AI in the Pipeline: How ISOPLUS Is Overhauling Operations with Navan

PALO ALTO, CA – June 23, 2026 – In a significant move to modernize its global operations, ISOPLUS, a leading European manufacturer of pre-insulated pipe systems, has selected Navan’s AI-powered platform to consolidate its entire travel and expense (T&E) program. The partnership signals a strategic shift away from fragmented, manual processes that have long plagued large industrial enterprises, aiming to rein in costs, enhance compliance, and improve the employee experience.

For ISOPLUS, a key player in district heating and cooling infrastructure with 1,600 employees across 30 countries, the decision represents more than just a software upgrade. It’s a targeted strike against operational inefficiencies and a bet on intelligent automation as a cornerstone of future growth. The move follows the successful implementation of Navan within the wider Viessmann Generations Group, which acquired ISOPLUS in 2024, providing a proven blueprint for digital transformation.

The High Cost of Unmanaged Spend

Before partnering with Navan, ISOPLUS faced a challenge common to many multinational corporations: a lack of centralized control over T&E. The company estimated that a staggering 25% of its business travel was booked outside of approved systems. This phenomenon, often termed "shadow spend," creates significant financial leakage. When employees book flights and hotels through consumer websites or unapproved agents, companies lose visibility into spending patterns and forfeit the benefits of negotiated corporate rates and volume discounts.

The financial drain was compounded by a heavy administrative burden. The company’s finance team was manually processing approximately 6,000 expense reports each year. Industry analysis shows that such manual processes are not only time-consuming but also notoriously prone to error. One recent study found that nearly one in five manually filed expense reports contains errors, costing companies thousands of hours and significant financial resources in correction and reconciliation efforts. For a global entity like ISOPLUS, this translated into lost productivity and a finance department mired in tedious administrative work instead of focusing on strategic financial management.

“When you have a quarter of your travel spend happening in the shadows, you’re not just overspending; you’re flying blind,” noted one industry analyst specializing in enterprise operations. “You have no real-time data to inform your budget, no way to enforce policy effectively, and a massive compliance risk. It’s a classic symptom of outgrowing your internal systems.”

An AI-Powered Overhaul

To address these deep-seated issues, ISOPLUS turned to Navan, a platform built on the premise that AI and integration can solve the T&E puzzle. Unlike legacy systems that often bolt travel booking onto separate expense software, Navan’s architecture is unified, creating a seamless flow of data from trip planning to final reconciliation.

At the heart of the platform are several AI-driven features designed to automate complex tasks. Navan’s conversational AI allows employees to book entire trips using simple, natural language prompts, pulling from a vast inventory to present policy-compliant options in seconds. For finance and travel administrators, new AI companions act as analytical assistants, capable of identifying cost-saving opportunities, benchmarking spending against industry peers, and flagging anomalous expenses with recommended actions. This turns reactive financial oversight into a proactive, data-driven process.

This level of automation is precisely what ISOPLUS sought. "Navan automates that tedious work and gives us the real-time financial control we need to run a tighter, more efficient business,” said Dirk Seibert, Head of Group Legal & HR, and Chief Compliance Officer, ISOPLUS. “We’re looking forward to introducing the technology at ISOPLUS, and giving more employees an easier experience and more compliant process for booking travel and managing expenses.”

The system’s ability to enforce policy at the point of sale—or "point of swipe" for corporate card transactions—is a critical differentiator. Instead of catching an out-of-policy hotel booking weeks later during a manual review, the platform flags or blocks it in real-time, preventing overspend before it happens.

Justifying the Investment with Tangible ROI

ISOPLUS anticipates a significant 10% cost reduction in its travel spend by implementing Navan's automated workflows. While ambitious, this projection is firmly grounded in established industry benchmarks. A recent Total Economic Impact™ study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Navan found that a composite organization using the platform achieved an average of 16% savings on business travel and a staggering 376% return on investment over three years.

These savings are driven by a multi-pronged attack on inefficiency. First, by providing a user-friendly platform that employees actually want to use, Navan dramatically increases adoption rates, pulling the 25% "shadow spend" back into a managed environment where negotiated rates apply. Second, automated policy enforcement directly curbs out-of-policy expenditures. Finally, the immense productivity gains—with Forrester estimating a 70% reduction in booking time and a 24-minute saving per expense report—free up thousands of hours for both travelers and finance teams.

“When a business is pushing for serious, long-term growth, they need to be out in the world meeting clients and building new business relationships,” said Zahir Abdelouhab, SVP, Enterprise Sales, Navan. “The last thing it needs is a slow and fragmented travel and expense solution. We’re thrilled to help bring the Navan experience to ISOPLUS employees.”

A Blueprint for Group-Wide Transformation

The decision by ISOPLUS was heavily influenced by the proven success of Navan within its parent organization, the Viessmann Generations Group. Viessmann, a global leader in sustainable climate solutions, adopted Navan in 2023 to digitize its own T&E processes. The results were compelling. Alexander Pöllmann, CIO at Viessmann, noted that the platform’s reliability and intuitive design led to "virtually no internal support requests," a testament to its seamless user experience and robust functionality.

This internal case study provided ISOPLUS with a low-risk, high-confidence path forward. It also highlights a broader trend of digital transformation sweeping through traditional industrial sectors. Companies like ISOPLUS and Viessmann are recognizing that to remain competitive, operational excellence must extend beyond core manufacturing to all support functions. By optimizing non-core but critical processes like T&E, they can unlock capital, improve agility, and build a more resilient financial foundation. The move demonstrates a sophisticated understanding that modernizing back-office operations is not just about cutting costs but about enabling strategic growth.

Beyond the Balance Sheet: Empowering Employees

While the financial benefits are clear, the impact on employee experience may be just as crucial for long-term success. Clunky, time-consuming expense reporting is a universal pain point for business travelers. A system that simplifies booking, automates expense capture via a mobile app, and accelerates reimbursements can significantly boost employee satisfaction and morale.

High user adoption is the lynchpin of any successful T&E program; without it, shadow spend persists and projected savings evaporate. Navan's focus on a consumer-grade, mobile-first user experience has resulted in impressive adoption rates across its client base, with some companies reporting over 90% mobile adoption. By giving employees a tool that makes their lives easier, ISOPLUS ensures the compliance and data visibility it needs to manage its global T&E program effectively.

For a company focused on growth, this dual benefit is powerful. The same platform that provides the C-suite with real-time financial control also empowers its employees on the road, removing administrative friction and allowing them to focus on their primary roles. This strategic alignment of financial discipline and employee enablement positions ISOPLUS to not only control its current operational costs but also to scale its global activities more efficiently in the years to come.