Turning AI potential into travel reality: How Amadeus is building the future of travel, today
In this article:
Amadeus’ head of AI Office recaps how the company has delivered on its AI strategy over the first half of 2026:
A sense of perspective can be a wonderful thing.
Amid the constant flow of information we encounter each day, it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.
As we reach the halfway point of the year, it is a good moment to step back and look at the partnerships, products and initiatives that have moved Amadeus’ AI strategy from ambition into tangible progress across travel.
Quarter after quarter, Amadeus has been converting a clear AI strategy into visible results: with new and deepened partnerships, delivery of AI-powered solutions and practical use cases moving into production at scale across the travel industry.
But, first, let’s recap what Amadeus’ AI strategy is.
Amadeus’ AI agenda
The central story of AI in 2026 is how the technology is being industrialized, moving beyond experimentation to become secure, scalable and embedded in the systems that power global travel. The examples from the past six months show how Amadeus is contributing to that shift in practice.
At Amadeus, as a trusted system of travel for the industry, that means applying the principles that have always underpinned our platforms: trust, governance, collaboration and operational scale.
Today, we are the embedded and neutral execution layer for travel. Our deeply integrated business logic connects suppliers, sellers and AI players across the travel ecosystem, enabling AI to operate within real operational processes.
As AI becomes part of our solutions for customers, it strengthens our role as the orchestrator of the travel ecosystem to create more seamless journeys.
In that sense, AI reinforces and augments the Amadeus platform, making our role more relevant as the industry moves toward AI-enabled travel.
Now, let’s see some tangible examples from the first half of the year that show how Amadeus is advancing its AI agenda.
Partnering with leading companies to deploy AI across the travel ecosystem
Innovation can come from many sources and Amadeus has continued to act on that belief through acquisitions, partnerships and standards work that support our wider AI strategy.
A clear example was the acquisition of SkyLink, an AI-first, New York-headquartered technology company specializing in orchestration and conversational automation. The deal supports our strategy to deploy AI use cases that deliver meaningful value across travel, grounded in scalability and operational reality.
Amadeus also has a pivotal role to play in the development of cross-industry technical standards to the benefit of all.
- Our Chief Technology Officer, Sylvain Roy, touched on the development of the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) earlier this year, explaining how industry collaboration will be required to ensure AI-native protocols can support end-to-end travel experiences.On this front, we are working with Google and other industry leaders as the first B2B foundational partner to co-develop the Universal Commerce Protocol for Lodging.
- We have also announced our work with Databricks to develop OpenSharing, the first open, vendor-neutral protocol for securely sharing AI assets, helping enable secure collaboration and monetization in the AI era.
The spirit of deliberate, engineering-led delivery also extended to new or deepened relationships with Google, Microsoft, Tata Consulting Services (TCS), and Accenture, demonstrating our intention to help orchestrate the wider technology ecosystem.
Trust and governance are central to this shift. As AI becomes more deeply embedded in travel workflows, it must be developed and scaled with the safeguards, transparency and accountability that customers, partners and travelers expect.
Delivering AI-powered solutions across the travel ecosystem
During the first half of this year, we continued to bring AI-powered solutions to market across multiple travel verticals, expanding AI capabilities across our portfolio and embedding AI more deeply into the workflows customers use every day.
In the hospitality space, the Amadeus Travel Advertising Platform connects forward-looking travel demand intelligence with advertising planning, activation and AI-supported decision-making. The platform is part of a wider AI strategy in hospitality, including an AI commerce solution for emerging AI-powered channels.
We also launched Amadeus Max, an AI assistant layer designed to help hospitality players, airlines and travel sellers embed AI more effectively into their daily operations and maximize the AI opportunity.
In corporate travel, we advanced Cytric Assistant, helping travelers and travel managers navigate increasingly complex journeys through more intuitive, AI-powered interactions.
Understanding the impact of AI through research
We also advanced thought leadership that helps customers and partners understand where AI can create value next, turning market insight into another practical foundation for adoption.
Informed by airline input and supported by Microsoft, Airlines in the Agentic Age outlines where carriers can start and what they need to scale agentic AI safely.
In business travel, Orchestrating Success explores how AI can reduce repetitive work so travel managers can focus on strategy, nuance and judgement.
The New Rules of Travel Protection and Global Mobility Trends: Decoded Travel Insights extend this exploration into insurance and mobility.
Amadeus’ AI journey continues
Our partnerships, our solutions, and our research all signal progress of how Amadeus is turning AI from a strategic theme into operational reality.
This is underpinned by the AI Delivery Hub, which helps move promising AI capabilities into production faster and build reusable foundations for the next generation of agentic use cases. This transversal team is led by Gaëlle Bristiel, who was proudly named by Skift as a top AI operator in travel.
The first half of the year has shown how much progress can be made when clear priorities are matched with tangible delivery. We’re excited about our AI journey and look forward to sharing more about how we’re turning our ambitions into practical outcomes in the months to come.
TO TOP