At Unlocked Data, we believe that the key to smarter corporate travel management lies in combining advanced AI technology with in-depth travel expertise. While artificial intelligence (AI) is an effective tool for data analysis, our deep understanding of travel dynamics allows us to provide actionable insights tailored to your business needs. This blog discusses how we leverage AI to empower travel managers, ensure data security, and keep up with industry trends.
Corporate travel generates a significant amount of data from various sources, including expense tools, booking platforms, payment transactions, and supplier contracts. AI can help consolidate this fragmented information, making it possible to identify patterns, detect anomalies, and forecast trends. For instance, our tools can highlight potential savings opportunities, flag instances of non-compliance, or predict visa and tax risks associated with frequent international travel.
For those new to AI, reporting and reconciliation provide a low-risk space to explore its benefits without affecting critical operational tasks such as reservations or bookings. These areas are ideal starting points for automation and insights.
Unlocked Data stands out because we believe that technology should enhance human expertise rather than replace it. While many competitors prioritize automation, we combine AI-driven analysis with industry knowledge to provide insights that are practical, actionable, and tailored to your organization's specific needs.
We prioritize data security by keeping personal information separate from automated processes. Sensitive traveler information is not included in AI analysis, while supplier names and financial details are matched securely. Additionally:
At Unlocked Data, we empower businesses with smarter travel insights by combining advanced AI capabilities with deep industry expertise, all while ensuring robust data security protocols. Whether you’re interested in reporting automation or forecasting tools, we’re here to guide you toward success as you unlock the full potential of your travel program.
Stay subscribed for more insights into how AI is shaping the future of corporate travel and how Unlocked Data can help you lead the way.
Welcome to the first blog in our series designed to help travel managers select the most
impactful KPIs for their corporate travel programs.
At Unlocked Data, we understand that managing travel is more than cost control: it's about
making informed decisions that balance efficiency, sustainability, and employee
well-being.
In this series, we'll explore key metrics across Trip Optimisation, Booking Optimisation and
Traveler Compliance to help you build a smarter, data-driven travel program.
Kicking off with a Trip Optimisation KPI:
1. Cost & Carbon Reduction
By analysing this data, businesses can identify opportunities to significantly reduce unnecessary
travel, supporting sustainability goals and reducing costs.
2. Tax & Visa Risks
Excessive travel to HQ may inadvertently trigger tax or visa compliance issues, especially for
international employees. Monitoring this KPI helps mitigate these risks.
To make this KPI more actionable:
At Unlocked Data, we recommend
including one Trip Optimisation KPI in your core suite and this one is a strong contender. It's easy
to understand, simple to calculate and often reveals cost-saving opportunities. While it has
limitations, incorporating additional layers like trip reasons and HR data can make it even more
insightful.
Rating: 4.5/5
Tracking the number of people traveling to HQ is a practical way for businesses to optimise their corporate travel programs. By effectively leveraging this KPI, organisations can reduce costs, minimise carbon footprints, and ensure compliance, all while maintaining a healthy balance between collaboration and efficiency.
Effectively communicating with senior leadership requires a strategic approach that aligns
with their priorities and the wider company objectives — often focused around areas including
cost efficiency, return on investment, sustainability, and compliance.
At Unlocked Data, our unique data reporting provides the insights needed to make informed
smarter travel decisions and easily communicate this to your senior leadership team. It allows
you to gather the information needed to drive strategic changes and answer their questions,
such as:
A key area of interest for senior leadership within your organisation will be value for money.
How cost effective is our current travel, how does it compare and what is the value of the
current travel programme?
Our system provides detailed analytics on flight and hotel spending against industry
benchmarks,
using a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rating system to highlight cost efficiencies and areas for
improvement. This allows you to quickly assess the value for money and how cost-effective
certain areas are and to share strategic insights for future expenditure.
Our dashboard helps you to share insights and quickly communicate how travel decisions are
currently being made and to identify any potential areas for improvement.
Analysing a range of compliance metrics, our system will review your travel data
across
the team and provide an overview across the year offering a rating against the standard
benchmark, and identify savings opportunities.
Does the travel current program align with the strategic direction of the business?
Stakeholders
will want to ensure teams are travelling enough to remain effective, sales are optimised, and
business is operating efficiently.
Our reporting tools can differentiate between billable and non-billable time, front office and
back office, internal and external travel data and provide insights into the overall return on
investment for your organisation.
Having this information to hand and assessing it allows you to communicate effectively with
leadership and answer the questions of whether the current level of travel is efficient. This
can help refine travel policies to maximise efficiency and profitability within the
organisation.
Sustainability is an increasing priority for many organisations. At Unlocked Data, we can
provide you with the tools and information syou need to review how sustainable your travel
currently is and make smarter, greener decisions moving forward. You can then use this data to
communicate at a strategic level with senior management to bring sustainability to the
forefront
of the conversation.
By leveraging our reporting
dashboard and advanced insights, you can communicate with
stakeholders confidently, offering facts and figures alongside actionable insights that drive
smarter travel decisions.
For more information on how our system can support your business objectives, get in touch and let’s book a quick demo!
We’re delighted that in 2024, we received our ISO270001 accreditation, allowing our clients to feel even more safe and secure when working with us. In today’s digital world, data security is more important than ever before, but what is ISO27001 accreditation and what does this mean for our clients?
ISO27001 is a globally acknowledged certification that sets out the best practices for managing
and securing sensitive information. It provides a systematic approach to risk management,
ensuring that organisations identify, assess, and mitigate security threats effectively.
When working with our clients, we are often processing sensitive travel data including personal
and financial information. Therefore, it was important to us that we were compliant with the
international standards and ISO27001 certified.
In order to be certified, we were required to undergo rigorous assessment by independent
auditors, validating our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of data security for
you.
Achieving ISO27001 is not just about gaining a certification—it reflects our ongoing commitment to continuously improving our service to our clients and ensuring your travel data is handled with care. We will continue to implement best practices and ensure that our clients' data always remains protected whilst it is used to produce reports that inform smarter, more efficient travel decisions.
By choosing to work with us, you can be confident that your information is in safe hands. If you’d like to learn more about how we can use your travel data to produce insights, reports and key information to make decisions, get in touch!
As we reflect on 2024, the concept of 'growing gracefully' perfectly captures Unlocked
Data's
journey. This year has been transformative for us, marked by significant milestones:
welcoming a
multitude of new clients to our expanding universe and growing our talented team!
Achieving ISO27001 certification is a testament to our team's dedication and our
clients' trust. Your support has been the fuel propelling us forward, so thank you for being
part of this incredible journey.
Here's to another year of unlocking potential and growing together. Our mission continues!
🚀
It's the new year and lots of exciting plans for 2025 are in full swing! 📆 We can't wait to connect with more of you and work with more businesses to help them develop smarter travel strategies this year! We are planning to attend a number of events around the world 🌍 and hope to see you there, which conferences are you planning to visit this year?