Block Keeps Travel Frictionless in an AI-First World

Region

NORAM: North America, EMEA: Europe, Middle East, and Africa, APAC: Asia-Pacific, LATAM: Latin America

Headquarters

Oakland, California

Industry

Finance, Tech

Products Used

• Navan Business Travel
• Navan Expense

Previous Solutions

Egencia

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Block is a global financial technology company on a mission to spread economic empowerment. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Oakland, California, Block connects buyers and sellers across a suite of products built for consumers and merchants — positioning them uniquely on both sides of the transaction. With 6,000 employees spanning 20+ global markets, travel is a critical driver of operational success and business growth. Having made an all-in commitment to AI — embedding it into every function, every decision, and every tool — the bar for its travel program is high: faster, smarter, and always one step ahead. Navan has been helping Block to achieve this goal since 2018.

Before Navan

Previously, Block used Egencia to manage travel. But as the company scaled, the legacy solution couldn't keep pace. The technology felt dated, the support felt limited, and the experience created frustration for program managers and road warriors.

"It was a very fragmented, poor user experience," said Paige Furr, global travel and operations lead at Block. "A lot of frustration both with the people managing the program as well as our end users — and for us, the end user is paramount. We want them to be efficient so they can go do the real Block work."

Why Navan

Block moves fast, so its tools have to move faster. When evaluating a new travel platform, the priority was self-sufficiency: travelers needed to be able to book, manage, and solve problems on their own — in real time, without waiting on manual, high-touch processes.

"Block was looking for something that could move and grow and scale with them," said Furr. "We wanted a tool that gave employees the capability to figure it out, help themselves, and get what they needed in real time."

Navan was a great fit. And as Block has evolved into an explicitly AI-first company, that has only become more apparent.

“

If you look at our NPS scores, our chat scores, the issues Ava handles for us — our travelers are really happy, and we see it in the numbers.

Paige Furr

Global Travel and Operations Lead

Built for an AI-First Company

Block is truly organized around AI. The company has made a full public commitment to an AI-first operating model and all 6,000 employees now participate in weekly AI training. The guiding question in every department is the same: how do we get this done faster and more efficiently?

Travel is no exception. "In every single thing we do, it's AI first," said Furr.

Furr sees Navan as more than a booking tool. She sees the vision of an intelligent platform that can behave the way Block itself does — anticipating needs, surfacing information before it's requested, and acting on behalf of the traveler rather than waiting to be asked. She describes the vision as a shift from reactive to proactive: an assistant that flags a passport expiring a year in advance, prompts enrollment in a hotel loyalty program before a stay, or quietly re-accommodates a traveler during a disruption before they even know there's a problem.

"I think people are going to feel like they have a real assistant — somebody looking out for them at all times, one step ahead instead of always reacting," said Furr.

Navan’s AI Agent, Ava, is already moving in that direction. For Furr's team, the early results — response times in seconds, strong satisfaction scores, and measurably higher NPS — are proof that AI-native support changes the traveler experience in ways a traditional service desk simply can't.

Navan as an Extension of the Team

A key element of Block's AI-first strategy is the ability to operate lean. As the company has restructured, the internal travel team has become smaller — and Navan has become more essential, functioning as an extension of that team rather than just a software vendor.

"We view Navan as an outsourced team that supports us," said Furr. “Taking on traveler support, proactive disruption management, and around-the-clock coverage that a small internal team can't staff alone.”

Navan Pro is the next step in deepening that relationship, with Navan Payments on the horizon. Block can then utilize the platform's full potential — integrating travel and payments into a seamless, end-to-end experience that eliminates all fragmentation.

“

I do love what the Navan platform does today. But I think the vision is really powerful.

Paige Furr

Global Travel and Operations Lead

Future with Navan

For Furr, the trajectory is clear: a platform that doesn't just process travel but actively manages it — anticipating disruptions, personalizing experiences, and removing friction entirely.

"I do love what the Navan platform does today," said Furr. "But I think the vision is really powerful."

It's a vision she sums Navan up in three words: progressive, customer-focused, and visionary. And it’s no wonder the partnership has worked so well for the last 7 years, with both companies so focused on reducing friction and moving faster.