All eyes seem to be on theartificial intelligence (AI) this week, for better or worse. While there are calls for a more rational pace of development, financial managers would welcome the possibility of entrusting more tasks to this technology. Starting with the travel expense management... At least that's what emerges from a study published by American Express GBTthanks to testimonials collected by its Travel & Expense division: Neo.
According to a study published on 30 March, 9 out of 10 finance managers favour AI-based travel expense management solutions for the future: " No fewer than 89 % of financial decision makers say they trust AI to manage business travel expenses, and more than a third (34 %) even rely on it to detect problems without any human intervention. In fact, the majority (65 %) of those surveyed expect these T&E operations to be carried out without intervention in the future "say those responsible for the study.
This study is, of course, part of the ongoing development of the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence, particularly in the wake of the ChatGPT buzz. But it is also a response to the emergence of new hybrid working modelscombined with a economic environment complex, to say the least. So, while financial managers want to save time - and save business travellers time - in managing travel expenses, they also want to save money. Visit cost reduction is also a top priority according to the KDS survey, which found that 76 % of finance teams believe that spending policies could be a way of reducing costs without limiting travel. According to the report, vigilance on the part of companies also involves increased monitoring of deviations from the rules. " A large majority of finance managers (69 %) expect to an increase in fraudulent expense claims due to the economic situation current "warn the authors of the report...
" Companies are not afraid to use technology and integrated booking and expense management systems to ensure compliance with their travel programmes. "says Sébastien Bardin, VP Product at Neo. When finance teams invest in upgrading to integrated travel expense management solutions, they expect to benefit from intelligent AI-based systems and an excellent user experience as levers for adoption "he continues.
Another important finding of the Neo study is that environmental imperatives are tending to take precedence over financial imperatives. One figure bears this out: 64 % of finance managers believe that the carbon emissions associated with a business trip will carry more weight than the cost of the trip itself. It remains to be seen how soon this changeover will be reflected in concrete terms within companies.
