Business Travel in 2026: What Finance Leaders Must Prepare For

SAP Concur blog states that business travel in 2026 is a strategic growth driver, with 97% of CFOs saying it's important and 82% expecting budget increases. However, 89% say travel managers need to better justify travel's value. AI poses new risks: 92% of CFOs believe employees may use AI to falsify expenses, and 60% report increasing fraud. Meanwhile, 64% expect AI automation to catch more errors and fraud. Cybersecurity is a financial concern, with 45% ranking data breach risk as top travel concern; IBM puts average breach cost at $4.4 million.