How would you sum up the first half of the year?
Zahir Abdelouhab - The overall trend is towards increase in business travel expenditurevery clearly. There is also confirmation of older trends, with more and more bleisureWe expect this business to double by 2029. With regard to NavanAfter 5 or 6 years of presence in Europe, we are at a stage where we are moving further and further up the ladder. On the scale of FranceWe're in the process of signing contracts with more and more key accounts. When we first arrived, we were a bit of a curiosity for them, and Navan becomes a reality for these customers. In France, as elsewhere, the most dynamic segment is the SMESThere has been very strong growth in business travel. More and more companies are being supported by a TMC, but this is still a minority: it's limited to around a third, and of this third, 10% of users still book outside the platform. So it's still a big problem for companies, because they're looking for visibility over their spending, and a user experience that's on a par with that of their private lives.
Aren't international tensions putting the brakes on travel?
Zahir Abdelouhab - There is a growth in business travel globally, which is - surprisingly enough - unaffected by the geopolitical activities of the moment. We've been through a few years of crisis, and the financial markets, like all markets, have by and large got used to, adapted to and adjusted to this geopolitical instability.
Are you seeing a change in the way employees travel, particularly in terms of reconciling mobility and eco-responsibility?
Zahir Abdelouhab - Companies that are growing have to move. That much is clear. But we are travelling differently today, and better in this post-Covid era, with greater attention being paid to sustainable development. We need to find solutions in this area, and that's where TMC becomes indispensable. Solutions like Navan allow you to budget your carbon footprint, then monitor, control and reduce it. We also have mechanisms for offsetting carbon footprints. sustainable fuels... In fact, business travel is inherent to business, and reducing the carbon footprint is an issue that cannot be ignored. The answer, therefore, is not to prevent people from travelling, but to understand this travel, manage it and address the carbon footprint issue proactively. And this necessary visibility is only possible with a TMC.
Not a week goes by without a new product with the AI stamp: can this profusion of products be of practical use from an environmental point of view?
Zahir Abdelouhab - There is a buzz around AI. Too often, it's a case of 'repainting' something existing with AI, adding an 'artificial intelligence' sticker. When Navan entered the market around ten years ago, we were able to integrate an ultra-modern technological base from the outset, and we have built on this. Navan was the first business travel company to integrate generative AI from the outset. So it's an infused technology, spread to every layer, every stratum of the architecture. In terms of the carbon footprint, as with other issues, AI will be used in analysis and reporting tools. The aim is to understand spending and how to optimise it, to compare spending with other accounts on the same scale... It is therefore a decision-making aid for adjusting your carbon footprint management programme.
Faced with the myriad of new features appearing with this AI sticker, will customers be able to choose between the TMCs?
Zahir Abdelouhab - It's not up to the customer to figure out how to implement AI in their use cases. This is true for TMCs as elsewhere: it is up to the specialist players in the field to ensure that AI is implemented so that the service is always better, faster and cheaper. What the customer needs to see is not really how the AI is built. They need access to ever more powerful dashboards, an ever more responsive level of support and tools that anticipate the future better and better. All this to generate savings in the end, because we are automating everything that can be automated.
Automating more and more by relying massively on AI: isn't this dangerous for TMCs, their added value and their business model?
Zahir Abdelouhab - This does call into question the business model of the historic TMCs, of course. But it has been a reality for years. Their business model was based on a maximum of offline operations, billed for each customer call. That's not the case with Navan: in our philosophy, if the customer calls support, it's because there's a problem for which we have to bear the cost, and so it's in our interest to resolve it as quickly as possible. If AI enables our agents to provide answers very quickly, it's a win-win situation.
To what extent? Is the role of humans in travel under threat in the more or less long term?
Zahir Abdelouhab - In the same way as with digital technology, AI can be used to automate tedious tasks. In business travel, and all the more so in the case of large accounts with complex configurations, humans will never be replaced. Above all, it will be a question of offering a better level of service while reducing costs, because the human element will be focused on managing programmes, crisis management, etc. But AI is going to drastically change a lot of things, in a world of business travel that was many years behind, it has to be said!
