PredictX Launches AI Agent Workspace

Data analytics provider PredictX has launched an "intelligent workforce of AI agents" designed to guide travel buyers in understanding and acting on their travel data, the company announced.

The workspace, Cogent, provides AI agents that can both answer questions about travel and expense programs and handle travel management tasks including sourcing, risk management and communication, according to PredictX. It is powered by data in the PredictX platform, which pulls in data from sources across the travel ecosystem including travel management companies, expense reporting systems, corporate cards, online booking tools, global distribution systems, suppliers and companies' HR systems and general ledger.

With Cogent, users can ask questions in natural language and receive responses in the most appropriate format, such as a text summary or a chart, according to PredictX. The agents can understand industry jargon and nuances such as region or multiple currencies.

The agents can autonomously monitor spending, contracts and policies to find savings opportunities and recommend actions to travel buyers, such as increasing use of negotiated rates. Monitoring can check transactions for policy compliance and potential fraud as well, PredictX said. In addition, the company said Cogent agents can "support every phase of sourcing" including identifying vendors and managing requests for proposals and contracts.

While the agents are meant to act as "virtual full-time equivalents" in a travel program, they are not meant to be a replacement for travel buyers, according to PredictX CEO Keesup Choe.

"It is designed to help them become more effective in their role and elevate their standing within their organization," Choe said in a statement. "It empowers them to move far beyond simple reporting and achieve true autonomous program optimization."

Choe said one client, a global pharmaceutical company, currently is using Cogent, and other clients are in the pipeline to go live with it.