Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future

Ariel Cohen: How Navan Leveled Up with a Pivot to AI

Jan 25, 2024

Ariel Cohen, CEO of Navan, talks about how the company shifted towards AI, solving travel challenges, the impact of AI on company growth, building a global team, AI as a platform shift, and the future of AI at Navan.

41:00

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Episode guests

Ariel Cohen

AI Summary

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Navan leveraged AI, specifically generative AI, to enhance their travel services and provide a personalized experience for travelers and managers.

AI has transformed Navan's culture, enabling the company to achieve more with a smaller engineering team while delivering increased efficiency, improved product offerings, and expanded customer base.

Deep dives

Navan's Journey and Travel Pain Points

Ariel Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Navan, shares the story behind the company's creation and the travel pain points that inspired their solution. With experience working in big companies and managing global teams, Cohen recognized the enormous gap between the technology and service expectations of travelers and what they actually experienced. From the cumbersome process of booking trips to the complexities of expense management, Cohen saw an opportunity to create a solution that would provide a seamless travel experience and efficient expense management. Navan aims to simplify and optimize the entire travel process, from booking to expense reporting.

Introduction

2min

Solving Travel Industry Challenges

16min

The Impact of AI on Company Growth

8min

Taking Action and Building in a Global Team

4min

AI as a Platform Shift and Forward-Looking Opportunities

10min

Excitement for the Future of AI and Job Openings at Nivan

2min

Generative AI took the world by storm with the launch of ChatGPT, and set companies worldwide scrambling to catch up to the possibilities. Navan, the only integrated business travel and expense solution, knew it had to run hard towards AI. Navan co-founder and CEO Ariel Cohen sat down with host and Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano to discuss the mechanics of shifting a big company on the fly, and how Navan managed to pull it off.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction to Ariel Cohen and Navan

(06:39) How Navan makes business travel less of a headache

(10:11) Navan leverages personalization to make bookings more efficient

(12:38) Leveling up on expense tracking through innovation

(17:34) How a company with a $500 million run rate ran hard towards AI

(23:29) UI’s post-AI future

(25:29) The mechanics of pivoting a 3,000 person team in a new direction

(29:09) Will AI be a platform shift?

(33:07) Navan uses AI to make expenses a breeze

(39:09) A look into the year ahead for Navan

(39:58) Is Navan hiring?

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