Sabre is a player in digital transformation and in the continuous improvement of the travel experience.

As part of Sabre’s celebration of 20 years in Uruguay —and in Zonamerica—, we spoke with Guillermo Prosper, Managing Director of Sabre Uruguay, about the evolution of one of the leading technology companies for the global travel industry since its arrival in Uruguay. From post-9/11 challenges to the current technological transformation, Sabre has played a crucial role in positioning Uruguay as a technology hub of excellence.

Since establishing in Zonamerica, Sabre has made the best not only of the strategic location and the free trade zone regime, but also of the highly skilled local talent. Prosper points out that the use of artificial intelligence is redefining productivity in the industry, and makes emphasis on the importance of remaining on the cutting edge of technology to compete globally.

Sabre is a leading software and technology company powering the global travel industry. Could you briefly tell us about Sabre’s history and how it has evolved into the tech giant it is today?

Sabre started operations in Uruguay in May 2004, so we are already past the 20-year milestone of continuous operations in the country. The process was triggered by an unusual event: the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, which then caused a profound crisis in the travel industry, with travel activities being put on hold for security reasons. Although short-lived, especially if compared to the pandemic, this crisis was quite deep and relatively unprecedented for the industry.

In this context, the company had to rethink its operations and look for opportunities to go offshore and global. At the time, Sabre was almost 100% based at its headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

«These days, the concept of super-productivity is all the rage, making the most of tools that use artificial intelligence in an increasingly transparent way.»

 

In the early 2000s, outsourcing was in full swing, especially to India…

That’s right. The outsourcing movement and 9/11 converged in the search for alternatives, which made us consider the possibility of following that path. Although I was not involved at that time, I understand that certain steps were taken to set up operations in India until Uruguay entered the scene. A delegation came to Uruguay, studied the possibility, and finally decided that it was a better option to have our own operation based in Uruguay than an outsourced one in India.

The choice of Uruguay rested on several crucial reasons, including being in a geographical location much friendlier to Sabre’s key markets at the time —which were the United States, Canada, and Latin America—. We were well located time zone-wise, and language availability, especially Spanish and English, was favorable. The company even conducted a survey on how North American consumers received different intonations of English, and it was concluded that they were more accepting of Latin English intonation over other options.

To our surprise, we were also met with a greater-than-expected availability of languages. Although the initial goal of the operation was to serve the Americas, we found people in Uruguay who spoke Italian, German, French, and Portuguese, which broadened our scope of operations. In addition, the population turned out to be more educated than the company had anticipated. This educational phenomenon allowed us to quickly expand the number and type of roles instead of focusing exclusively on technical support. As the operation grew, we discovered that our expectations of professional talent were exceeded.

How did the free trade zone regime influence the company to set up in Uruguay?

The free trade zone regime gave certainty in terms of legal framework for exemption, in addition to facilitating the conduct of business with little friction, both in terms of entry and an eventual exit, which was crucial given the pilot nature of the project, which may or may not work. Also important was the legal structure that allowed for repatriation of dividends or capital if necessary.

The above made it possible to carry out the pilot, which fortunately was very successful.

In April 2023, the renovated regional headquarters in Zonamerica were inaugurated with the presence of government authorities. In your opinion, what sets Zonamerica apart from other free trade zones in Uruguay? Why have you been located here for so long?

At Zonamerica we find open ears to our proposals, always with the greatest willingness to understand our needs and find a way to help us. This mindset, added to Zonamerica’s first-rate campus, has made a huge difference all this time. As a citizen of Montevideo, Zonamerica confirms to me that in Uruguay things can be done at the highest level and in the best way. This shows that, in Uruguay, in the right conditions and if work is faced with a strategic vision, world-class ventures are possible.

Does the renovation of Sabre’s offices impact your overall vision of the business? Is it related to the changes that are taking place?

Yes, with the renovation we pursued several things. During the pandemic, we learned that many activities could be performed virtually, but we also found that certain interactions and collaborations are more effective in person. This includes things like ideation, connecting with the team, and knowledge-sharing among colleagues. The office was designed with a hybrid approach, taking into consideration that there will always be someone participating via video call. Additionally, we incorporated different size spaces to allow for private conversations, acknowledging the appreciation of privacy while working remotely.

Another crucial aspect was to guarantee environmental and health safety. We invested heavily to ensure that everything from air systems to environmental quality met the highest standards. For instance, we installed lab-verified UV filters in the air ducts to effectively sanitize the environment.

These changes reflect our long-term commitment to provide our employees with the best conditions for them to perform at their highest level. At Sabre, we strive not only to attract the best professional talent in the market, but also to create an environment where they can be their best selves and perform their jobs optimally.

In 2004, back when we started, most airline bookings were made by travel agents. Today, in 2024, about 75% of flight reservations are made by robots, not people. The technology of our clients is integrated with our systems, and our clients’ robots are the ones in charge of performing searches, creating itineraries, and issuing tickets.

This transformation has had a clear influence on the type of tasks we perform. Today we provide support to our clients’ developers on how to integrate, specify workflows, and configure searches. Our system has also seen a dramatic change in terms of where it operates, from operating years ago in in-house data centers to having more than 90% of the workloads run in the cloud, specifically Google’s cloud.

What is the impact of the popularization of AI?

These days, the concept of super-productivity is all the rage, making the most of tools that use artificial intelligence in an increasingly transparent way. Instead of large teams, more and more highly skilled professionals who can take advantage of these super-productivity-achieving tools will be needed.

This means good news for Uruguay. Since we are few in the global context, super-productivity allows us to be competitive. If the name of the game is «few, but very good», then Uruguay competes well. We are faced with the challenge of being really good, and that is why Uruguayans must keep a first-class level of training and professionalism. The pandemic revealed that any job can be performed from anywhere in the world. Therefore, we no longer compete only with those who are close by, but with any engineer in the world willing to do so.

This is a huge opportunity for Uruguay, but also a challenge, because being more or less good is not enough anymore; we must continue to raise the bar of professionalization. It is a process of continuous development and growth: there will always be something else to learn, there will always be something new to understand, we will always be recycling our knowledge and acquiring more. In my opinion, a key factor is to never think that we have done or learned everything we need to do or learn. We must always keep moving forward.

What is Sabre’s future and where are you headed with your most prominent projects at the moment?

Let me explain this from two perspectives: Sabre globally, and then Sabre in Uruguay. Globally, the industry has revealed an outstanding post-pandemic resilience, adapting gradually and showing varying degrees of recovery depending on the region. People yearn to travel and are willing to adjust their budgets to make it happen.

The way travel services are used is changing and will continue to evolve. Sabre is gearing its investments toward developing products that allow for more tailored, passenger-focused experiences. We recently launched Sabre Mosaic, a platform that integrates artificial intelligence to deliver highly customized travel offers, specifically designed from the perspective of airlines and travel agencies.

As to Sabre Uruguay, we are in line with this global vision and have several key lines of action. First, we are focused on improving super-productivity by integrating advanced tools into our processes to maximize efficiency. Second, we leverage our close knowledge of clients to offer valuable insight and guide product development in a way that responds directly to their needs and expectations.

On a final note, we seek to increase our contribution to revenue generation, evolving from a center initially focused on cost control to having a direct impact on revenue generation by providing innovative and strategic services. We are committed to continue being a key player in digital transformation and in the continuous improvement of the travel experience.