4 topics top of mind for leaders after Navigate26 Europe

Paris, you showed up. Navigate26 Europe brought a packed house to 3 Mazarium, with travel, finance, and procurement leaders filling the room and making the most of being together.

The conversations started early and the energy carried through the day, from the opening sessions to the customer discussions and time to connect between them.

So what was on everyone’s mind in Paris? Four big topics came up again and again — in the sessions and in conversations between them. Here are the takeaways we’re still thinking about.

1. Global travel, built for local realities

A global travel program has to work in the details: how people pay, what local expense rules require, and how finance keeps a clear view across markets.

In the product keynote, Dane Molter and Yuval Refua explored how Navan is building a more connected travel and expense experience across markets, while making room for the local ways people travel. They also announced that Navan Payments now issues cards in 15 currencies across more than 30 countries, including five new local currencies: Australian dollars, Canadian dollars, Danish kroner, Swedish kronor, and Polish zlotys.

One card program lets businesses spend and settle locally while maintaining oversight across regions — and can help reduce foreign exchange fees and the complexity of intercompany transfers.

Local fit matters in expense workflows, too. Expense Chat now supports tax, itemization, mileage, and per diem, helping employees handle European expense requirements in chat and giving finance fewer incomplete submissions to resolve.

Those are just some of the capabilities announced in Paris. For a full look at what’s new, read the read the product launch recap or watch the full product keynote.

2. The best support brings people and technology together

Some trips are more than a booking. In Building World-Class Service for Every Business Traveller, Nina Herold and Arielle Salomon shared a customer’s account of a last-minute passport-name issue before an important meeting: “I'm a mother of a six month old baby and leaving her for this trip was already emotional for me. This meeting means so much for my professional future and for my family. You cared, took my situation personally and went above and beyond to find a solution.”

Nina put the principle simply: “We've learned that service is not a one size fits all.” In the session, she and Arielle bring it to life through two very different travelers: one who depends on an expert to handle the details, and another who wants answers at their fingertips and the freedom to self-serve.

The session goes beyond the principle to show how those different expectations shape a real service model — and how the team works to make support feel personal in either case.

3. Meetings and travel belong in the same conversation

A meeting may be the reason someone travels, but the event budget and the travel budget often live in different places. That gap can make it harder to see the full cost — or give employees a smooth experience.

In Meetings & Events vs. Travel — Hidden Costs and Double Standards, Galen Grady and Hayley Kane unpacked why those programs are often treated differently — and why, as they put it, “integrating your events platform into your T&E platform is the future.”

Where do hidden costs show up, and what changes when meetings and travel are planned together? Galen and Hayley get into the trade-offs, the double standards, and what a more connected approach could unlock. Watch the webinar here to learn more.

4. Ava’s next chapter is already taking shape

AI’s next chapter isn’t about adding a chatbot for the sake of it. It’s about whether an assistant can understand what a traveler needs, take useful action, and recognize when a person should step in. In his AI Keynote, Navan Co-Founder and CTO Ilan Twig shared a look at how Ava is evolving toward that role.

Ilan showed how Ava is connecting to more of the travel and expense experience, while getting better at knowing when a request needs human help. As he put it, “Whenever she knows that she cannot do it, she'll move it to the live agents.” The keynote gets into what that next step could look like for travelers and the teams supporting them.

The on-demand keynote offers a closer look at how Ava is evolving — and where Ilan sees a more useful, human-aware AI experience going next.

Across all four topics, one thing came through: The best travel and expense programs make the experience work for the people using them.

We’re still buzzing from the energy in Paris, but we’re already looking ahead: Navigate is heading back to NYC on April 15, 2027, and we’ve got big plans. See you there.