Game Changer Individual Award Winner – Amex GBT

Congratulations on winning the Game Changer Award! What does this recognition mean to you?

This award is an enormous honour, particularly because I know there are so many people in our industry who could have won this accolade.

It feels great to have my work recognised, particularly the work we've done to reinvent how we conduct hotel sourcing in corporate travel. Amex GBT isn't done yet with our mission to reinvent this space, but this recognition of the journey so far is very warmly received.

What challenge or opportunity first sparked the change or transformation that led to this achievement?

Hotel sourcing has long been recognised as a pain point for our industry. Old-fashioned reporting, lengthy manual processes and complex ways of visualising data have meant that, for many people, sourcing hasn't been an enjoyable task.

With our newly defined Hotel Lobby solution, we've been able to change that narrative by providing clean, clear insights that make understanding hotel offerings much easier. We've also introduced AI-powered capabilities to make the process even simpler.

Looking back, what was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome along the way?

Without a shadow of a doubt, change management has been the biggest hurdle.

Over the course of 18 months, we changed the way our teams and clients conducted sourcing activities, altering a process that had been in place for more than 10 years.

I knew the change we were making was critical, but that doesn't mean it was easy. Getting people to adopt a fundamentally different way of working takes time, communication and persistence.

What advice would you give to others looking to drive meaningful change in the business travel industry?

Don't be afraid to challenge the norms. Sometimes we need to break things to build them back up to a higher standard.

If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, with no limits on budget or agenda, where would you go and why?

Greek island hopping would be the dream.

Why? A couple of weeks of absolute peace and quiet sounds pretty perfect to me!

Discover all of our 2026 Achievement Award winners and browse the event images.