The EU-Startups Podcast | Interview with Nikita Miller, Chief Product Officer at Perk

In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Nikita Miller, Chief Product Officer at Perk, formerly known as TravelPerk, to explore the company’s transformation from a business travel platform into an AI-native travel and spend management ecosystem, as well as its ambitions for international expansion.

Nikita joined Perk in September 2025 at a pivotal moment for the Barcelona-founded scale-up. Following its rebrand from TravelPerk, the company was expanding beyond travel into spend and expense management, integrating acquired companies such as Yokoy, and accelerating its presence in the US.

At the centre of Perk’s product strategy is what Nikita describes as the elimination of “shadow work”: the repetitive, manual tasks employees perform when travelling or spending on behalf of their companies. From reconciling receipts and invoices to sourcing hotels, organising events and navigating corporate travel policies, Perk aims to automate much of this administrative burden.

Nikita explains that AI should not simply be viewed through the question of whether it will replace employees. Instead, she argues that companies should focus on how technology can create more space for people to perform higher-value work. While AI can automate invoice reconciliation, reporting and other repetitive activities, strategic judgement, decision-making and understanding why a business should pursue a particular direction remain distinctly human responsibilities.

The conversation also explores the impact AI is having on company structures and hiring. Nikita challenges the assumption that AI-driven businesses will necessarily require fewer people, arguing that in many cases the technology is creating new forms of work and increasing demand for different skill sets. Roles involving systems thinking, for example, are becoming increasingly valuable as companies develop interconnected AI agents and products that influence multiple parts of an organisation.

Perk itself is already moving towards a more agentic future. The company has introduced technology connecting travel, spend, invoices and events, giving users easier access to information across different platforms. At the same time, it is investing heavily in personalisation, using years of travel and spending data to improve recommendations for individual travellers while giving CFOs and administrators greater visibility over policies, approvals and costs.

Nikita also discusses Perk’s global ambitions. She believes the complexity of building across multiple European markets has helped prepare the company for expansion into the US, where expectations around business travel and financial products can differ significantly. Rather than treating the US as a simple extension of its European business, Perk has recruited local teams and is approaching the market through a localisation strategy.

The company’s recent €300 million credit facility is helping support that wider expansion. According to Nikita, the investment is being directed across AI, product development, spend management, invoicing, corporate cards and the incubation of new ideas aimed at both employees and the Office of the CFO.

Beyond Perk, Nikita reflects on the differences between the European and US startup ecosystems. Having built much of her career in the US, she sees strong entrepreneurial ambition on both sides of the Atlantic and believes Europe is producing an increasing number of significant technology success stories. For her, the fundamentals of entrepreneurship remain universal: ambition, resilience and a willingness to work through difficult problems.

As the conversation turns to the future, Nikita describes Perk’s ambition to build what its leadership calls a “100-year company”. The goal is not simply to become a larger travel platform, but to create a lasting business that removes unnecessary administrative work and allows employees to spend more of their time on meaningful, productive activities.