Son of Travel Counsellor joins business as AI innovation partner

Travel Counsellors has created the role of AI innovation partner to reflect ongoing investment in the technology.

Jeremy Smith brings specialist experience to the position as founder and chief executive of Neural Voice, a company focused on developing conversational AI and automation for the travel industry. 

He brings a personal connection to the business as his mother has been a Travel Counsellor for more than a decade.

The homeworking travel agency group is embedding AI across its global platform and has created TC Co-Pilot, an AI assistant designed to enhance productivity, deepen personalisation, and strengthen the end-to-end experience for both agents and customers.

Smith will support the ongoing development and embedding of AI across the business including the evolution of TC Co-Pilot, exploring new ways for AI to remove friction from everyday tasks, streamline workflows and free up more time for Travel Counsellors to focus on delivering personalised experiences for their customers, according to the company.

He will also collaborate across support teams and the company’s established AI champions to further accelerate opportunities for AI to improve internal operations, automate routine processes, and help teams work more efficiently.

Chief executive Steve Byrne said Smith was joining a longstanding, talented technology team and will support the ongoing evolution of the firm’s AI strategy. 

“This appointment reflects our continued commitment to innovation that empowers Travel Counsellors, strengthens the personal service they provide to their customers, and identifies opportunities across our support teams, ensuring our high-tech, high-touch approach continues to be at the heart of everything we do,” he added.

Smith said: "My experience building AI for travel has shown me that the best results come when technology quietly enhances human expertise. 

“In this role, I’ll be helping the business use AI to streamline processes, reduce repetitive tasks, and give Travel Counsellors more time to focus on what really matters – creating meaningful, personalised experiences for their customers."