How Perk's AI Strategy Is Redefining Business Travel and Spend Management

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-13

When Nikita Miller stepped into the role of Chief Product Officer at Perk in September 2025, she walked into a company in the middle of a major transformation. The Barcelona-founded scale-up, formerly known as TravelPerk, had just rebranded and was pushing far beyond its roots in business travel. The mission now? To build an AI-native ecosystem that handles not just trips, but every dollar spent along the way. That means integrating acquired companies like Yokoy, expanding aggressively into the U.S. market, and rethinking how employees interact with corporate travel and expenses. It's a bold pivot, and Miller is at the center of it all. ### The Problem: Killing 'Shadow Work' Miller describes the company's core focus as eliminating what she calls "shadow work." That's the invisible, repetitive admin that eats up hours of employees' days. Think about the last time you had to reconcile a receipt, chase down an invoice, or manually book a hotel that fit within corporate policy. That's shadow work. Perk wants to automate all of that. The goal is to free up people to focus on the stuff that actually matters—the strategic, high-value tasks that move the business forward. It's not just about convenience; it's about changing how work gets done. ### AI Isn't Here to Replace You There's a lot of fear swirling around AI and job security, but Miller doesn't buy into the doom-and-gloom narrative. She argues that companies are asking the wrong question. Instead of wondering if AI will replace employees, leaders should ask how it can create more space for human judgment. AI can handle invoice reconciliation, generate reports, and manage routine approvals. But the big-picture decisions—the ones that require strategic judgment and a deep understanding of why the business is heading in a certain direction—those stay firmly in human hands. The technology handles the tedious stuff; people handle the thinking. ### New Roles, Not Fewer Roles One of the most interesting points Miller makes is about company structures. There's a common assumption that AI-driven businesses will need fewer people. She pushes back on that hard. In many cases, AI is actually creating new kinds of work and driving demand for different skill sets. Systems thinking, for example, is becoming incredibly valuable. As companies build interconnected AI agents that touch multiple parts of the organization, you need people who understand how those systems interact. That's a new role, not a vanishing one. ### Perk's Agentic Future Perk isn't just talking about AI; it's building it into the product. The company has rolled out technology that connects travel, spend, invoices, and events, so users can find information across platforms without jumping through hoops. Personalization is also a big bet, using years of historical data to improve recommendations for individual travelers. For CFOs and administrators, that means better visibility into policies, approvals, and costs. For employees, it means less friction and more time back in their day. ### Going Global, U.S. Style Miller is candid about the challenges of expansion. Building across multiple European markets, with all their regulatory and cultural complexity, has been tough—but it's also prepared Perk for the U.S. market. The expectations around business travel and financial products in America are different, and Perk isn't treating the U.S. as just another European market. Instead, the company has recruited local teams and is rolling out a localization strategy. It's a deliberate, ground-up approach to winning over American customers. ### Backing the Vision with Real Money That expansion is being funded by a recent $315 million credit facility (converted from €300 million). The capital is being directed across several key areas: - AI and product development - Spend management and invoicing - Corporate cards - Incubation of new ideas for employees and the Office of the CFO It's a clear signal that Perk is serious about becoming a dominant player in the travel and spend management space. ### A '100-Year Company' in the Making Looking ahead, Miller describes Perk's ambition to build what the leadership calls a "100-year company." That's not just about getting bigger; it's about creating a lasting business that removes unnecessary administrative burdens and lets employees spend more time on meaningful, productive work. It's a long-term vision, and Miller seems genuinely excited about the journey. For anyone watching the intersection of AI, travel, and corporate finance, Perk is definitely a company to keep an eye on.