In The Big Chair LIVE - Mat Orrego of Cornerstone

Mat Orrego, CEO and co-founder

U.S.-based CIS is now almost three decades old and has a client roster of over 600 companies using its suite of services for business travel.

Alongside running CIS since 1992, Orrego is an active supporter of the travel startup world through his work with RunUp Labs and as a regular and vocal judge at pitch competitions.

Mat Orrego cut his teeth in the industry in the world of travel management, working at Chicago, U.S.-based Gant in the late 1980s.

But 1992, however, he wanted to branch out on his own and co-founded Cornerstone Information Systems.

The company built technology to support users of the Apollo global distribution system, before expanding into other areas such as reporting tools for travel management companies.

By the end of the decade, CIS worked with all the major GDSs and had created data management services for the airline sector.

The last two decades have seen the company expand overseas, build a broad range of tools for customers and, earlier this year, acquire auditing business Topaz.

This experience and strong opinions has seen Orrego become a regular fixture as a startup judge in recent years.

PhocusWire caught up with Orrego during the Phocuswright Europe event in Amsterdam, where he took part in our "Big Chair" series of executive interviews.