AI has transformed how we deliver events in 2025 – what will 2026 bring?
David Watt
David Watt
by David Watt, CEO of CI Group and sami
For many of us in events, 2025 has been a year of hands-on experimentation with AI – dabbling with different tools, putting them to the test, and discovering where it can genuinely add value to how we deliver events.
From smarter planning, sharper personalisation, and more informed decision-making – below, I explore the key ways organisers have been using AI to enhance their conferences and trade shows in 2025, and how we can expect this to evolve in 2026.
Programme design and marketing
This is where AI has had the most immediate impact. As proven by MarTech, generative tools are incredibly powerful in producing agenda copy, abstracts, and multivariant email and in-app messaging, so organisers can test different angles and personalise at segment level without proportionally increasing content-team workload.
Organisers are also using AI to mine historic data when shaping programmes. By analysing registrations, engagement metrics, survey comments, and on-site movement together, they can see which topics, formats, and speakers resonate – and make bolder decisions about what to grow and what to retire.
Attendee experience and matchmaking
Delegates now expect a consumer-grade digital journey, and networking is becoming more intentional. AI aids the recommendation engines within event apps by assessing attendee interests and roles, and proposing suggestions on who to meet, sessions to attend, and building personalised paths through dense programmes and venue floors.
This helps attendees find content most relevant to them, and ensures that hosted-buyer or roundtable meeting formats are more likely to lead to meaningful outcomes – with one case study from Clarion Events reporting a 44 per cent increase in in-person meetings thanks to AI matchmaking.
Operational optimisation on-site
Behind the scenes, AI is becoming a highly valuable part of the operational control room. Forecasting tools track registration curves, peak traffic times, and no-show and room-fill rates using historic and live data, giving teams stronger evidence when making decisions about agenda structure, and space and staff allocation – reducing over- or under-allocation of space and resources.
This can make a significant difference to event viability, with ExpoMax trade shows reporting a 35 per cent improvement in traffic management, significantly reducing congestion and improving the attendee experience.
Data, follow-up and future planning
The major shift after the doors close is how feedback is handled. Instead of manually sifting through survey responses and Q&A logs, organisers can now use AI to summarise sentiment, surface recurring themes, and highlight features or sessions that either resonated well or didn’t – accelerating debriefs and informing decision-making for the next event’s strategy.
AI is also helping segment attendees and exhibitors for follow-up. B2B event case studies such as Matillion’s describe AI-driven analysis of event engagement and interaction data to prioritise leads and generate tailored follow-up content, resulting in more effective post-event campaigns and better conversion from event-sourced leads.
What is 2026 likely to bring?
Looking ahead, what’s clear is that AI will move on from feeling like an experiment for organisers, and become a permanent part of how conferences and trade shows are delivered.
Wider technology forecasts for 2026 point to generative AI being embedded inside existing systems as built-in tools within CRMs and project management platforms; as these capabilities mature, we should see stronger personalisation for attendees and more powerful predictive analytics for pricing, sustainability, and operational planning.
Against this backdrop, and with AI expected to add billions in value to the wider economy over the coming years, CI Group has launched its own AI agency, sami – dedicated to turning AI strategy into tangible results across clients’ event and marketing activity, and recommending the best use of AI.
As we enter the new year at this pivotal moment in the AI landscape, the industry has a real opportunity to use the technology to make budgets work harder and maximise impact.
Photo by Cash Macanaya on Unsplash
Photo by Cash Macanaya on Unsplash
Top recommended AI tools for organisers
- Grip: An event platform that drives smarter networking and meetings with personalised matchmaking recommendations.
- Zoho Analytics: An analytics tool that pulls together event data to identify trends, performance, and ROI across campaigns and sessions.
- Datapad: A real-time analytics tool that gives insights into traffic and anomalies on the show floor.
- ChatGPT: An AI assistant that can draft agendas, abstracts, and marketing copy.
My advice to fellow organisers is to experiment with the technology with intent. Consider the problems you want it to solve, involve your teams – and importantly, consistently remain open to the opportunities it can offer in delivering more impactful events for both our audiences and the stakeholders who depend on them.