In just two weeks, the GBTA | Global Business Travel Association 2026 Convention kicks off in Chicago, bringing together thousands of leaders shaping the future of business travel.

Ahead of the event, Jeff Borman and Matt Brown sat down with Katharine Farrell, Vice President, Americas at GBTA, to talk about what's happening in the industry.

While AI is dominating the headlines, travel managers are navigating geopolitical uncertainty, evolving traveler expectations, tighter budgets, duty of care, and a rapidly changing technology landscape.

In this episode:

🛎️ The big themes at GBTA 2026.

🛎️ Why travel managers are more strategic than ever.

🛎️ How AI is actually being used inside corporate travel programs today.

🛎️ The unique challenges facing small and mid-market organizations.

🛎️ Whether the traditional RFP still has a place in an AI-first world.

Daniel Kuperschmid has spent his career helping people discover exceptional places, first through three decades with Hyatt Hotels and now as President and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority.

Daniel joins No Show to explore what it really takes to steward one of America's most visited destinations, balancing tourism, local communities, government, infrastructure, and long-term city building. We get into:

• Why and how San Diego is evolving its reputation.
• Where the majority of visitors are coming from.
• A tourism ecosystem that has to account for dollars coming in but also for the quality of life of the people who live and work in San Diego.
• The future of the San Diego Convention Center, environmental and social concerns, and the role of Measure C.
• Classy hidden neighborhoods, restaurants, and cultural gems every visitor should experience.
• The power of Comic-Con!

Joff Romoff, Google Cloud's Global Head - Travel & Hospitality, unpacks the real and imagined cultural gaps between Silicon Valley and the hotel industry. We talk how tech companies are asset-light and data-forward, while hoteliers are asset-heavy and still inclined to think of the room, not the customer, as the product.

And, how AI is (very) quickly transforming how travelers get inspired via longer, richer prompts, demand for activity outranking accommodation, and a strong desire to trust the new infrastructure of search.

But AI's real value is reducing friction, not obliterating human experience. The industry is now in an all-out technology arms race, with OTAs, brands, suppliers, and pretty much everybody else you can think of on the front lines.