Hotlist 2026

Vibe named on The Business Travel Magazine’s Tech Hotlist 2026

We’re pleased to have been named on The Business Travel Magazine’s Tech Hotlist 2026, recognising Vibe’s work in bringing the first live MCP server to managed business travel.

The Hotlist highlights the technology and companies making a real impact across the business travel industry, and our inclusion comes after we put MCP into production earlier this year.

Bringing MCP to managed travel

MCP, or Model Context Protocol, provides a standard way for AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude to connect securely with external systems and services.

For business travel, that opens up a significant opportunity.

Rather than asking travellers to move into another new platform or interface, Vibe’s MCP server allows AI assistants to connect directly with the travel technology and content that TMCs already use.

In practical terms, it means a traveller can have a conversation with an AI assistant about a trip, search for suitable travel options and interact with their TMC’s existing travel ecosystem, all through a conversational interface.

The important bit is what sits behind it. The TMC remains at the centre of the experience, with its existing technology, content, servicing and commercial relationships powering the journey.

From idea to live technology

When we started working seriously with MCP, it was still a relatively new concept outside the AI and developer communities.

Seven months ago, much of the travel industry was still asking what MCP stood for. Since then, interest in the protocol and the role of AI agents in travel has accelerated quickly.

We wanted to do more than talk about what might be possible.

Our development team focused on getting MCP working in a real managed travel environment, connecting AI assistants into the systems TMCs already operate rather than building another standalone AI experience alongside them.

That resulted in Vibe putting the first live MCP server in managed travel into production.

Why it matters for TMCs

We believe conversational and agentic AI will become an increasingly important way for travellers to interact with travel services.

That does not mean the infrastructure behind business travel disappears. If anything, it makes those connections more important.

Travel policy, negotiated content, traveller profiles, approvals, servicing and the wider TMC ecosystem still need to sit behind the experience. MCP provides a way of making those capabilities accessible to a new generation of AI-powered interfaces.

For TMCs, the opportunity is to embrace those interfaces without giving up the technology, relationships and expertise they have spent years building.

That is what makes MCP particularly interesting to us at Vibe.

Nice to get the nod

Being included on The Business Travel Magazine’s Tech Hotlist 2026 is a welcome bit of recognition for the team who have worked to turn the idea into something real.

A big thank you to Bev Fearis, Kirsty Hicks and The Business Travel Magazine team for including Vibe.

And an even bigger thank you to the Vibe development team for doing the difficult work behind the scenes to get this technology out of a presentation and into production.

Seven months ago, most of the industry was still asking what MCP was.

Now it is becoming part of the conversation about where business travel technology goes next.

We’re pleased to have been one of the ones who got there first.

Want to see Vibe’s MCP server in action? Get in touch with the Vibe team to arrange a demo.