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Cognizant, Travelport, and Anthropic Collaborate for AI-Powered Travel Technology

In a groundbreaking move anticipated to reshape the travel industry, Cognizant has partnered with Travelport and Anthropic to implement an AI transformation strategy utilizing Anthropic's Claude. The goal of this collaboration is to modernize the methods by which Travelport builds, tests, and maintains its travel retail and distribution platforms, ensuring that airlines, hotels, travel management companies, and online travel agencies have rapid access to AI innovations.

Travel technology has faced great challenges due to systems developed for previous eras, resulting in increased operational costs. Travel agencies often grapple with manually assembling complex itineraries, leading to inefficiencies. The shift towards AI tools for travel search has created a significant gap between user expectations and system capabilities. This strategic partnership aims to bridge this gap through intelligent infrastructure, enabling a seamless transition from AI-driven travel intent to confirmed bookings.

For travel agencies and travel management companies (TMCs), Travelport's platforms will now take on cognitive tasks typically performed by human agents, such as quickly identifying relevant options and automating communication and rebooking processes. For instance, an agent organizing a business trip could suggest routes statistically less likely to experience delays. Travel agencies utilizing this technology could save even one hour per agent daily, translating to substantial productivity gains across large TMCs.

The nature of the challenge extends to online travel agencies, where travelers increasingly use AI tools for trip planning, but existing transaction systems struggle to interpret the intricacies of their needs. Travelport's MCP-based architecture enables the direct translation of conversational inquiries into confirmed bookings, effectively converting a potential capacity gap into a tangible commercial opportunity. According to Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant, the travel industry relies on some of the most intricate technological infrastructures, indicating that the companies prepared to invest in this infrastructure will lead the market.

The importance of this partnership is further emphasized by John Mangelaars, CEO of Travelport. He believes that aligning with Cognizant and Anthropic empowers Travelport with exceptional AI capabilities. While Anthropic provides the advanced AI models and tools, Cognizant adds engineering talent to deploy these capabilities on a large scale. Additionally, Travelport offers the travel infrastructure needed to connect these innovative tools with the real-world contexts of distribution and bookings.

Moreover, Anthropic's development of the MCP protocol allows AI agents to communicate directly with external systems and data, showcasing their commitment to safety, reliability, and controllability—essential traits in a data-sensitive environment where errors can have significant consequences.

This initiative is not limited to a pilot phase; the partnership aspires to fundamentally change how Travelport will construct its systems at scale. Initially focusing on Travelport Trip Services, which manages bookings, communications, refunds, and service processes, the project is established on Travelport's cloud-native platform, preparing for an imminent significant release. The first customer-oriented capabilities are expected to launch this year.

Cognizant integrates Claude into its engineering platforms and processes, including Neuro-san, the open-source library behind Cognizant's Neuro® AI multi-agent enhancer. This integration will facilitate AI-supported code development, testing, and pull-request assessments. Notably, Claude’s large context window will analyze Travelport’s codebases, illuminating the embedded business logic that complicates corporate modernization.

Through this partnership, Cognizant aims to aid organizations in transitioning from AI testing to large-scale implementation, leveraging industry expertise and comprehensive system integration. This collaboration represents a continuation of the strategic partnership established in November 2025 between Cognizant and Anthropic.

Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) has positioned itself as a provider of AI development tools and technological services, adeptly bridging the gap between investments in AI and business value by delivering comprehensive AI solutions tailored for clients. From integrating unique organizational contexts into technological systems that enhance human potential to delivering measurable returns and maintaining competitiveness in an evolving landscape, Cognizant stands at the forefront of this progression.

For more information on Cognizant and their initiatives, visit www.cognizant.com.

Travelport, headquartered in London, operates in over 165 countries, focusing on bridging hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers to streamline booking processes. For additional insights, visit www.travelport.com.