Expedia Group's CMO on B2A: Marketing to AI Agents Is the Next Frontier

As AI agents increasingly mediate travel discovery and booking, Expedia Group is building a parallel marketing capability designed to speak directly to machines — not just people.

Speaking at Expedia Group's partner conference Explore, CMO Jochen Koedijk introduced the term "B2A" — business-to-agent — as a distinct channel alongside traditional B2C and B2B marketing. "We're focusing on how do we show up best for agents and how do we make sure your supply shows up best," Koedijk said.

The session, moderated by Clayton Nelson, VP of enterprise alliances and AI for Expedia Group, explored how travel marketers need to adapt as Phocuswright research shows travelers are increasingly willing to hand booking decisions over to AI. Nelson framed the core challenge: "Do agents make the same decisions as humans? Do they care about price in the same way? Amenities in the same way? Do agents care about loyalty? Do agents care about the brands — things that we have invested decades in?"

Uniqueness, not scale, wins in agentic search

Mahak Sharma, head of product partnerships at OpenAI, said standing out in AI agent recommendations requires differentiation. Brands that rely on generic data available to every platform will struggle. What matters is what's special about a business — and whether AI models can actually access that information.

That dynamic could level the playing field. Phocuswright director of research Alicia Schmid noted that newer, niche travel companies may benefit from B2A, since agentic recommendations reward specific offerings over brand recognition — potentially reducing reliance on paid media.

The funnel is collapsing

Kelly Covato, GM of global business development for travel at The Trade Desk, said AI is compressing the path from inspiration to booking in ways that change how performance is measured. "The funnel is absolutely collapsing," she said, adding that channels like connected TV can now function as both brand-building and performance engines simultaneously.

Koedijk echoed the urgency but advised caution: "There will be some proliferation … but we don't know where it's coming. So it's important for us to lean in, experiment, keep learning."

Schmid cautioned that the shift remains early — AI's role in trip planning is growing but still trails OTAs and general search, particularly in markets outside the U.S. "Human assistance is still more important than AI assistance in booking preferences," she said, advising companies to plan for agent and human audiences simultaneously.