In March 2011, President Obama appointed Sam Gilliland to the President’s Management Advisory Board. He was an engineer by trade when he joined Sabre Holdings in 1988 as a software developer. A little bit of opportunity and a lot of hard work landed him in the top spot of the Dallas-based company in 2003, managing 10,000 people in 60 countries.
Sabre is a global technology company, which plays a role in all aspects of the travel industry, from giving travelers the tools to find the best airfares to helping hotels fill rooms to making travel agencies more efficient.
Gilliland is no longer CEO, but remains on the company’s board of directors, where he still plays a role in shaping the company’s direction. He says he has had a “sensational appetite to understand more about the customer and what they wanted,I got a huge appreciation for their needs.”
Customer’s needs are regularly changing; today they have access to so much information online. In addition, that’s what Sabre, which owns Travelocity, helps airlines, hotels, rental car agencies, travel agencies and any travel company do: Present choices to travelers in an approachable way. Personalization is the game in travel industry these days is, and Sabre is helping travel services companies and others figure out how to make consumers think their individual needs are being met. They are doing so by collecting data, determining people’s shopping, and buying behavior.
He spent much of his time monitoring customer feedback on Twitter, because it helps him to know customers needs and behavior. He has spent much time pushing for programs to promote the entry process into the USA, such as visa waivers for travelers from certain developed countries and Global Entry for registered international travelers to speed though customs.
Gilliland also supports government investment in the Next Generation air-traffic control system, which will make routes more clear and reduce congestion in the air by tracking planes with a satellite global-positioning system.
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