policy violations in realtime, and streamline travel booking, saving time and reducing manual errors. With tools like Expensify, you can get enterprise-grade automation without the enterprise-grade complexity.
-
AI systems are smart, but not perfect. The best platforms (like Expensify) flag questionable expenses for human review and offer full audit trails, so nothing slips through unnoticed. Admins stay in control, with the option to override or approve flagged items, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
-
It depends on the provider. Some enterprise platforms can take 8–12 weeks or more to fully implement. In contrast, Expensify can be set up in minutes with automatic policy enforcement, smart receipt scanning, and travel booking ready to go from day one.
-
Yes. Most modern AI-powered travel platforms support multi-currency booking, global reimbursements, and region-specific policy enforcement. Expensify, for example, allows teams to book travel worldwide, get reimbursed in 160+ currencies, and apply custom rules across regions.
