For the past couple of years, the travel industry has been captivated by AI. Every week brings another announcement: new copilots, new agents, new models and new tools, all promising to transform the way travel businesses operate.
But amid all the excitement, the conversation has drifted towards the wrong question.
“Which AI tool should we use?”
In reality, that’s no longer the question that matters most.
A better one is:
“Can our platform actually support what AI is capable of?”
When everyone has the same superpowerÂ
The capabilities of AI are evolving at an incredible pace. Software that once took months to develop can now be built in days and, in some cases, even hours.
That changes everything.
When everyone has access to increasingly powerful AI, simply using AI is no longer a competitive advantage. The real differentiator is what AI can actually access.
- Can it understand your pricing?
- Can it work with your booking logic?
- Can it automate your operational workflows?
- Can it access the trusted business data needed to make reliable decisions?
Without that foundation, even the most advanced AI risks becoming little more than an impressive demo. It might answer questions or generate content, but when it comes to real booking scenarios, complex itineraries or supplier-specific rules, it quickly reaches the limits of what it can do.
Start with the workflow, not the technology
Businesses often begin their AI journey by looking for tools.
A better place to start is by looking for friction: the repetitive tasks, manual workarounds and disconnected processes that slow your business down. These are often where AI can make the biggest difference, because solving real operational problems delivers value that people notice almost immediately.
Ask yourself:
- Where are your teams losing time?
- Which manual processes create unnecessary cost?
- Where are disconnected systems slowing down operations?
- Which customer journeys could be faster or more personalised?
- Where could automation deliver measurable commercial impact?
The opportunity isn’t to add AI for the sake of it. It’s to remove friction from the processes that matter most. That could mean faster quoting, better-connected systems, reduced manual administration or giving your teams more time to focus on the work that genuinely adds value.
The platform has become the constraint
Recent research highlights the challenge.
According to McKinsey, nearly two-thirds of enterprises are already experimenting with agentic AI, yet fewer than 10% have scaled it to deliver meaningful business value. The biggest obstacle isn’t the AI itself, it’s access to quality data and connected systems. Deloitte reports a similar situation, with legacy platforms and integration challenges among the biggest barriers to adoption.
In other words, the issue lies with the platforms, not with the AI itself
Why this changes software development
For years, software development itself was the constraint. It was expensive, specialist and time-consuming. AI hasn’t removed those challenges overnight, but it has dramatically accelerated what’s possible.
Today, building software is becoming easier. Giving that software access to the business logic, workflows and operational intelligence already inside your organisation is now the harder challenge.
That’s where robust platform architecture matters.
Opening up what’s already there
This shift in thinking is exactly why we launched the intuitive Universal API.
Rather than exposing only booking functionality, the intuitive Universal API opens up the wider iVector platform through a single, secure API layer.
That means trusted operational capabilities, including booking logic, supplier connectivity, pricing, inventory, reporting and business processes, can become the foundation for new integrations, automation and AI-powered applications.
More importantly, there is no single way to innovate.
Some customers will want intuitive to build solutions for them. Others will develop capabilities in-house. Many will combine the two, collaborating with our team to accelerate delivery while retaining control over their own roadmap.
The platform is designed to support all three approaches.
The next competitive advantage
AI is rapidly becoming available to everyone.
The businesses that succeed won’t simply be those adopting the latest tools. They’ll be the ones with platforms that allow those tools to solve real operational problems, automate meaningful workflows and deliver measurable commercial value.
The future won’t belong to the businesses with the most AI.
It will belong to the businesses that are best prepared to put AI to work.
Ready to explore what’s possible?
If you’re thinking about how AI, automation and advanced integrations could improve your travel business, we’d love to have that conversation.
Discover the intuitive Universal APIÂ
Or get in touch to discuss what’s possible for your business.