If you’re someone entrusted with overseeing deadline-intense, detail-heavy corporate meetings and events, you know how precious every minute and every brain cell is. Between juggling schedules, managing vendors, and ensuring every attendee leaves with a smile and head full of usable, fresh knowledge, the job can feel at times like a wobbly high-wire act. Is it time you dipped your toe in the pond of Artificial Intelligence [AI]?
I say, absolutely!
No doubt, you’ve heard all the AI hype and nervous buzz in everyday conversations and interactions. But like most people around you, you’re not exactly sure how it works and how it can be used productively and efficiently. Let’s try and get you over that fear-based, emotional hump.
First and foremost, as one AI expert recently said, AI isn’t looking to wipe out your job, it’s more accurately a valuable tool that empowers you to do your job better. The key is to test-drive various AI services and learn first-hand which AI offerings best serve you. [Key phrase: Serve you.]
AI adoption in everyday life — business and personal — is inevitable. And it’s happening at a rapid rate. Don’t be left sitting at the station asking, “Where’s my train?” That roaring sound … ? Yeah, that’s your train.
Why AI?
AI isn’t just for tech giants or sci-fi movies anymore. It’s rapidly transforming all industries, and event management and planning is no exception. The right AI tools will save you time, money, and a whole lot of stress. Imagine automating repetitive tasks, hyper-personalizing attendee experiences, and gaining real-time insights — all while freeing yourself up to focus on more gray-area, human matters that are above AI’s pay grade … so far. Specifically, I’m talking about you having more opportunity to be thoughtful and creative when it comes to crafting unique and memorable experiences for your attendees. It’s all about balancing powerful new tech with the irreplaceable human touch.
Let’s zoom in …
AI: MAKING MEETINGS BETTER FOR EVERYONE
Match Attendees with Similar Interests — One of the biggest challenges at large events is helping people connect in a meaningful way, something deeper than surface-level, drive-by interactions. AI can analyze attendee profiles, professional backgrounds, and even social media activity to suggest the best networking matches or sessions. Instead of leaving connections to chance, AI can help you help your attendees find their preferred “tribe” — making the event more valuable for everyone.
Answer FAQs Instantly — No more long lines at the info desk! AI-powered chatbots can answer attendee questions in real time, from When does the keynote start? to Where’s the nearest restroom? This means less confusion, more time for human-to-human engagement, and happier guests.
Personalize Event Journeys — Today’s attendees demand more than a one-size-fits-all experience. AI can create personalized schedules, recommend sessions, and even suggest lunch buddies based on interests and past behavior. In 2025 and beyond, hyper-personalization will be the norm, not the exception for top-quality corporate gatherings. Imagine an event app that dynamically updates recommendations as attendees move through your event, making each moment feel uniquely tailored to them.
AI: YOUR BEHIND-THE-SCENES ‘SUPERPOWER’
Real-Time Insights and Analytics — Ever wish you could see which sessions are most popular or which spaces at your venue are buzzing with activity? AI-powered platforms can provide live data on attendance, engagement, and more. This allows you to make adjustments on the fly – such as moving a popular workshop to a bigger room, or blasting e-reminders for under-attended sessions.
Optimize Scheduling and Logistics — Juggling speaker availability, venue capacity, and attendee preferences is Rubik’s-like. AI can analyze all these variables to help you create highly efficient schedules and manage logistics such as room assignments and ground transportation.
Content Creation and Targeted Messaging — Need catchy social media posts or compelling email copy? AI can generate creative content in seconds when you feed it accurate, relevant info. Repeat: When you feed it accurate, relevant info. It can also analyze demographics and past event data to help you target people, sessions and topics more effectively. That means higher attendance and more engaged participants in sessions that matter most to the individual.
Feedback Analysis – Traditional paper-based or digital/app-based post-event surveys can be gold mines for improvement, but sorting through all those numerical ratings and comments is cumbersome and a time vampire. Platforms like Zoho CRM can aggregate this input then automate communications, predict engagement, and offer actionable insights for future planning based on your group’s feedback. It quickly analyzes attendee responses, identifies trends, and highlights areas for enhancing future programs – keeping you on a continuous-improvement “Up” escalator and helping you shine before your company’s Leadership Team. [AI sounding a little friendlier to you now …?]
AI: WHAT’S HOT IN 2025?
Hyper-Personalization – Hyper-personalization is moving from a ‘nice-to-have’ dimension to an essential component of corporate meetings and events. Further, attendees expect real-time, dynamic adjustments to schedules and meaningful networking opportunities based on real-life behavior, skills and interests.
Sustainability – As audiences skew younger and younger, sustainability must be a priority to help you establish a connection based on one of their generation’s passion points. AI can help track carbon footprints, reduce waste, and optimize energy use. Tools like Sustainability Hub for Events [SHE] offer on-demand learning and resource-tracking to help you meet your event’s green goals.
Real-Time Translation — With larger, international audiences, communicating in a second language can obviously be a barrier. AI-powered solutions like Wordly offer real-time translation and captioning in more than 60 languages, making your event truly global — without the costly, logistical headache of hiring multiple interpreters.
AI: TAKING ‘THE PLUNGE’ AND EMBRACING IT WITH CONFIDENCE
Breathe. Relax … it’s natural to feel a bit hesitant about any powerful new tech. Many people, perhaps most, worry about risks and feel overwhelmed by all the AI service options. The key is to start small and focus on tools that genuinely fit your workflow — whether that’s automating registration, personalizing experiences, or analyzing post-event data. Or maybe all of the above [for you bolder types].
And if you’re still not ready to take the plunge, “test drive” a few AI services in your personal life so you better understand the structure and dynamics of each service. ChatGPT is a great tool that’s very user friendly and you quickly understand it begins as an inverted triangle and the more you ask it, the narrower its focus becomes. Your opening question or prompt will get you a top-line, broad overview of your topic. As you feed it additional questions and prompts on the same topic, it focuses more narrowly on the specific info you’re searching for.
It can also be more colorful and conversational in tone if you ask it to. Having trouble writing a 4-5-sentence thank you note for a special birthday gift you received? Tell AI what the gift was, who gave it to you, what it means to you, suggest a tone for it to be written in then ask AI to do the friendly scribing for you. Within seconds, voila, you have everything you need to write in your note. [But you’re still on the hook for postage.]
Another user-friendly AI service is Perplexity which delivers a more journalistic “5 Ws & H” response – Who, What, Where, When, Why & How. It also provides “citations” for each statement it makes so you can delve more deeply into the source of the info by clicking on the citation icon at the bottom of the response.
Whichever AI platform[s] you decide to experiment with, know that it’s always wise to double-check any facts or statements that seem dubious. After all, AI is simply aggregating any and all internet-based info on a topic and there’s solid, factual info out there as well as blatant untruths. Like all services, some are better and more reliable than others. It’s up to you to decide which AI platform[s] you’re most comfortable with and trust.
AI: YEAH BUT …
More than likely, your company’s leadership expects you to experiment with cutting-edge AI tools. Larger organizations with higher stakes and more dollars at risk may take a bit longer to adopt this new tech. Hey, be the AI Trailblazer in your company! Someone’s gotta step up, right? Either way, industries are undoubtedly moving forward with AI in the very, very near future and those who embrace it thoughtfully, effectively and more quickly will be the ones who take the lead in their respective sectors.
But what about “the human touch”? AI is powerful but, again, it’s not a replacement for human creativity, intuition, and connection, those “gray areas” that algorithms and meta-wizardry can’t replicate. Moving forward, the best designed and executed events will be those blending smart tech with authentic, personal experiences. Use AI to handle no-brainer, repetitive and data-heavy tasks, freeing you to focus on what you do best: Creating great content, meaningful moments and lasting memories.
AI isn’t about replacing you or what makes you skilled at your job, it’s about amplifying and enhancing your unique and special touch.
So … C’mon in, the water’s great!
Cheers,
Kenneth Jones
