PNS| HYDERABAD
In a world where corporate travel is evolving from spreadsheets and chaos to smart, seamless systems, CoTrav stands out as a quiet revolution in motion. At the heart of this transformation is Vinod Kumar Sah, Co-Founder and CTO, whose vision bridges enterprise-grade tech with the human demands of travel. From integrating AI-powered decision-making to ensuring sustainability and global scalability, Vinod isn’t just building a travel platform—he’s engineering a smarter way for businesses to move.
Excerpts from the interview:
You’ve led CoTrav’s digital transformation from the front — what was your initial vision when you took on the role of CTO, and how has that evolved?
My journey started with a deep interest in creating scalable technology solutions that address real-world challenges. After spending several years in product and engineering roles, I identified a significant gap in how companies manage corporate travel—particularly in areas like control, compliance, and user experience. This realization became the foundation for co-founding CoTrav. As CTO, my focus has been on designing a resilient and adaptable tech platform that caters to multi-company setups, enables real-time bookings, and integrates seamlessly with finance and HR systems. I believe technology shouldn’t merely support business operations—it should actively propel them forward. I’ve led the development of an API-first, enterprise-grade platform that simplifies corporate travel management. In addition to the tech vision, I’ve built and scaled an agile engineering team, fostered product innovation, and played an active role in strategy and fundraising.
What has been your biggest challenge in aligning technology with CoTrav’s business goals, and how did you overcome it?
A major challenge lies in managing fragmented data and outdated systems across various service providers like airlines, hotels, and ground transportation. Unifying these into a single platform means working around inconsistent APIs, legacy technologies, and provider-specific limitations. Another significant hurdle is striking the right balance between customization and scalability—particularly in enterprise travel, where clients often have distinct policies, approval processes, and compliance needs. Adding to that is the complexity of delivering secure, real-time performance while ensuring a smooth user experience across both mobile and web interfaces.
You’re integrating AI and machine learning into its offerings — how exactly do these technologies improve cost forecasting, compliance, and policy optimization for your clients?
We use AI and machine learning to help our clients make smarter, faster decisions. For cost forecasting, our system analyzes historical travel data—like seasonality, vendor pricing patterns, and team behavior—to predict future spending. This helps finance teams set more accurate budgets and avoid surprises. On the compliance side, we use ML models to flag unusual bookings—like out-of-policy hotel stays, skipped approvals, or route deviations—so companies can act in real time, not weeks later during audits. For policy optimization, we look at how employees are actually booking and traveling. The system identifies patterns—for example, when a policy is too restrictive and leads to frequent exceptions—and suggests adjustments that balance cost control with employee convenience.
How do integrations with HRMS and SAP enhance the overall travel management experience for enterprises?
When integrating with platforms like SAP or HRMS, our first step is to understand how the client utilizes these systems—whether it’s for managing employee records, approvals, or budgeting. With that context, we establish secure API connections or, when APIs aren’t an option, implement file-based integrations such as SFTP. We take a meticulous approach to data mapping to ensure smooth and accurate data flow—covering elements like employee IDs, cost centers, and travel policies. Depending on the client’s requirements, we enable real-time data exchange or schedule syncs to align with their system capabilities.
With data security being critical in B2B SaaS, how is CoTrav ensuring robust security and user data protection across platforms?
We implement a comprehensive, multi-layered security strategy that includes secure coding standards, role-based access controls, and robust encryption for data both in transit and at rest. Our systems are hosted on reliable cloud platforms that undergo regular audits, and we apply strict API authentication measures. But our commitment to security goes beyond just technology. We also emphasize strong operational processes—conducting routine vulnerability assessments, maintaining detailed audit logs, and ensuring full compliance with data privacy laws like GDPR. For us, security isn’t just a requirement—it’s a core part of our culture, embedded into every phase of our development and operational workflows.
From a tech perspective, how does CoTrav ensure a seamless experience across all touchpoints — from booking to invoicing to post-travel service?
We’ve built CoTrav as a tightly integrated, API-based platform where every touchpoint—booking, approval, invoicing, and support—talks to each other in real time. Our backend is modular and event-driven, so once a booking is made, the system automatically triggers policy checks, generates approvals, and syncs data with finance for invoicing. The technology is developed keeping in mind how important post booking support and post travel support is there for the client. Our technology allows our support teams to give a seamless experience to the client by attending to all their queries and resolving them real-time.
Can you elaborate on the role of your multi-user apps in simplifying workflows for admins, approvers, and employees?
Our multi-user apps are designed with role-specific experiences in mind, so each stakeholder sees only what’s relevant to them—nothing more, nothing less. For employees, the app makes it easy to request, book, or modify travel within policy, with smart defaults and auto-filled data to save time. Approvers get real-time notifications and can approve or reject requests in one click—via app, web, or even WhatsApp—without needing to dig through emails. For admins, the platform centralizes all bookings, invoices, and reports in one dashboard, with powerful filters and export tools for audits and reconciliation. What ties it all together is role-based access, real-time sync, and clean UI/UX. This reduces dependency on manual follow-ups and ensures the whole process—from request to reimbursement—runs smoothly and transparently.
Sustainable travel is becoming a priority. How is the brand contributing to this movement, especially with EV partnerships and eco-stays?
At CoTrav, we’re actively aligning with the shift toward responsible travel by building partnerships that make sustainable choices more accessible, not just optional. We’re working with EV taxi providers to offer electric vehicle options in major cities, directly within the booking flow—so users can choose cleaner transport without any extra steps. On the accommodation side, we’re curating a network of verified eco-stays—hotels that follow sustainability practices like energy efficiency and water conservation. These are highlighted within the platform so companies can prioritize them as part of their travel policy.
With CoTrav targeting expansion into the Middle East and Europe, what technological and operational adjustments are being made to support international scalability?
Expanding into the Middle East and Europe requires both backend scalability and front-end adaptability. On the tech side, we’re localizing the platform to support multi-currency, regional tax formats like VAT, and language preferences. We’ve also strengthened our infrastructure for high availability and compliance with data privacy laws like GDPR. Operationally, we’re onboarding international travel and lodging partners, integrating local payment gateways and adapting workflows to meet regional travel norms and approval hierarchies. We’re also enhancing our customer support operations to include region-specific SLA coverage and multilingual support.
