Sabre’s New Executive Role Signals a Refresh on Customer Service for the Travel Tech Company
Photo Credit: A view of the meal service in first class on an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Emirates is one of the largest customers of Sabre's travel tech services. Emirates
Skift Take
Sabre has created a new role of "chief services officer." It might sound like a gimmick, but the concept actually has deep roots in the technology sector.
Sabre debuted in July a new executive title, chief services officer, appointing Cem Tanyel to the role. The Southlake, Texas-based travel technology company elevated Tanyel from being president of the travel tech company's airline information technology division to the higher perch.
The role of a "chief services officer" is rare in the travel sector but has been prevalent in many technology businesses for years. The job usually entails obsessing about the wants and needs of the company's enterprise customers and overseeing a company's professional services team.
"The value of 'services' in the tech sector is well established as a set of best practices," Tanyel said. "We would like to bring this to the travel sector."
A classic example outside of travel is IBM. In the late 1980s, the tech group's core hardware business began to slow, so it ventured into the field with IBM Global Services — which became a growth engine for two decades.
Sabre in July brought together its co
