Shai Weiss served as Virgin Atlantic's CEO between January 2019 and December 2025
Former Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss has been appointed to Navan’s board of directors with immediate effect, the travel management company announced on Wednesday (28 January).
Navan CEO and co-founder Ariel Cohen said Weiss brings “a deep understanding of the business traveller’s mindset to the board… [and] as we scale, his extensive industry expertise will help us continue to attack the $185 billion travel and expense market.”
Weiss, who served as Virgin Atlantic’s CEO from January 2019 to December 2025, led the carrier through the Covid-19 pandemic and back to profitability in 2024. He also played a role in the formation of a $17 billion transatlantic joint venture with Delta and Air France-KLM, and facilitated the launch of a new strategic partnership last June between the joint venture partners and Indian airline IndiGo.
Commenting on his board appointment, Weiss said: “Navan is a true industry disruptor – a company with the vision to build its tech stack from the ground up in service of its customers. I am honoured to join the board and look forward to working alongside this world-class team to shape the future of travel and expense management.”
Weiss’ appointment comes after Navan (formerly TripActions) went public on the Nasdaq in October. He joins Ben Horowitz, Arif Janmohamed, Mike Kourey, Clara Liang, Sandesh Patnam, Anré Williams, Oren Zeev and Navan’s co-founders, Ariel Cohen and Ilan Twig as the tenth member of the company’s board.