Held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Brighton Metropole, SpringBoard 2026 brought together over 600 business travel professionals for two days of education, leadership insight, networking and collaboration as ITM celebrated its 70th anniversary year.

Across keynote sessions, breakout discussions and interactive workshops, delegates explored how the industry is responding to growing geopolitical uncertainty, changing traveller expectations, accelerating artificial intelligence adoption and the evolving role of managed travel programmes within organisations.

SpringBoard Opening & 70 Years of ITM
The conference officially opened with reflections on ITM’s 70-year journey and how the organisation has continued to evolve alongside the changing needs of the business travel industry.

The opening sessions celebrated the strength of the ITM community, highlighting the organisation’s continued focus on connection, education and industry collaboration while also looking ahead to the future of managed travel.

Are We In A World of Shift? – Kelly Beaver MBE, Ipsos
Kelly Beaver MBE delivered one of the headline keynote sessions of the conference, exploring what Ipsos describes as the ‘Restless Decade’.

Using decades of public opinion research, Kelly examined how economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability, social division and rapid technological advancement are shaping both organisations and individuals. The session explored themes including declining optimism, increasing nostalgia, the impact of AI on society and the growing importance of trust, empathy and visible leadership during periods of disruption.

Kelly also reflected on how the business travel sector has historically demonstrated resilience and adaptability through periods of significant change.

A Responsible Conference
ITM shared several initiatives designed to ensure SpringBoard 2026 was delivered as sustainably, inclusively and responsibly as possible.

Delegates heard about partnerships with social enterprises including Stitch and The Training Department alongside initiatives supporting neurodiversity, wellbeing and delegate accessibility. The session reinforced ITM’s continued commitment to responsible event delivery and ensuring all delegates feel welcome, energised and supported throughout the conference.

The ITM Cares initiative saw buyers and sponsors come together to assemble 150 rough sleeper packs in partnership with Amplify Goods and Enterprise Mobility to support vulnerable people across Brighton.

Platinum Pathway: AI in Action
Artificial intelligence became one of the defining themes throughout SpringBoard 2026.
The Platinum Pathway sessions, led in partnership with BCD Travel, explored how AI is already transforming traveller servicing, operational workflows and booking experiences.

Speakers from Skylink and Centelli discussed practical AI implementation, governance, enterprise accountability and the importance of maintaining human oversight within increasingly automated environments.

Delegates also explored how AI could reshape disruption management, traveller communication and the wider managed travel ecosystem.

Navigating a World of Change
Industry leaders explored the challenges facing the business travel sector in an increasingly unpredictable environment.

The session focused on how organisations can remain resilient while navigating geopolitical uncertainty, changing traveller expectations and economic pressure. Discussions reinforced the importance of adaptability, communication and strong supplier partnerships as organisations continue evolving their travel programmes.

UniversiTMC Challenge
Day 2 opened with the debut of the ‘UniversiTMC Challenge’, ITM’s business travel-inspired version of University Challenge.

The light-hearted session combined travel industry knowledge, entertainment and audience participation as teams from across the TMC community competed on stage. The session reflected the strong sense of community throughout SpringBoard while also highlighting major industry developments and buyer trends.

Leadership Unfiltered: What It Actually Takes to Step Up
This leadership-focused panel explored the realities of stepping into leadership roles within the industry.

Speakers discussed resilience, judgement, influence, failure and the often-unspoken pressures that come with leadership responsibility. The session encouraged honest reflection around leadership growth, communication and learning through experience, creating an open discussion between speakers and delegates.

Breakout Sessions & Industry Discussions
Across Day 2, delegates attended a range of focused breakout sessions covering some of the industry’s most pressing topics.

Sessions explored:
• Global programme trust and visibility
• Intelligent orchestration and the future of booking technology
• Modern retailing and predictive disruption management
• Buyer priorities and supplier collaboration
• The evolution of transatlantic airline partnerships

The sessions combined strategic discussion with practical insight designed to help organisations prepare for the future of managed travel.

Building the Value of the Managed Travel Programme
One of the standout Day 2 discussions focused on how managed travel programmes communicate value internally and demonstrate their strategic importance to organisations.

Hosted as part of ITM’s Platinum Pathway in partnership with FCM, the panel explored how travel leaders can move beyond operational reporting and instead position travel programmes as business enablers aligned to wider organisational objectives. Discussions focused on stakeholder engagement, storytelling, leadership communication and demonstrating measurable programme impact in language that resonates with executive teams.

2036 Future Workshop
One of the conference’s most interactive sessions challenged delegates to imagine what business travel and society might look like in 2036 during ITM’s 80th anniversary year.

Working in teams, delegates created fictional newspaper front pages predicting the future of the industry. Themes included AI assistants, autonomous travel, hyper-personalised experiences, sustainability and increasing automation across everyday life.
The workshop encouraged delegates to think beyond incremental change and instead consider how dramatically the travel landscape could evolve over the next decade.

Jo Salter MBE – Leadership Beyond the Comfort Zone
The conference concluded with a keynote from Jo Salter MBE, Britain’s first female fast jet pilot, whose session combined humour, leadership insight and personal storytelling.
Drawing on her experiences within the RAF, Jo explored themes including resilience, overcoming barriers, leadership under pressure and the importance of stepping beyond comfort zones in order to grow.

Her keynote reinforced the importance of representation, inclusion and creating opportunities for others, while encouraging delegates to embrace challenge, continue learning and remain open to new opportunities.
 

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SpringBoard 2026 balanced future-focused discussion with strong community spirit, practical insight and honest leadership conversations.

While topics such as AI disruption, economic uncertainty and global instability shaped many of the discussions, the conference consistently returned to one central message: the future of business travel will continue to be driven by people, relationships, adaptability and collaboration.

As ITM celebrated its 70th anniversary year, SpringBoard reinforced the organisation’s position as a platform for connection, learning and innovation across the business travel sector.