American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has introduced two new AI-powered solutions to enhance customer servicing and support the travel programme. These new features comprise a large language model (LLM)-backed virtual agent and a natural language query (NLQ) combined with Egencia Analytics Studio. AI in business travel Amex GBT

The virtual agent is designed to deliver real-time assistance to passengers, creating a more intuitive, conversational user experience with an AI-powered chatbot that can understand and provide intelligent responses to wide-ranging requests. It was developed to assist in multiple languages so that it can be used in English, French, Spanish, German and has been used worldwide.

Added to that, the new feature means travel managers can easily query Egencia Analytics Studio for in-depth program data, ask questions about their program in a natural sounding language. This development will make analyzing data and creating reports through question asking in natural language accessible, simple and immediate.

LLM-Powered Virtual Agent: Enhancing Customer Support

One of the biggest new elements is the LLM-powered virtual agent, now available within the Egencia platform. This virtual assistant is trained to understand context and answer more complex questions that travelers commonly ask, including how to reset a password or add a frequent flyer number to a profile. The virtual agent is trained with the help center content to produce coherent and relevant responses for a range of question.

The virtual agent was rolled out to Egencia customers and is part of a larger enterprise initiative by Amex GBT to enhance customer self-service choices. In a trial period, 32% of customers using the virtual agent self-served and did not have to speak with a travel consultant helping to be more efficient and decrease customer wait times.

Natural Language Query: Streamlining Travel Management Analytics

Amex GBT The second major first from Amex GBT is a feature coming in the Egencia Analytics Studio: Natural Language Query (NLQ). With this addition also comes the ability for travel managers to perform data analysis with much less effort just by entering conversational queries like, “Show me the quarterly spend for the past seven quarters.”

The system also allows for more complex queries through the ability to ask for multiple metrics in one go. For instance, a user may ask, “What is the spend, transaction count, and average ticket price (ATP) for air travel in Paris for 2024?” This means no more fussing with complicated filters or spreadsheets, and instead gives you immediate ideas you can use in a cleaner, friendlier format.

It’s a beta feature and will be available natively in 2026. As part of Amex GBT’s overall effort to simplify travel data organization, the integration of NLQ provides travel managers with an intuitive capability to manage their company-wide travel programs and gain a deeper understanding of spending habits.

Data Science and AI-Driven Solutions: Empowering Travel Management

Amex GBT’s team say the introduction of AI-driven capabilities, including the LLM virtual agent and NLQ capabilities are example of Amex GBT’s continued investment in improving customer support and making it increasingly easier to manage travel programs. By minimizing the reliance on human agents for routine questions, the virtual agent can make it easier for travel consultants to prioritize more complicated duties.

What made these innovations successful is the analytics and data science team at Amex GBT, which has conducted an enormous amount of testing and iteration on these tools to ensure they meet the industry standard of performance. This improvement is part of the larger trend of AI towards incorporation and implementation in travel and tourism; advancing technology is enabling companies to maintain control over their travel program while simultaneously enhancing the customer experience.

Final Thoughts

Amex GBT’s rollout of an LLM-powered virtual agent and Natural Language Query capability positions it at the forefront of a broader industry shift toward AI-first travel management. While competitors like SAP Concur and CTM (Corporate Travel Management) have introduced AI components—such as automated expense reporting and predictive booking tools—they have yet to match the depth of conversational intelligence and multilingual support showcased by Amex GBT’s latest offering.

The integration of NLQ into Egencia Analytics Studio also marks a significant advance beyond static dashboards and manual filtering still used by many legacy platforms. Unlike traditional business intelligence tools, this feature democratizes data access, allowing non-technical travel managers to derive insights instantly—something that companies like Navan (formerly TripActions) are also attempting, though with a greater consumer-tech angle than enterprise-level depth.

These developments reflect a wider trend in enterprise SaaS: embedding generative AI and NLP (Natural Language Processing) to eliminate friction in decision-making. According to McKinsey’s 2024 report on Generative AI in Travel, companies that implement contextual AI to streamline both traveler support and program analysis could cut admin time by up to 30% and improve user satisfaction by 40%.

However, success will hinge on more than flashy features. Adoption depends on performance consistency, privacy compliance (especially with LLMs handling sensitive data), and enterprise-grade support—areas where Amex GBT has an edge due to its scale, infrastructure, and partnerships.

As AI reshapes corporate travel, Amex GBT isn’t just catching up—it’s actively shaping the new standard. Whether others can follow at this depth and pace remains to be seen.