An interview with Vinod Kumar Sah, CTO & Co-founder of CoTrav, leading tech-enabled corporate travel management company
Vinod Kumar Sah, CTO & Co-founder of CoTrav, is revolutionizing corporate travel with cutting-edge tech solutions.
In this exclusive interview, he shares insights into his entrepreneurial journey, CoTrav’s innovative approach to travel management, and the vision driving the company’s rapid growth as a leader in tech-enabled business travel.
Can you share your journey in the tech industry and what led you to become the CTO of CoTrav?
Vinod Kumar Sah: My journey began with a passion for building scalable tech solutions that solve real-world problems. After working in product and engineering roles for several years, I realized there was a major gap in how businesses manage corporate travel—especially when it comes to control, compliance, and user experience.
That insight led me to co-found CoTrav. As CTO, I’ve focused on building a robust, flexible tech platform that supports multi-company needs, real-time bookings, and seamless integrations with finance and HR systems.
My goal is to ensure that technology doesn’t just support operations—it drives them forward. As CTO, I’ve led the development of a scalable, API-driven platform that simplifies travel for enterprises.
Beyond tech, I’ve built and scaled an agile engineering team, driven product innovation, and worked closely on fundraising and strategy. For me, the role isn’t just about writing code—it’s about using technology to create real business impact.
What emerging technologies do you believe will have the most significant impact on the corporate travel industry in the next few years?
Vinod Kumar Sah: Several emerging technologies are set to reshape corporate travel over the next few years. First, AI and machine learning will play a massive role in predictive travel planning—offering smart itineraries, dynamic pricing insights, and fraud detection.
Second, real-time data integration through APIs and NDC (New Distribution Capability) will improve personalization and cost control by connecting directly with airlines, hotels, and mobility providers.
Third, blockchain has the potential to revolutionize settlement, identity verification, and contract enforcement in B2B travel.
And finally, sustainability tech—like carbon tracking APIs—will become critical as ESG compliance becomes a board-level concern. At CoTrav, we’re actively exploring how to embed these innovations into the user experience while ensuring enterprise-grade reliability and compliance.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face in integrating technology into travel management?
Vinod Kumar Sah: One of the biggest challenges is dealing with fragmented data and legacy systems across airlines, hotels, and ground transport providers. Integrating these into a unified platform requires building around inconsistent APIs, outdated protocols, and vendor-specific quirks.
Another major challenge is balancing customization with scalability—especially in enterprise travel, where each client has unique policies, approval flows, and compliance requirements.
On top of that, ensuring data security, real-time reliability, and seamless user experience across mobile and web platforms is complex.
But these challenges also drive our innovation—forcing us to build modular, API-first systems that can adapt quickly as the ecosystem evolves.
What is your vision for the future of CoTrav in terms of technology and service offerings? And what stand apart from your competition?
Vinod Kumar Sah: Our vision for CoTrav is to become the most intelligent and adaptable corporate travel platform in the industry.
On the technology front, we’re building towards a fully AI-driven system that can not only automate bookings and approvals but also optimize travel based on individual preferences, company policy, cost-efficiency, and sustainability goals.
We’re also investing in real-time integrations with finance and HR systems to turn travel into a seamless part of the broader employee experience.
In terms of service, we aim to be more than just a booking tool—we want to be a strategic travel partner. This means proactive customer support, predictive analytics for CFOs, and flexible tools that adapt to companies of all sizes.
What sets CoTrav apart from platforms like ITILITE, Happay, or Yatra for Business is our ability to deeply customize workflows at the company and user level—without compromising on simplicity.
We don’t force clients to change their internal processes; instead, we adapt our tech to fit them. That flexibility, combined with our focus on enterprise-grade compliance and hands-on service, is what truly differentiates us.
What advice would you give to aspiring engineers looking to make an impact in the tech-driven travel sector?
Vinod Kumar Sah: My advice to aspiring engineers is simple: focus on solving real problems, not just writing clean code. The travel sector is full of complexity—legacy systems, fragmented data, dynamic pricing, and high user expectations.
To make an impact, you need to understand both the tech and the business. Learn how APIs work across the ecosystem, get comfortable with scalability and security, and most importantly—build with empathy for the traveler and the operations teams behind the scenes. If you can combine technical depth with product thinking, you’ll stand out.
Our conversation with Vinod Kumar Sah highlights how CoTrav is shaping the future of corporate travel through technology.
His leadership and vision inspire confidence in the company’s ability to adapt and innovate, setting new standards for efficiency and convenience in the evolving travel industry.
| Are you an
Entrepreneur or Startup? Do you have a Success Story to Share? SugerMint would like to share your success story. We cover entrepreneur Stories, Startup News, Women entrepreneur stories, and Startup stories |
Explore Success story of Indian entrepreneurs & startups at SugerMint. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
Source:https://sugermint.com/vinod-kumar-sah/