What If Booking.com Used WrangleAI?

Booking.com is one of the world’s largest travel platforms. It helps millions of people every day book hotels, flights, car rentals and experiences. To support this scale, Booking.com relies heavily on data, automation and artificial intelligence.

AI plays a key role in how Booking.com improves search results, personalises recommendations, supports customers and runs internal operations. But as AI usage grows, so does complexity. More models, more teams, more prompts and more cost.

This raises an important question.

What if Booking.com used WrangleAI to manage and control its AI usage?

In this article, we explore how Booking.com could benefit from WrangleAI as a central AI control plane. We look at AI cost control, usage visibility, governance and how large platforms can scale AI safely and efficiently.

The AI Landscape at Booking.com

Booking.com operates at massive scale. It serves customers across many countries, languages and devices. To support this, AI is used across the platform in many ways.

Some common AI use cases at Booking.com include:

• Search and ranking of travel listings
• Personalised recommendations based on user behaviour
• Pricing and availability insights
• Fraud detection and risk checks
• Customer support chat and ticket handling
• Translation and content generation
• Internal tools for teams and operations

Each of these use cases can rely on large language models or other AI systems. Over time, these systems expand across teams and products.

As AI adoption grows, so do the challenges.

The Hidden Challenges of Scaling AI at Booking.com

Using AI at scale brings value, but it also creates problems that are easy to miss.

1. Many teams using many models

Booking.com has product teams, data teams, support teams and platform teams. Each team may use different models for different tasks. Without a central layer, this leads to scattered usage.

2. High volume of requests

Millions of users generate large numbers of AI requests. Even small inefficiencies can lead to very high costs over time.

3. Rising AI costs

AI costs are based on tokens, requests and model choice. When teams use strong models for simple tasks, costs rise faster than expected.

4. Limited visibility

Provider dashboards show raw usage, but they do not show the full picture. Leaders may see the total bill, but not which feature, team or workflow caused it.

5. Governance and data risks

Booking.com handles sensitive user data. AI workflows must follow strict data rules, regional policies and access controls.

These challenges are not unique to Booking.com. They affect any company that uses AI at scale.

This is where WrangleAI becomes useful.

What Is WrangleAI

WrangleAI is a central control plane for AI usage. It sits between applications and AI providers and gives full visibility, routing and governance.

WrangleAI does not replace existing AI features or tools. It adds a layer of control and insight across all AI usage.

WrangleAI focuses on four key areas:

• AI usage monitoring
• Cost optimisation
• Governance and policy enforcement
• Smart model routing through Optimised AI Keys

How WrangleAI Could Help Booking.com

Let us look at how WrangleAI could support Booking.com in practice.

1. Unified AI Usage Visibility

With WrangleAI, Booking.com could see all AI usage in one place.

This includes:

• Which models are used
• How many tokens are consumed
• Which teams or features generate usage
• Cost per product or workflow
• Usage by region or environment

This level of visibility helps leaders understand how AI is used across the organisation. It removes blind spots and makes cost tracking clear.

Instead of relying on separate provider dashboards, Booking.com could use one system to monitor everything.

2. AI Cost Optimisation at Scale

One of the biggest benefits of WrangleAI is cost control.

Not every AI task needs the most powerful model. Some tasks are simple and can be handled by cheaper models without loss of quality.

WrangleAI supports this through Optimised AI Keys.

These keys act as smart entry points for AI requests. Applications call a WrangleAI key instead of calling a provider directly. WrangleAI then decides which model to use based on rules such as:

• Task type
• Cost limits
• Performance needs
• Region rules

For Booking.com, this could mean:

• Simple support queries use lower cost models
• High value customer flows use stronger models
• Internal tools use cheaper models by default
• Premium models are reserved for tasks that truly need them

This helps reduce waste and keeps AI spend under control.

3. Forecasting and Budget Planning

AI usage grows fast. Without forecasting, budgets become reactive.

WrangleAI helps teams predict future AI spend by analysing past usage patterns. This allows Booking.com to:

• Forecast AI costs for new features
• Plan budgets by product or region
• Avoid surprise invoices
• Align AI usage with business goals

Finance and product teams gain confidence because costs become predictable.

4. Governance and Data Protection

Booking.com operates in many regions and must follow strict data rules. AI workflows must respect these rules at all times.

WrangleAI adds governance at the gateway level. Because all AI requests pass through WrangleAI, policies can be enforced centrally.

These policies can include:

• Which models are allowed
• Which teams can access which models
• Region based routing rules
• Spending limits per team or feature
• Audit logs for all AI usage

This ensures AI usage stays safe, compliant and controlled.

5. Better Performance Insights for Teams

Cost is not the only factor. Performance matters as well.

WrangleAI helps teams compare models based on:

• Response time
• Token efficiency
• Error rates
• Cost per request

For Booking.com engineers and product managers, this data helps improve AI driven features. Teams can test different models and make decisions based on real results.

This leads to better user experiences and lower infrastructure waste.

A Practical Example at Booking.com

Imagine a customer support flow at Booking.com.

A user asks a simple question about a booking. Today, this might go to a powerful model by default.

With WrangleAI:

• The request goes through an Optimised AI Key
• WrangleAI checks the task type
• A lower cost model is selected if quality is good
• Tokens are tracked and logged
• Cost is recorded against the support product

At the end of the month:

• Finance sees cost per support feature
• Product teams see which prompts cost the most
• Leaders see trends and can plan improvements

This same pattern applies to search, recommendations and internal tools.

Why WrangleAI Fits a Platform Like Booking.com

Booking.com is not a small startup. It is a complex platform with many moving parts.

WrangleAI is designed for this level of complexity.

It works well because:

• It supports multiple providers
• It scales across teams and products
• It adds control without slowing development
• It works with existing frameworks and tools
• It keeps AI flexible and safe

Booking.com would not need to rewrite its AI systems. WrangleAI would sit behind them and add structure.

What Booking.com Could Achieve with WrangleAI

By using WrangleAI, Booking.com could achieve:

• Clear visibility across all AI usage
• Reduced AI costs through smart routing
• Better budget control and forecasting
• Stronger governance and compliance
• Faster decision making for AI teams
• Improved trust across finance, product and engineering

AI would remain a growth driver, not a cost risk.

Implementation Approach

A typical rollout at Booking.com could look like this:

1. Connect AI providers to WrangleAI
2. Replace direct provider keys with Optimised AI Keys
3. Tag usage by team, product and region
4. Set budgets and alerts
5. Apply governance policies
6. Review dashboards and optimise usage

This can be done step by step without disruption.

Quick link: What If GoDaddy Used WrangleAI?

Conclusion

Booking.com is already a leader in using technology to improve travel experiences. As AI becomes a bigger part of its platform, control and visibility become just as important as innovation.

WrangleAI provides the missing layer. It helps large platforms manage AI usage, reduce waste and stay compliant while still moving fast.

With WrangleAI, Booking.com could:

• See every AI request
• Control every model choice
• Optimise every token
• Plan AI spend with confidence

For any large company using AI at scale, WrangleAI turns complexity into clarity.

If your organisation is building AI powered products like Booking.com, WrangleAI is the platform that helps you scale safely and efficiently. Request a demo today to see it in action.

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