HRS’ New Copilot Harnesses AI to Transform Travel Management

HRS Introduces Copilot to Automate and Elevate Travel Programs

Travel Management Transformed: HRS’ New Copilot Harnesses AI to Elevate the Role of Procurement and Travel Managers into Strategic “Travel CEOs”

Copilot Provides Users with a Perpetual Assistant, Implementing Solutions in Real-Time Based on Company-Specific Targets In Key Dimensions such as Savings, Satisfaction, Safety and Sustainability

Cologne, Germany – 8 May 2025 – HRS, the leading global corporate lodging and meetings technology platform, announced the launch of Copilot, groundbreaking technology that offers hotel programs an industry-first approach to using AI-first options that enhance performance, drive compliance and increase savings. Copilot is the right solution for the right time in the evolution of travel management, as corporations navigating today’s uncertain economic climate can gain from use of proactive automation that addresses program needs across transient and meetings-related segment management.

AI is transforming how corporations manage their everyday business, so much so that Fortune 500 CEOs expect to have 50 percent of managerial and administrative workloads replaced by autonomous AI agents within the next five years. The current geopolitical and economic situation has many companies – and C-Suite leaders – looking to expedite adoption of new productivity-enhancing technologies as they reassess manageable priorities, including travel allocations across all segments (transient / meetings / longstay).  

Introducing Copilot – An AI-First Platform Enabling Holistic Program Management

HRS’ latest innovation, Copilot, revolutionizes the benefits of data aggregation and AI-powered automation. Built to be a constant option for procurement and travel executives, Copilot is designed to fully orchestrate hotel and meetings programs with just a single click. The technology autonomously drives insights and actions, driving newfound speed from real-time data analysis to tactical actions that are specifically aligned with individual program goals and objectives. Highlights include:‍

• Newfound Data Unification Spurs Actionable Insights: The technology platform connects data from any source. Copilot proficiently consolidates spend data - both historical and projected - across managed and unmanaged transient and meetings segments in one harmonized interface, giving users a converged overview enabling the benchmarking of suppliers, markets, points of sale, business units, and traveler personas. Copilot tailors its insights to the user’s decision-making style, actively generating “what-if” scenarios and actionable recommendations.
• Automation Symmetrically Drives Preferred Supplier Use Across Segments: Copilot’s platform approach to securing more comprehensive datasets while monitoring trends (including transient, groups, meetings, and longstay) simultaneously facilitates automated tracking of preferred supplier usage across segments. The technology analyses data in real-time, triggering and implementing actions to influence booking behavior and promote preferred properties.
• One-Click Supplier Management: Copilot reframes the laborious legacy of the “RFP” acronym in the procurement lexicon, using data to advise and prompt actions leaders can execute via a one click approach.  
• Drill Down into Any Component of a Hotel Transaction: Similar “one-click” scenarios improve elements beyond procurement, such as booking optimization, payment, reimbursement and VAT Reclaim. 
• Seamless Procure-to-Reimburse Process Amplification: Copilot integrates into any managed travel ecosystem, enhancing end-to-end processes.

Scalable, Secure AI-Infused HRS Technology is Compliant with Multiple Protocols

Copilot is unique technology, built using Anthropic’s Large Language Model in conjunction with HRS Labs’ proprietary Specialized Language Model to seamlessly blend the latest AI capabilities and HRS’ travel management expertise. This approach makes the technology easier to grasp and deploy for procurement and travel leaders. Highlights of Copilot’s capacity, reach and security include:  

• The Copilot model is trained by billions of rate impressions, hundreds of thousands of corporate rates and rate audits, and tens of millions of payments and invoice line details.  
• Copilot is hosted on HRS’ vetted and scalable cloud infrastructure.  
• Copilot’s infrastructure is compliant with GDPR, PCI-DSS, CSRD, ISO14067 & TISAX. 

Travel managers retain complete decision-making authority, approving all recommended actions to maintain full control over travel policies and strategic direction.

"Copilot opens a new door for me each time I engage with its functionality,” said Leonard Hornsby, Senior Travel Manager and Procurement & Strategic Sourcing Manager for Travel Technology for Deloitte GmbH. “The speed of the query and answer functionality – knowing that the answers are driven from our comprehensive data – has me rethinking our approach to both short-term and long-term management of transient and meetings segments. In our initial trials, we see insights on issues faster than ever and are making precise program changes as the scenario calls for. Our initial estimates point towards 18 percent higher savings with Copilot compared to traditional program optimization".

“HRS speaks often about the evolution of travel management, urging leaders to aim to be the “Travel CEO” within their organizations as responsibilities and requirements evolve. With Copilot’s AI-first technology at their side, procurement and travel leaders are now properly equipped to take on the fast-moving challenges impacting modern travel management,” said Tobias Ragge, CEO of the HRS Group. “At a time of such worldwide economic volatility, the pressure from the C-suite to optimize expenses will particularly be felt by the travel department. Copilot is proficient in helping executives and everyday leaders take actions towards the dual goals of cost removal and maximizing travel allocations. It’s the right solution at the right time, with the capacity to unleash machine learning at a new scale and fundamentally upgrade the practice of hotel program management.”  

HRS will feature the new Copilot technology at ProcureCon Travel next week in Los Angeles, on May 22 at the HRS Corporate Lodging Forum in Paris, and during the Global Business Travel Association conference in Denver in July. Media are also invited to learn more about Copilot via this video, available on HRS’ website and YouTube.

About HRS

HRS is a global technology company focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence to create fully digital lodging experiences for corporations and their travelers. The company’s platform-based solutions are reinventing end-to-end travel management and the traveler experience for transient, meetings and workforce segments for Fortune 500 companies worldwide. HRS’ award-winning Green Stay Initiative enables hotels to showcase their sustainable attributes while helping companies on their quest towards NetZero travel. HRS has an unsurpassed network of ecosystem relationships, with secure API integrations to hotel suppliers, digital payment facilitators and booking solutions. More information at www.hrs.com and on LinkedIn.

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