The future of business travel: SAP Concur showcases new AI features at GBTA Europe

Business travel bookings in Europe are growing at a faster rate than the global average and are becoming more expensive. SAP Concur data reveals a 4.4% rise in European air travel volume and a 4.6% increase in average airfares compared to the previous year.

Rising costs are making it challenging for organisations to fund business travel, despite its huge strategic importance. SAP Concur data also reveals a persistent gap between business travel needs and available budgets, even as leaders plan to increase investment.

In fact, the latest SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey reveals 69% of travel managers agree that their company's travel budget doesn't reflect how important business travel is to its success. At the same time, 81% of CFOs agree that budget limitations at their company mean employees are unable to travel as much as needed to effectively perform their jobs. At this critical moment, businesses must practice even more efficient spend management to stretch travel budgets further.

At the GBTA + VDR Europe Conference in Hamburg, SAP Concur is showcasing new AI-powered features, shaping efficient, compliant, and consumer-grade business travel experiences to help companies balance cost and travel requirements.

Joule Agents in SAP Concur solutions

AI is shifting from tools that respond to prompts to assistants that anticipate needs and drive outcomes-also known as agentic AI. SAP's copilot Joule, also available within Concur Travel & Expense, is now infused with AI agents able to independently execute tasks while automating complex processes for users, including:

1. Booking Agent

The Booking Agent in Concur Travel empowers travellers to become efficient and policy-savvy trip planners. It delivers conversational guidance in natural language to help generate detailed itineraries, personalised in line with the company's travel policy with real-time context on pricing breakdowns and spend estimates.

1. Receipt Analysis Agent

With the Receipt Analysis Agent in ExpenseIt, travellers no longer have to manually complete receipt information anymore. The Agent uses enhanced data inference to populate missing expense details, historical data to predict expense types with a high degree of accuracy, and advanced calculations to determine receipt totals even when items are missing.

1. Meeting Location Planner Agent

Keen to solve the "where should we meet?" problem without a spreadsheet and numerous emails? The Meeting Location Planner Agent in Concur Travel uses smart location optimisation to recommend times and places that work for all attendees, preferences, and company policies-so travellers can make informed choices without lots of manual research.

1. Expense Report Validation Agent

The Expense Report Validation Agent in Concur Expense accelerates expense filing and approvals. Guided report completion walks users through submission, while smart accuracy checks detect errors, and in-workflow policy clarity explains compliance flags to users in natural language-minimizing guesswork and delays.

The Booking Agent is available now and the Receipt Analysis Agent is rolling out through the end of the year. The Meeting Location Agent and Expense Report Validation Agent will become available in early 2026.

Detect AI-generated fake receipts

Tackling the growing risk posed by AI-generated receipt fraud, SAP Concur also launches a new configurable check that scans receipts for signs that they were created by AI or an online generator. It automatically flags any suspicious images for an auditor to review. Reinforcing fraud detection, it strengthens compliance and protects company assets. In Q1 2026, the feature will be available to users of Concur Expense using the Intelligent Audit service. AI is not just fuelling the problem - it may also be the best defence.

Complete by SAP Concur and Amex GBT

More new capabilities will be included with the new co-developed next-gen solution Complete by SAP Concur and Amex GBT. The new offering with AI at its core is intended to combine booking, servicing, payments and expenses into one experience. Complete customers will benefit from each entity's technology and business travel expertise. The two companies will allocate incremental funding and development resources to continue innovating on behalf of mutual customers. Mutual customers will have access to Complete with additional features to follow later this month. 

Charlie Sultan, President of Concur Travel at SAP Concur, says, "With more than a decade of experience delivering embedded AI and the largest set of travel and expense data, we are uniquely positioned to apply AI in ways that no other T&E company can-uncovering even more value for our customers with the ability to advance their business."

These innovations are supporting SAP Concur's vision of a world where travel and expenses practically manage themselves. For more information, visit SAP Concur at the GBTA Europe Conference, booth #38, or join the fireside chat with Charlie Sultan and Jason Geall, Executive Vice President - Global SME at Amex GBT, on GBTA Europe's main stage on November 12 at 10:00 am.