WorldVia For Jason

Travel Agent Host Agency: A 90-Day CTO Plan

Jason, here’s your new VP of Technology’s first 90 days. What to fix first, where AI pays off soonest, and what the hire should own.

If the technology seat can stay open another quarter, ignore this. If it can’t, the next two minutes are worth it.

What we noticed

A platform that connects over 2,000 independent travel advisors to travelers, with a technology team already building it.

Your Vice President of Technology posting went up on November 7, and it asks one person to manage the engineers directly, run IT and security, own the travel integrations and lead AI automation across the company.

Your platform One platform, the public site and the advisor tools all fall to the new leader, along with the travel-system integrations behind them. Vice President of Technology posting
Your advisor network Every technology decision reaches a large network of independent advisors, so reliability and ease of use matter more than a feature list. worldvia.com
Your engineering team The hire runs the engineers directly at first, with more engineering leadership to come. The first job is learning the team and the code. Vice President of Technology posting
Your public site The public site is built on Bubble, a no-code platform, which is quick to change and a decision for the roadmap as the platform grows. worldvia.com

Seen in your stack: Bubble · Sabre · Microsoft 365 · Google Tag Manager · Cloudflare · Hotjar

What your posting asks for

“Lead the technology organization, including software engineering, travel technology, IT infrastructure, information security, project delivery, and AI workflow automation.”
“Manage the software engineering team directly - setting priorities, reviewing architecture and code, and holding the team accountable for delivery commitments - until additional engineering leadership is added.”
“Build and report on a technology scorecard covering delivery performance, system reliability, security, and cost management.”
“Own technical architecture and key technology decisions, including platform strategy and build-versus-buy evaluations for advisor-facing tools, WorldVia.com, and internal systems.”
“Lead WorldVia's adoption of AI across the company, advancing an AI-native development lifecycle in which AI agents support planning, coding, testing, code review, and deployment under engineer oversight.”
“Oversee travel technology platforms and integrations, including GDS systems, supplier connections, booking tools, advisor technology, and mid-office systems.”

From your Vice President of Technology posting, posted November 7, 2026.

What changes for your new Vice President of Technology

Your new VP of Technology starts with a plan: what to learn about the advisor platform and travel integrations first, how to build the scorecard and the team, where AI saves your advisors and staff time soonest, and a clear line between what they own and what a fractional lead can carry while they settle in.

Your new Vice President of Technology’s first 90 days

Three phases, each item with the reason it’s there and where that came from.

Days 1 to 30

Learn the systems advisors rely on

1
List every system advisors and staff use daily, and who supports each
The role is accountable for the systems the advisors rely on. One list shows what is covered and what is a single point of failure.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
2
Review the code and the architecture with the engineers
The role reviews architecture and code directly at first. Reading it in the first weeks shows the real state of the platform.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
3
Trace each travel integration from booking to the mid-office
GDS, supplier connections and booking tools are where failures cost advisors money. Knowing the path of a booking comes before any change.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
4
Read the security program as it stands
The role leads policies, incident response and vendor reviews, so the first month should show what exists.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting

Days 31 to 60

Measure, and plan delivery with the CEO

5
Publish the first technology scorecard
The scorecard is named in the role. Even a rough first version gives the CEO and the team a shared view of delivery, reliability, security and cost.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
6
Turn the product roadmap into delivery plans with the CEO and product
The posting asks for plans, estimates and release schedules the team can be held to.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
7
Review the vendors and contracts against what each returns
The technology budget and vendors are part of the job, and the first review often finds easy savings.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting

Days 61 to 90

Team, build-versus-buy and the AI program

8
Write the team plan: structure, leaders and the first hires
The posting asks for a plan for organization, leadership needs and hiring across engineering, infrastructure and operations.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
9
Make the first build-versus-buy calls for advisor tools
Whether to build, buy or keep no-code tools is a roadmap decision with a cost either way. Written reasons make it repeatable.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
10
Launch the first wave of the AI workflow program
The role oversees the company’s AI automation program, with results tracked. One department and one measure is enough to start.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting

Where AI pays off soonest

Workflows from your own business, in the order they save your team time.

1 Answers for advisors from your own guides and supplier information
Advisors need quick answers about booking tools, suppliers and policies. An assistant that cites the source page keeps them selling rather than waiting for staff.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
2 Matching a traveler to the right advisor
Your site promises an expert in the traveler’s destination, interest or brand. A better matching step, using each advisor’s stated focus, supports that promise.
Source: worldvia.com
3 Mid-office reconciliation of bookings with a person reviewing
Checking bookings against supplier records is repetitive work in the systems the role oversees. AI can flag mismatches for staff to resolve.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting
4 An AI-assisted development lifecycle for your engineers
Your posting asks for AI agents across planning, coding, testing and review with engineers overseeing. It starts with one team and one measure.
Source: Vice President of Technology posting

What the hire owns, and what a fractional lead covers

Your Vice President of Technology owns

The technology strategy and the scorecard
Software engineering, directly at first
Travel technology platforms and integrations
IT operations and information security
The technology budget and vendors

A fractional lead covers

Where AI pays off soonest for advisors and staff, and what gets built first
The AI workflow program’s design and measures
Build-versus-buy reviews for the advisor tools
This 90-day plan, run alongside the hire until it’s theirs

Your first 90 days of tech leadership, planned

The plan above is yours either way.

Email Kash

We build a handful of these a month, for founders hiring now.

90 days

from the first day to a written roadmap

What to fix first, with the reason
Where AI pays off soonest
What the hire owns and what a fractional lead covers
A roadmap your team can run

Who’s building it

Kash Badami was Chief Architect of a national health information network and closed the CMS deal behind Healthcare.gov’s data infrastructure. He runs his own company on AI today.

Chief Architectof a national health information network for HHS, aligning 23 federal agencies

$27MCMS deal that became core Healthcare.gov data infrastructure

“he was singularly responsible for the company’s single largest customer by revenue - the Center for Medicare & Medicaid within the US Department of Health and Human Services.”

RLRobert Liebowitz, worked with Kash on MarkLogic’s Public Sector team; now First Ascent VenturesLinkedIn recommendation, April 2026
“Kash and I built ERT Credit together in 2021. He took my MVP and turned it into a SaaS that hit $10M ARR in twelve months.”

Jordan Anderson, CEO, PayStreetgobridgehead.ai/about

WorldVia sales playbook, in brief

WorldVia is a host agency whose site says over 2,000 independent travel advisors are available to plan trips.worldvia.com

Its Vice President of Technology posting asks one leader to run engineering, travel technology, IT, security and AI workflow automation.Vice President of Technology posting

The first 90 days: list the systems advisors rely on, review the code and integrations, publish a technology scorecard, then write the team plan and the first build-versus-buy calls.Vice President of Technology posting

AI pays off soonest in answers for advisors, traveler-to-advisor matching, mid-office checks and an AI-assisted development process.Vice President of Technology posting, worldvia.com

Prepared by Kash Badami at Bridgehead · November 9, 2026 · Every source

Questions

Why a fractional lead instead of waiting for the full-time Vice President of Technology?

You don’t have to choose. The hire owns the product and the team; a fractional lead covers the AI and software side and runs this plan until it’s theirs, so nothing waits on the search.

What does it cost?

The first engagement is a fixed price, quoted on a call once we’ve seen what you need. After that there’s an optional monthly retainer, and you can stop at any point.

Will it get in the way of the Vice President of Technology we hire?

No. The line between what they own and what a fractional lead covers is on this page, and the plan is handed to them to run.

Where does our data live, and is it secure?

In your own accounts. Nothing runs on our side, and every tool or vendor we suggest is reviewed with you before anyone connects it.

Is this only about AI?

No. AI is one part. Most of the first 90 days is the work your posting describes, and the AI items are the ones that save your team time soonest.