SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Artificial intelligence-powered personal travel assistant app Mezi today announced the appointment of travel industry veteran Johnny Thorsen as Vice President of Travel Strategy and Partnerships to help expand the company’s growth in the corporate travel sector.
Johnny brings nearly 20 years of experience in the travel technology industry to Mezi, boasting a strong track record of innovation and helping usher in new technologies that have changed the corporate travel landscape over the years. Prior to most recently serving as a Senior Director at SAP Mobile Services, Johnny served as CEO and Co-founder of leading global travel industry cloud-based mobile communications and messaging platform ConTgo. The company was acquired by Concur in March 2013, where Johnny went on to serve as Senior Director of Strategy and Product Marketing for Concur Risk Messaging, regularly speaking with industry leaders about duty of care for corporate travel as well as Concur Risk Messaging’s future product roadmap. Earlier in his career, during what is widely considered the birth of corporate online booking engines, Johnny was part of the original online booking engine teams at both GetThere and Travelport, where he was responsible for the product marketing strategy and business development, specifically related to international market expansion.
“We’ve experienced phenomenal growth within the travel sector and found that more than 30 percent of our users turn to Mezi to book and manage their corporate travel needs,” said Swapnil Shinde, CEO and co-founder of Mezi. “As we continue to grow the business, we’re constantly looking for ways to expand the product and reach new users. Johnny’s rich industry experience is a massive asset to the business as we continue our growth and evolution in the industry, and we’re thrilled to welcome him aboard at team Mezi.”
Mezi launched in December 2015 as a virtual assistant blending chatbots with human assistance to help users discover products/services and make purchases across verticals. In response to user behavior -- in its first 10 months of existence, travel requests grew three times faster than personal shopping requests on Mezi -- Mezi focused its efforts on creating a powerful mobile travel booking and management experience in November 2016. Leveraging its custom-built AI and machine learning to offer highly personalized, expert assistance for consumers across every aspect of travel planning and booking, Mezi has caught the eye of travel consumers and businesses alike.
“About a year ago, I took notice of the potential impact of travel bots on the corporate travel industry, and after seeing the level of disruptive innovation created by the Mezi team I realized I had to be a part of this exciting development,” said Johnny Thorsen, Vice President of Travel Strategy and Partnerships, Mezi. “Ten years ago, our team at ConTgo created the concept of automated mobile communication for corporate travel, and now the time has come for the industry to evolve from a simple messaging engine to advanced AI-driven conversational services, designed to simplify the life of the corporate traveler and enable travel suppliers to engage with travelers in new ways.”
Through major partnerships with travel category leaders like Expedia and Priceline, Mezi has access to details for hundreds of thousands of flights and hotels around the world; applying its mobile discovery and personalization functionality to this wealth of information, Mezi creates efficiency and a seamless experience for the end-user researching and booking travel.
To learn more about Mezi’s complete personal travel concierge experience, visit https://mezi.com.
About Mezi
Mezi is a travel concierge and booking platform that blends the most advanced AI-powered chatbots with human assistance to help users book and manage travel accommodations. Mezi allows travelers to plan and book their entire travel via messaging while providing a personalized and curated experience that goes beyond just discovery. Mezi addresses the pain points in travel booking by eliminating repetition and creating a new level of efficiency for the travel agent and a seamless experience for the end-user. Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneurs Swapnil Shinde and Snehal Shinde, Mezi is now available on iOS and via SMS. Mezi was the 2017 Appy Awards winner in the Travel & Tourism category. Learn more at https://mezi.com.
