With Bobbi Huber, Vice President of Client Engagement at Cornerstone
At Cornerstone, our mission has always been to drive innovation and foster connections that help businesses evolve. As we continue to shape the future of travel, expense, and data management, we are excited to present View from the Corner—a series exploring the insights, experiences, and strategies of those who have influenced Cornerstone and the industries we serve.
In this episode, we are joined by Bobbi Huber, our Vice President of Client Engagement. With over 15 years at Cornerstone, Bobbi has been pivotal in enhancing operational efficiency, streamlining workflows, and strengthening client relationships. In this conversation, she reflects on key industry shifts, from the increasing demand for integrated data solutions to the evolving role of technology in improving decision-making and business outcomes.
With deep expertise across travel, expense, and enterprise data management, Bobbi shares her perspective on industry evolution, including the growing importance of biometrics, automation, and contract accountability. She also discusses her personal career journey, offering insights on navigating a rapidly changing landscape and finding purpose in every step.
Tune in as we explore the future of data-driven decision-making, examine the impact of emerging technologies, and uncover valuable insights to help businesses optimize operations and drive growth. Welcome back to View from the Corner!
Transcript:
Hi, my name is Bobbi Huber. I’ve been with Cornerstone for approximately fifteen years. My title is Vice President of Client Engagement. And as part of that, my role includes responsibility for client relations as well as our global travel program.
0:17
What advice would you give your younger self?
My younger self, I would say, “Trust yourself and listen to that inner voice. You’re smarter than you think. Hard times don’t last. There’s always hope. Moderation is a good thing, except when it comes to laughter.”
0:35
What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in the industry?
Travel is for everyone.
This is no longer limited to those of wealth. It’s true from a financial perspective. But it’s also becoming increasingly true from the perspective of travelers who have a disability. Those are things that twenty years, even fifteen, ten years ago, were not thought about. So, I think that’s one thing that I would say that has changed, from a travel perspective overall.
When you talk about business travel specifically, it’s changed for the better or worse. Gone are the days where, you know, we would take a trip to a destination, say, from Cincinnati to New York or Atlanta to New York for a one-and-a-half or two-hour meeting. Those days are gone. It’s from a capacity perspective, but also from a financial perspective. Companies are more closely examining that.
I would say that business travel is now more purpose-driven. If you’re going to be traveling, the question is, why are you traveling? What do you do when you’re traveling? But I think fundamentally, two things have really changed.; one is the use of biometrics.
I’ve seen it come from places where absolutely no ID was required. In other words, I could get on a plane with someone else’s ticket. No one checked. No one asked. As a former travel manager, I had people who would end up in the destination that was absolutely the wrong place because there was no checking.
To the point where post 9/11, everyone required an identification. And now we’re moving to a place where there really isn’t an identification. It’s going to be moving toward your buy use of biometrics.
Technology that supports the business travel industry hasn’t really changed in the last many years but is beginning to. So I’m excited to see that those things are happening and that people are paying attention to that.
I think the other thing that I would say is contract accountability. From the buyer side of things, you know, years ago, it was, you know, you get a contract, you get a contract, everybody gets a contract, and nobody really was held accountable for the results of meeting those demands of the contracts. And that is changing dramatically as well.
2:48
Where do you see Cornerstone in 5 years?
Cornerstone in five years, one of the big things will be broadening our use of AI.
You know, obviously, we are already doing many things in that area, but I believe it will be an expansion which will change fundamentally the way things are reported, the way we interact with reporting, and the way we we travel. I think just AI in general, I think, will be a much, much broader integration for us.
I think it’s the other thing I would say is it’s expanding beyond for us, expanding beyond what I would call the traditional, travel operations, travel reporting. So, you know, looking at expanding that, with through the through the use of data integrations and consolidation to more deeply, integrate with human capital, for example. A deeper integration of reporting with spend, including, you know, virtual, the actual plastic card, you know, blockchain, or what other payment mechanism may come along, which, you know, I think we’ve just begun to, see the tip of the iceberg there.
So I think those are some of the things that I would say in the next five years that, you know, we’ll be exploring and we’ll expand. The other thing I would say is expanding again, as I mentioned, beyond traditional travel and travel operations, but that would include moving to, you know, more of a more, integrations with and and conversations with finance operations from the corporate from a corporation perspective.