CN hears from Clarity’s Carl Law on how the company is transforming meeting management through innovative technology
Clarity Business Travel is focused on rethinking meeting management by leveraging technology, strategic partnerships and industry experts. Under the leadership of an experienced management team, including Carl Law, Clarity’s executive director of technology, the company is pushing to simplify the organisation of meetings and events through innovative solutions.
The acquisition of Agiito and rebranding of Clarity last year signalled a shift for the company, aligning its services under a single identity. Central to Clarity’s innovation is MeetingsPro, a platform designed to simplify venue sourcing, event planning and group bookings. Initially developed as an internal tool, MeetingsPro has evolved into a system that lets clients manage every stage of their events online, increasing both autonomy and efficiency. “Our goal with MeetingsPro is to make smaller, simpler meetings easier to manage, similar to transient hotel bookings,” Law says.
A key advancement is Clarity’s partnership with TravelTime, which integrates travel data into MeetingsPro. Users can now find venues based on real travel durations, considering options like walking, cycling and public transport. This move away from basic distance-based searches improves the accuracy of venue choices, enhancing both convenience and sustainability.
“TravelTime’s technology helps users find venues genuinely accessible within their desired travel time,” Law explains, adding that it supports inclusivity and reduces unnecessary travel.
Another significant feature is Clarity’s introduction of live availability and instant booking for meetings. Modeled after hotel booking systems, this approach simplifies reservations for smaller meetings, allowing users to secure venues in real-time without the drawn-out process of traditional contracts. “We wanted to make booking small events as straightforward as booking a hotel room,” Law says.
Despite these innovations, challenges remain. Venue bookings often come with complex, lengthy contracts, which can deter customers from committing to instant reservations. To tackle this, Clarity is working with venue and technology partners to streamline contracts, making them more user-friendly and comparable to the ease found in other travel sectors.
Looking forward, Clarity is focused on uniting meetings and travel bookings under a single platform by integrating MeetingsPro with its recently launched booking tool, ClarityGo. Revealed at this year’s Business Travel Show Europe, ClarityGo was developed over three years and uses in-house cloud technology. It allows clients to search hotels, flights, rail, and car hire in one place, offering over a million hotel options and features like CO2 tracking and programme management.
Law also sees AI playing a growing role in future developments. Clarity is already leveraging AI for predictive pricing, and plans are underway to use generative AI to help users automatically create meeting requests based on past data and trends. This, Law notes, will make the planning process even more efficient and personalised.
