A complimentary half-day virtual event (content is now available on demand!)
Together, let’s define the future of travel.Why you should join
As the demand for travel continues to increase, the travel community has the opportunity to come together to define the future of travel.
Hear from industry trailblazers and travel executives during thought-provoking presentations and engaging panels. Whether you are new to the industry or a veteran, this event will challenge the status quo of travel while providing guidance into exploring new ways of thinking.
Topics we explored
Scott Kirby is chief executive officer of United Airlines. He served as the company’s president from 2016 to 2020 and was responsible for United’s operations, marketing, sales, alliances, network planning and revenue management. As president, he played a pivotal role in enabling United’s cultural transformation and executing the company’s strategic growth plan. Elected in December 2020, Scott serves as the Chairman of the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board (CEB). He is also a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors.
Prior to joining United, Scott was president of American Airlines from 2013 to 2016 and president of US Airways from 2006 to 2013. He is a well-known industry veteran, with a broad and accomplished three-decade-long career in significant leadership roles within the airline industry. Scott started his career at the Pentagon and in the technology sector.
Scott has bachelor’s degrees in computer science and operations research from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a Master of Science in operations research from George Washington University. He is married and has seven children.
Catherine Dolton has been Chief Sustainability Officer & Vice President, Global Corporate Responsibility at IHG Hotels & Resorts since 2018 and is responsible for overseeing IHG’s corporate responsibility strategy. Catherine’s role includes leading IHG’s sustainability agenda and its strategic approach to supporting communities globally, which includes its flagship programme Journey to Tomorrow.
Previously, Catherine was Head of Investor Relations at IHG, and was responsible for all activities and communications with investors and sellside analysts globally. Catherine joined IHG in 2001, when she spent five years leading the global hotel audit and Europe Middle East and Africa corporate audit teams. Before coming to IHG, Catherine spent three years with Ernst & Young, in their Consumer Products external audit function.
Catherine has a Natural Sciences degree from the University of Cambridge and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of England and Wales, treasurer of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, and a member of the Business in the Community Global Goals Leadership Team.
Charlie Sultan has recently been named as the President of Concur Travel. Prior to this role, he was the Chief Operating Officer and SVP of Strategic Planning for SAP Concur. Charlie’s teams were responsible for understanding Concur’s performance, analysis and making product & market entry/exit and investment recommendations. Charlie has also served as the SVP of Global Supplier and Content Strategy at SAP Concur where he led the team that is responsible for ensuring complete travel content for Concur Travel and for Travel Supplier participation in TripLink.
Charlie spent 15 years at American Airlines in 11 different roles from Revenue Management, Finance, Corporate Strategy, Sales Planning, Agency & Corporate Sales, Distribution Strategy, Small Business Products and Loyalty Marketing.
He directed the activities of American Airlines' $300 million+ Distribution strategy, which included the establishment of a direct connect -the precursor for NDC, and renegotiated agreements with the GDS and OTAs. Charlie has served on the Board of Directors for Cleartrip and Nor1, prior to their acquisitions.
Charlie has a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He currently resides in Parker, Colorado with his wife and 3 children.
Fiona leads our Global Product & Solution Marketing team at SAP Concur. Helping companies confidently manage employee spend by leading go-to-market launches, offers & market awareness across the travel, expense and invoice solutions portfolio. She joined 11+ year ago (via TripIt acquisition) & remains passionate about employee experience. Fiona lives in Palo Alto, with her husband Euan and three children.
As the CEO of UNMUTED, a training and development company, Rachel Druckenmiller is on a mission to humanize the workplace by igniting resilience, connection, engagement and compassion in organizations, leaders and teams. Recognized by The Daily Record as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women of 2022, Forbes as a Next1000 honoree in 2021, the #1 Health Promotion Professional in the U.S. by the Wellness Council of America in 2015, a 40 Under 40 Game Changer in 2019, Rachel is a national thought leader in the field of employee engagement and wellbeing.
She has facilitated nearly 300 interactive learning experiences since March 2020 as a keynote speaker, workshop facilitator and leadership trainer. Rachel has spoken to leaders at a wide range of organizations, including Citizens Bank, Sherwin-Williams, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Education Association and the American Heart Association. Follow her on LinkedIn, subscribe to her UnmuteYourself LinkedIn newsletter and learn more about her work on her website at www.UnmutedLife.com.
Louis Rosenberg PhD is a pioneer in the field of human-computer interaction. Thirty years ago he developed the first augmented reality system for the U.S. Air Force. He then founded the early virtual reality company Immersion Corporation (1993) and the early augmented reality company Outland Research (2004). He is currently CEO and Chief Scientist of Unanimous AI, a company that amplifies the intelligence of human groups using AI algorithms modeled on biological swarms. Rosenberg earned his PhD from Stanford University, was a professor at California State University and has been awarded over 300 patents for his innovations.
Julie Avenel is Vice President & General Manager for Global Business Consulting (GBC), leading an experienced team of over 150 professionals located throughout all regions. She is responsible for selling and delivering consultancy services, which GBC achieves by delivering premium value to our clients through a range of tailor-made engagements including content sourcing, program optimization, and travel program management. Julie brings with her a vision for a “next-gen” consultancy, one keenly focused on client needs for innovative engagement & innovative approaches renewing the way we look at corporate travel. Julie leads GBC in creating relevant solutions, compelling clients to partner with us, and creating trust for long-term partnerships.
Julie joined American Express GBT in 2011 where she was in charge of Business Development & Strategic Planning for France, Belgium & Netherlands. In 2016, Julie moved to Global Supplier Relations where she led the team in Europe overseeing some of the largest supplier partnerships & and was responsible for supplier revenue growth for France, Spain, BENELUX, and Italy. She was as well overseeing the global media team.
Prior to joining GBT, Julie spent 4 years within the Boston Consulting Group working on assignments in the travel sector in different countries. She also spent one year before that in market research with the Accor group.
Julie is based in Lyon, France. She graduated from University of Brighton (UK), and Normandy Business School (FR), and holds a Masters in German Literature in History. She speaks fluent French, English, and German.
As the Associate Director of Global Travel and Expense at Alkermes, Inc. Lindsay Balram leads a highly skilled and experienced team who have created an ever evolving corporate travel and expense program across a global bio-tech organization. Her notable passion for “thinking outside the box” and ensuring that traveler safety and experience remain at the forefront of Alkermes’ travel program has set the stage for her role as a thought leader within the travel space. Lindsay has progressed her career in the industry over the course of two decades and is currently on the Board of Directors for the New England Business Travel Association where she oversees chapter meeting content and execution. She currently lives in Rhode Island with her husband Steven and their dog Maximillian.
David Baltaxe is the President and Chief Intelligence Officer of Unanimous A.I. In addition to leading the business operations of the company, he oversees the application of the company’s groundbreaking Swarm AI® technologies to address issues facing clients and society at large.
David has held leadership roles in research, analysis, and market intelligence at advisory firms focused on Internet, Telecommunications, and Sustainability markets. David’s experience spans tech start-ups shattering traditional business models to global corporations seeking to harness disruptive technologies to survive or grow in the face of rapid change.
David holds a Master’s Degree with a specialization in computer-mediated communications from the University of Florida. In his spare time, David is an amateur beekeeper and Ultimate Frisbee player. He lives with his family near Washington, DC.
Jeff Berk is the CEO of Tripkicks and leads a passionate team of experts working to help organizations achieve their corporate and social initiatives by influencing traveler behavior. As a former Managing Director with Acquis Consulting Group, Jeff has over a decade of experience helping enterprise organizations revolutionize their travel, expense, and procurement functions. Jeff is an industry thought leader, advocating for the focus of #TravelerExperience and innovation to make business travel better.
Scott Berliner began his Hyatt career 20 years ago as a graduate of the University of Massachusetts hotel program. He has held many different positions within Hyatt ranging from operations to property sales, regional sales and currently global sales. Scott has gained a comprehensive approach to the hotel industry through experiences at large urban properties like the Hyatt Grand Central New York, Grand Hyatt San Francisco and Grand Hyatt San Diego; lifestyle branded hotels like the Hyatt Centric Wall Street and the Andaz 5th Avenue amongst others.
As Director, Global Sales, Scott is tasked with strategically growing many of Hyatt’s key accounts across the globe for the entire Hyatt portfolio. Scott takes the lead on strategy, client communications, partnership opportunities, and much, much more.
Martin Biermann leads a global team of product and IT professionals to deliver smart and innovative solutions in the areas of data management, sourcing and audit, search and booking, and payments for HRS’ global customer base. Biermann is a serial startup entrepreneur and held various technology leadership positions in digital economy companies, including Rocket Internet, Dropbox and Evernote. He is a member of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Technology Committee and is a regular speaker on digital innovation at global industry events hosted by GBTA and The BTN Group.
Tracie Carillo is a travel industry veteran with over 25 years of travel technology expertise. Ms. Carillo specializes in aligning new technology innovation to the underlying root issue of the end user's needs. With a passion for sustainability, staying ahead of the trend and influencing the future, her voice resonates in today's business travel marketplace. Tracie is currently the Senior Vice President at Travel Incorporated, overseeing the Business Development and Marketing divisions with a focus on new technology initiatives.
Ralph, is a senior member of the SAP Concur team serving as Thought Leader - Travel and Expense Technology Solutions. He assists the product development teams, the global sales organizations and company marketing efforts regarding SAP Concurs travel and expense solutions.
Previously he was the Vice President of Global Mobility managing the Travel, Corp. Card and Lease Car programs at both SAP and SAP Concur. He is a thirty eight year travel industry subject matter expert having established and managed the global travel, expense and card programs at AMD, Cisco Systems, Oracle, and Salesforce.com before joining Concur, and then SAP/Concur into his present role. In December 2019, Ralph was inaugurated into the BTN Business Travel Hall of Fame.
Recognized for his vision, innovation and leadership style, Ralph and his past teams have also been the recipients of numerous travel and expense industry awards to include:
Chris is a seasoned business development professional who helps enterprise organizations move their employees, customers, and products anywhere in the world.
Sally Crotty serves as a Senior Consultant and Global Sustainability Subject Matter Expert at TCG for Travel, Meetings, Payment and Expense. Her expertise supports our clients and partners with strategies to drive their sustainability initiatives. Sally has worked with many clients adopting TCG's TCO-TMPE methodology with focus on the 18th component, Sustainability, to better manage and gain visibility into spend, compliance and duty of care.
Sally brings over 30 years of extensive experience in the industry with expertise in corporate travel management, online booking technology, program optimization, consolidation, compliance and integration. She is passionate about sustainability practices and developments within the business travel industry.
Oren Geshuri is Deloitte’s T&E Practice Leader. He has over 20 years of experience in technology strategy, implementation, and operations. For the past 10 years he has been focusing on the SAP Concur suite of products across the entire P2P workstream, focusing on spend management automation and digitization. He has worked on implementations of multiple flavors of ERP software and cross-system integrations across various industries and verticals.
Michelle’s travel career spans over 30 years, including 16 years with a travel management company, as a dedicated corporate travel consultant for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. In 2008 she joined Ritchie Bros. in the role she currently holds as Travel Administration Manager. Michelle is an active volunteer with TAMS (Travel and Meeting Society) and is the current Co-Chair. She has also sat on the Board of Director’s for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and has served the industry participating on committees, leading buyer roundtables and education forums; has been a speaker, moderator and panelist at many travel-related conferences and events.
Dynamic, strategic & successful leader with over 30 years’ experience in the Travel Industry. Recognized for maximizing talent in organizations and building highly motivated professional teams.
Sam Hilgendorf has served as the Chief Information Officer for Fox World Travel since 2018. Sam is responsible for the vision and execution of Fox's technology portfolio, which includes IT, business intelligence, product development, and technology professional services. Under Sam's leadership, Fox has been awarded multiple Gold Magellan awards from Travel Weekly for technology innovations in travel. In 2021, Fox was recognized as a Distinguished Partner for SAP Concur for integration work with the Concur Travel platform.
Prior to joining Fox, Sam spent the majority of his career in IT consulting and professional services as a consultant and executive leader, where he helped advance the digitalization of many of the Midwest's largest organizations.
Sam and his family reside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Dorinda Hill is Manager, Product Management who manages the Biometric Capture and Enrollment portfolio for IDEMIA North America. She joined IDEMIA with experience in both consumer and commercial product management, development, and marketing. Dorinda has a successful track record in consistently garnering and translating the voice of the customer into successful market solutions.
Connie Hoen is the Director Global Audit Services at SAP Concur. In this role she works with the executive leadership of the global Service Centers to ensure compliance is being met for all Audit Service clients. She is identified as an expert in compliance and provides feedback and industry best practices as it relates to expense report compliance auditing. As part of Connie’s role, she supports the focus around Fraud and Anomalies by presenting at Compliance Control events, webinars and videos.
As the ESG & Enablement Leader for EY Travel, Meetings & Events, Valerie is key to the advancement of the overall group strategy. Her passion lies in driving a sustainable, purpose driven program. She’s keen to bring information to life in a comprehensible way for others and advancing strategy through data driven conclusions. She lends her subject matter expertise to EY client teams to drive value to external projects, focusing on business travel emissions, process improvements, policy guidance, RFP strategy and analytics.
Siva Niranjan is the Head of Climate and Environmental Sustainability for Sopra Steria Group with the overall responsibility for the company's Climate Action Strategy and the Implementation, and responding to clients, analysts, shareholders and other stakeholders on this topic. Siva is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered IT Fellow.
A co-founder and co-CEO of Smart Hotel Rate, John is a seasoned entrepreneur, having sold his 1st startup in 1999, with executive experience including American Express and 13 years in business travel. He has extensive expertise and relationships in the blockchain ecosystem dating back to 2013 and is an advisor to ConsenSys and other companies.
As Security Director, Americas for International SOS, Jeremy is responsible for providing security assistance and support for clients throughout the globe. Jeremy has an extensive background in crisis management and overseas security operations. He has also supported International SOS clients through a number of crises, including leading evacuation and assistance efforts for multiple crisis’s, throughout the globe. Prior to joining International SOS, Jeremy served as a Security Manager for several premier organizations. Jeremy served for 6 years as a Marine Corps Officer, specializing in overseas security, training, and risk management.
Marco is “value integrator” Finance Transformation Partner combing and balancing system integrator and business integrator. Marco is running international and national transformation program leveraging his deep knowledge on process, data, organization and people with SAP tools such as SAC, DW Cloud, S/4 Hana and Concur.
As Senior Vice President Global Client Team, Lisa Scott manages some of our largest customers. Most of the customers Lisa has worked with average 10 years of partnership with BCD - testament to her collaborative strategic relationships with leaders in the life science, manufacturing and engineering industries. Lisa is a leader in rolling out BCD initiatives and has extensive experience in implementation, operations, negotiations, international consolidation, and training. She is responsible for teams managing customer programs covering up to 75 countries. With more than 20 years industry experience, Lisa brings the value and the insight needed to drive global travel program success.
Hansini Sharma is Corporate Travel Practice Lead at Acquis Consulting Group. She has 13 years of experience across various aspects of the travel industry, including payments implementation of T&E, P-Card, and Virtual Cards, expense management, travel policy creation, travel program design and implementation, and category sourcing. Hansini is well versed in systems analysis, implementation, and support. She has experience with cross-functional management of business resources, technical resources, and offshore resources.
Hansini is the founder of the TAMS Incubator and on the leadership team of the broader organization. She is actively involved with the Global Business Travel Association through the Ladders program and conventions. She is a frequent speaker and contributor to business travel publications and webinars with Business Travel News and Business Travel Executive.
Prior to joining Acquis Consulting Group, Hansini was the Manager of Partnerships and Business Development at Switchfly, Inc., a San Francisco based travel technology company and worked as a Sourcing Consultant for HRS – Hotel Reservation Service. Hansini holds a Master of Business Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from The University of Texas at Austin.
Emily Shirley leads the Client Success team at Oversight and delivers best in class services for our client base. Her experiences at Oversight over the past 7 years include working with over 300 unique clients, leading front-line responsibilities for clients, and delivering value and customer satisfaction.
Shane Spyak leads Sales Development for Delta Air Lines, responsible for sales strategy and performance. Based in Atlanta, his team is responsible for contracting with all corporate and travel agency customers worldwide.
Prior to his current role, Shane led International Sales for Delta, overseeing sales teams based on six continents. He worked closely with Delta’s Joint Venture partners around the world to deliver comprehensive global air travel offerings to customers.
Throughout his 16-year career with Delta, Shane also served as the regional leader for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India (EMEAI), based in Paris, where he worked closely with Delta’s Joint Venture partners Air France - KLM and Virgin Atlantic to improve the Alliance’s value proposition and create synergies through integration. Previously, he held a similar role leading the Latin America & Caribbean division, where he led the formulation and execution of the region’s business plan, as well as sales, customer, and employee engagement. Earlier in his career, Shane played a key role in the sales integration efforts during the merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines.
Shane is passionate about creating opportunities for the next generation and serves on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement – Europe, chairing the Board’s Embracing Digital and Innovative Partnerships Committee. He’s been involved for many years and has also served on the Board of Junior Achievement – Americas.
He has also led collegiate recruiting and talent development efforts for Delta’s commercial divisions, which has resulted in the hiring of over 150 promising individuals, many of whom are now leaders at the company.
Shane holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Case Western Reserve University in his native Cleveland, Ohio.
Janine is a Senior Advisor with a wealth of experience in strategic and tactical planning, project/program management, staff training, and risk management. Based in Florida, she has over ten years of experience in global SAP Concur implementations, full-cycle project management, and global policy development. Her leadership, analytical skills and systems knowledge help project teams to develop specifications and optimal functional and technical design. She delivers quality results in a fast-paced environment, including explaining complex systems and providing extensive transition support.
Albena is procurement specialist, business travel expert and a strong advocate for designing and implementing sustainable solutions for the modern business traveller.
For the last 7+ years Albena has managed local and regional travel programs in the Nordics for Deloitte Denmark and Codan Forsikring.
Albena is a Board Member of the Danish Business Travel Association (DBTA). She is also part of GSTC Business Travel Working Group and is volunteering in some of GBTA's Sustainability projects.
Albena is a holder of Danish Business Travel Association (DBTA) Recognition Award 2019.
Ami Taylor brings almost 3 decades of Business Travel expertise to her new product strategy role at SAP Concur, helping to shape SAP Concur's global vision and direction across the travel product portfolio, providing insights on key focus areas including sustainability. Prior to her appointment at SAP Concur Ami has held various leadership roles in customer facing positions, including operations, account management, implementations and sales. In addition, she spent some time fulfilling the Travel Manager remit so has seen this unique and complex B2B industry through many lenses. In her spare time Ami co-founded Level UK and continues to collaborates with industry peers to help guide the business travel industry on its journey to Gender Balance.
Dennis Vilovic is an entrepreneur and global citizen – he has lived in 9 different countries on 3 different continents advising governments and businesses on how to increase operational efficiency using technology and data.
Before founding TROOP, he was supporting a global organization which was organizing hundreds of meetings with people coming from all over the world. That's where he realized how manual and opinion-drive meeting planning is and he thought that there must be a better way, using data and technology, to make organizing a meeting easy for anyone. That's how TROOP was born.
Katie is a builder and connector of ideas and is relentless in her pursuit of excellence! She is energized by moving organizations forward by connecting purpose to execution, deeper engagement and continual business process improvement. At Festive Road, Katie is the Client Solutions Lead working with companies to craft the right approaches to help them create better. She also leads strategy reviews, tmc and car rental sourcing processes and provides thought leadership solutions to industry suppliers bringing a vision of macro trends and how they will shape future of business travel and meetings. Katie is a frequent speaker on different business travel topics and involved with numerous industry groups such as GBTA Ladders and the GBTA Technology Committee. She has a goal to #runtheworld and complete a half marathon on every continent. When not traveling or running, you can find her playing ice hockey and coaching her sons.
Megan is a proven global security leader with a 17-year award-winning record of developing and leading global security initiatives focusing on crisis management, travel and physical security, and 24x7 operations. She has assisted clients and travelers in numerous crisis situations, including the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2015 Paris terror attacks, the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Megan has been an active member of the Overseas Security Advisory Council’s Women in Security Benchmarking Committee since 2019, and is currently the DC Analyst Roundtable membership chair.
I really enjoyed the summit, it was very informational and helpful. The speakers were very candid and personal in answering questions and shared important experiences.”
I learn so much from these events. Content is always excellent – networking opportunities abound.”
