We talk a lot about our leisure and business lives converging. Well this week they seem to have collided in real time. Just as we're discussing with our friends whether Alexa is really what — or who? — our partner wants for Christmas, Amazon launches an Alexa for Business. And, lo and behold, Concur is right there to introduce a business travel element into Alexa for Business.
And it all raises as many questions as it answers.
For those of you that choose to ignore technology Alexa is, like Siri and Cortana, a conversational interface. Ever walk into the kitchen and hear your daughter asking Siri to let her know when 5 minutes have elapsed? The world of AI — artificial intelligence, machine learning — in the workplace is moving from screens to speech. Tools such as Alexa are a conversational tool but the more they are used, the more intuitive and powerful they become because they are storing information from which they can learn and use to personalise their responses.
Concur's blog on the launch demonstrates how a business traveller can use Alexa as their travel concierge by asking questions such as When do I leave for my next business trip?, What is my flight number?, What hotel do I have booked?, Do I have a car booked?.
But these are all factual questions with factual answers. By accumulating information about individual travellers' tastes and preferences Alexa will shortly be able to make suitable recommendations in line with company travel policy.
Many of us depend on our specialist market knowledge for our jobs. This experience has been gained from doing tasks and listening to others. That is how Alexa functions. She — it? — is using machine learning to gain expertise.
Employee/traveller profiles exist and are used in conjunction with travel policy so there is no reason why they can't be configured to qualify for different ones of Alexa's potential services.
In its blog Concur says it is looking at how Alexa may also be integrated with TripIt and Hipmunk, its metasearch engine. It will become a travel search and planning expert.
The options for leisure travellers and unmanaged business travel are clear but what effect will Alexa have on managed travel programmes?
In these times of traveller centricity Alexa is likely to garner more interest from the front-end, the travellers, who want to have more involvement. The travellers' profiles can be coded so that they have appropriate access to Alexa's services and in turn Alexa can give support.
The initial interest may be greater from the travellers than from the managers. Alexa only acts upon data that it has been programmed to receive. Yet so much of buying still depends upon sifting external data as part of their what-to-buy and when-to-buy decision-making.
AI can be used to give personalised answers according to your own criteria but it can't act on data which doesn't have.
There is still a lot for a travel manager to do. And there is a lot for travel managers to gain.