Service Excellence Individual Award Winner – Clarasight

Congratulations on winning the Service Excellence Award! What does this recognition mean to you?

This is the first award I've actually won. I'd been shortlisted twice before, so I won't pretend I'm not chuffed. Third time lucky, as it turns out.

What matters most is where the award comes from and the judges who voted for me. The people in business travel are why I've stayed in the industry for 16 years. They're the ones getting travellers home at 2am, solving problems most people never hear about, simply because they care.

Having that community recognise the way I support them means a great deal. If winning this award helps me reach more travel industry peers and bring them along on my AI learning journey, then it will have a lasting and meaningful impact.

What does exceptional service mean to you in today's business travel environment?

For me, it comes down to two things: being honest and being useful.

I created a Claude project called Make Travel Managers Superheroes. The goal is to free travel managers from admin so they can focus on being the heroes of their own travel programmes. Or, as Karen Hutchings puts it, removing the "grunt work". I use AI to tackle the repetitive tasks that nobody really wants to do but everyone needs to. 

There are plenty of big promises around AI, but I don't think most people are yet seeing those productivity gains in their day-to-day work. If anything, many people feel busier and more overwhelmed than ever.

That's why good service means helping people cut through the hype and giving them something practical they can use immediately. Something they can take back to their own programme and put into practice, rather than another webinar they've forgotten by lunchtime. When everyone's feeling overwhelmed, the best thing I can be is clear, honest and firmly on their side.

Can you share an example of a moment where going above and beyond made a real difference?

The clearest example is the AI learning programme I created for our CTAN community.

When we surveyed members about their confidence using AI, 88% said they had little or no confidence. Many experienced travel professionals were worried they were being left behind, so I built a training programme to help change that.

I spent a lot of time understanding how travel managers spend their working days and reflecting on my own experience in the role. Every session is built around solving real tasks that people face every week, so attendees leave with something that's already working for them.

No question is too basic, and nobody is made to feel silly for asking. I built the entire programme in Claude, which feels quite fitting. Using AI to show travel professionals there's nothing to fear, while giving them more time to focus on the work that really matters.

How do you consistently maintain high standards while balancing competing priorities?

The biggest difference comes from understanding where AI genuinely helps and where a task still needs human judgement to start it or finish it. Knowing where that line sits is what helps me maintain quality when everything is competing for attention.

The one rule I never break is that nothing leaves my desk without being checked. If I'm sending analysis to a client, every figure is sense-checked before it reaches a meeting. A single incorrect number in a cost or carbon report can send a travel manager in the wrong direction, so I'd always rather be slightly slower and right.

AI now does a lot of the heavy lifting, but I always complete the final review myself. I treat it like an assistant I'd never allow to send something in my name unchecked. I'm also realistic about what I can take on. I'd rather do three things well than ten things badly. When everything feels urgent, I focus on what matters most that day, and the rest can wait.

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

Costa Rica would be my dream destination.

It's one of the few places where I could go scuba diving, trek through the jungle and relax on a beautiful beach with a cocktail, all in the same trip. I'd love to travel around the country properly, exploring a different region for each experience rather than trying to fit everything into one place.

A big part of the appeal is Costa Rica's commitment to protecting its environment. It runs almost entirely on renewable energy and has successfully reversed decades of deforestation. After spending years working in sustainability, that's exactly the kind of place I'd love to experience first-hand.

And I'd definitely make time to visit a sloth sanctuary. I absolutely love sloths, so seeing them up close would be amazing!

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