Artificial intelligence is proving its worth in corporate travel not through headline-grabbing innovation, but via something far more practical: pre-trip approval.
While much of the enterprise conversation around AI has focused on generative tools, its most tangible impact is now being felt deep within operational workflows – particularly in travel and expense management.
The rebound in corporate travel is fuelling this shift, SAP Concur Australia and New Zealand managing director Jonathan Beeby said.
“SAP Concur data shows that flight bookings in Australia increased almost 10 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024. March 2025 achieved the highest velocity, with corporate bookings surging more than 44 per cent compared to March 2024, reflecting a sharp rebound in corporate travel demand,” he said.
With travel activity accelerating into 2026, organisations are rethinking how trips are authorised, moving decision-making earlier in the process – before costs are incurred.
“Travel and expense management is no longer about post audits but preventative control. In traditional travel and expense programs, compliance was largely reactive: employees book trips, later file expenses, and finance teams audit them against policy afterwards. That approach can identify where policy was breached, but it offers little in the way of early prevention, and cost visibility and management,” Beeby said.
“In Australia, that shift toward proactive governance is gaining momentum. Business travel surged over the past year as organisations resume commercial travel and business events post-pandemic. Demand for control over discretionary spend is tightening as finance leaders seek earlier visibility, and internal audit teams push for stronger evidence of upfront approval. Modern travellers also expect digital workflows that are intuitive and fast. These combined pressures are driving enterprise adoption of intelligent pre-travel authorisation, where AI and automation inform decisions before bookings are confirmed.”
AI-powered workflows are enabling employees to submit structured trip requests, with systems automatically estimating costs, flagging policy breaches in real time and routing approvals based on risk and spend.
“Intelligent automation interprets context and provides richer guidance at the point of request rather than relying solely on rigid, static business rules. This helps organisations scale governance controls without multiplying manual checks, giving finance teams early insight, and travellers clearer guidance toward compliant choices,” Beeby said.
“One of the most compelling benefits of AI-driven travel requests is the quality of data created. Rather than free-text explanations submitted after travel, structured requests capture why the business travel is necessary, anticipated costs, and which manager approved the itinerary and under what conditions. This produces a defensible, machine-readable audit trail that shows approvals, edits, and exceptions over time; a powerful asset as Australian organisations face greater oversight from boards and internal audit functions.”
Platforms such as SAP Concur’s Concur Request are already embedding these capabilities, offering detailed audit trails and forward visibility of spend.
Crucially, this approach turns travel data into a forward-looking signal rather than a retrospective report, giving finance teams clearer forecasting and tighter budget control – particularly relevant in Australia, where travel costs can vary widely by region.
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Removing friction
Beeby also pushed back on concerns that pre-approval slows travellers down.
“The common concern around pre-travel authorisation is the risk of creating process friction that delays routine travel,” he said. “Smart AI workflows are central to addressing this. They can reduce repetitive data entry and minimise back-and-forth between travellers and approvers, so that low-risk or recurring trips can move quickly through the system, while higher-risk requests trigger additional scrutiny.
“This typically means fewer rejected expense claims for employees, fewer surprises after trips have been taken, and a smoother overall experience; a valuable differentiation in Australia’s increasingly competitive talent market.”
