SAP Concur & Amex GBT create unified AI travel platform
SAP Concur and American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) have announced a strategic alliance and the launch of Complete by SAP Concur and Amex GBT, a next-generation corporate travel and expense management solution.
Complete, jointly developed by the two companies, aims to merge booking, servicing, payments, and expensing into a single experience with artificial intelligence (AI) technology at its core. The new solution will draw on each company's technological capabilities and expertise in the business travel sector.
Additionally, SAP Concur has confirmed the integration of Concur Expense with Amex GBT's Egencia, offering more integrated travel and expense management options for customers. As part of the alliance, both companies will invest resources and collaborate on future development to pursue new innovations for their mutual customers.
Unified solution
This strategic alliance represents the future of travel and expense management. By uniting SAP Concur technology and global expertise with Amex GBT's unmatched marketplace, software, and service plus our mutual AI capabilities, we are delivering a unified solution that makes business travel not only easier, but smarter and more impactful for organisations everywhere.
Fred Fredericks, General Manager and Chief Product Officer at SAP Concur, outlined the primary focus areas of the investment through this strategic partnership, specifically marketplace, software, and services.
Complete is set to be delivered as a streamlined solution, combining the Amex GBT marketplace-giving access to over 600 airlines and more than two million properties-into the SAP Concur technology platform. Customers can expect the integration to offer increased incentives and cost savings, in addition to broader travel options across airlines, hotels, ground transport, and rail.
The solution will also provide unified traveller support through an integrated chat agent, aiming to reduce the time spent managing trips and improve the user experience. Faster releases of New Distribution Capability (NDC) content are also planned, intended to increase content options, fare clarity, and policy compliance.
By bringing together substantial AI capabilities and data sets from both companies-including millions of trips and transactions-Complete is expected to offer near real-time refinement of services for users.
Industry perspectives
This bold step forward with SAP Concur reimagines how travel and expense solutions can deliver unprecedented value to our customers and their travellers in the AI age. Our unique collaboration empowers us to build new software together that deeply integrates our data, marketplace, and servicing capabilities across both travel and expense to deliver the future that the industry seeks.
These remarks from Evan Konwiser, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Amex GBT, reflect the companies' intention to create products that address the evolving needs of business travel in the era of AI and digital transformation.
Rollout
According to SAP Concur, Complete will be available to mutual customers within the month, with further features and capabilities to be released over the coming months. The integration of Concur Expense with Amex GBT Egencia is also scheduled to go live soon.
Future collaborative developments will focus on areas such as expanded content availability and display, enhanced capabilities for travel managers, utilisation of AI for improved booking experiences, disruption management, and the provision of business programme insights. The SAP Concur Partner Programme for Travel Management Companies is also set to undergo changes aimed at generating increased value for both current and future customers.
The companies have stated their intention to provide further updates in the coming months as the Complete solution develops, with a focus on delivering an adaptable, AI-powered travel and booking experience for organisations worldwide.
