CDS and BCD connect their solutions to AI assistants

The timing is symbolic. As VivaTech, the major Parisian innovation event, takes place at the Porte de Versailles from June 17th to 20th, CDS is unveiling, just before the show opens, the connection of its services to the global artificial intelligence ecosystem, ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, and other enterprise AI agents.

Among the first business hospitality solutions to reach this milestone, this evolution is based on a system using the MCP (Model Context Protocol) which allows AI assistants to securely interact with business applications. In a similar fashion to what APIs represented for the web, CDS believes that this emerging standard "could become one of the fundamental building blocks of the next generation of AI-driven services".

" We are convinced that AI will become the universal interface for Business Travel. By opening our services to the global artificial intelligence ecosystem, we are not connecting a platform to a technology: we are building the infrastructure that will redefine how companies travel, book, and pay. », declares Ziad Minkara, founder of CDS and CEO of the S4BT group.

The MCP protocol as a technological pivot

In practice, business travellers will now be able to simply make their request in natural language, such as: "CDS, find me a 3-star hotel near my appointment in Paris, compliant with my travel policy, with centralised payment and dematerialised invoice," before finalising the booking in seconds from ChatGPT, Claude or Microsoft Copilot. This will be done by applying the company's internal rules, staying within the set price caps, with the solution identifying the best available options within these parameters.

In terms of security, CDS guarantees that no sensitive data leaves its control and will not be transferred, replicated, or exposed to AI models. Access relies on strong authentication mechanisms, two-factor authentication, and traceability, while each request continues to apply travel policies, hotel programmes, and validation processes defined by the client company.

Initially deployed at CDS, this architecture is intended to be progressively rolled out to all S4BT group solutions – Goelett, Corporate Rates Club, SIAP, and the recently acquired HotelHub – which cover business travel, multimodal booking, payment, electronic invoicing, and agency services.