Power Rankings 2026: Skift Names Top Industry Builders
Skift releases its 2026 Power Rankings, highlighting 25 industry leaders and builders transforming travel infrastructure and technology.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Skift announced its 2026 Power Rankings focusing on industry builders
- Evaluation methodology prioritized infrastructure, novelty, and leadership personality
- Decius Valmorbida drove Amadeus' Nevio platform and spun out Outpayce
- Ilan Twig led Navan in training proprietary travel-specific AI models
Skift has published its Power Rankings 2026 report, noting that power in the travel sector now resides with the builders. The 2026 list highlights ambitious and audacious leaders whose initiatives create a tangible impact on how travel operates.
Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit and Head of Research Seth Borko explained that this year's methodology centers around 2026-era vanguards—leaders actively constructing new infrastructure, platforms, products, experiences, brands, and business models.
Each leader was evaluated across five dimensions, with infrastructure receiving the highest weight since building essential products sits at the core of this year's rankings. Novelty and personality also factored into the final selections.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Decius Valmorbida, Amadeus president of travel, aggressively invested during the 2020 pandemic. Amadeus processes 3 billion flight searches daily and manages departure control for over 2 billion passengers annually. He spearheaded Nevio, a dynamic retailing platform, and spun out fintech arm Outpayce in 2023.
"We will become a traveler-centric industry rather than a provider-centric industry. Can we cooperate around identity and biometrics? If we do, it means the traveler is the one empowered."
Adriana Lee
Meanwhile, Navan co-founder and CTO Ilan Twig is driving an unusual bet by training the company's proprietary AI models instead of relying strictly on external providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google Gemini, built upon the foundation of Navan Cloud.
The strategic shift toward proprietary travel-specific AI models and robust cloud infrastructure highlights how major travel technology providers are attempting to secure end-to-end control over corporate booking and expense ecosystems, minimizing reliance on generic third-party AI architectures.
Navan developed Ava, a virtual travel agent handling roughly 8,000 support chats daily, resolving nearly 60% without human intervention. Over 30% of the large language models powering Ava are now proprietary to Navan and tailored specifically for travel tasks.
Source: Skift
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