A safe space for event professionals • 59 Members
70%. That's how many AI failures trace back to people and process issues. Not technology. Not algorithms. People. BCG calls it the 10-20-70 rule. The event industry has it backwards.
I looked at the data. The pattern is clear. And it's fixable.
Modern events typically use seven different apps for registration, agenda, check-in, mobile experience, lead retrieval, marketing tracking, and surveys, plus countless Excel spreadsheets scattered across team members' desktops, making comprehensive data analysis practically impossible. This fragmentation prevents AI from delivering real value like predictive analytics and intelligent matchmaking, forcing organizers to settle for overpriced chatbots that answer basic FAQs while the truly transformative capabilities remain forever out of reach. The solution isn't choosing better AI but consolidating event data into unified platforms like run.events where registration, networking, and feedback happen within a single ecosystem, enabling AI to see the complete picture and deliver genuine insights in seconds rather than days of manual Excel work.
The perception that AI is too expensive for event organizers doesn't match the reality of implementation costs versus savings. Modern AI tools integrated into event platforms can reduce marketing waste by 30-50%, eliminate thousands in website development costs, and replace temporary staffing expenses while delivering better results. For most events, the question isn't whether AI is affordable, but whether continuing without it is becoming the more expensive choice.
Sponsor success at events has always been predictable through observation, where two sales guys hunched over laptops signal failure while buzzing booths with engaged staff predict success, but this gut feeling wasn't scalable or scientific. AI-powered platforms like run.events now analyze sponsor performance with striking accuracy, tracking quality engagement patterns, predicting outcomes six weeks before events, and enabling real-time interventions when sponsors struggle on day one. The technology transforms post-event reporting from meaningless pleasantries into ROI-proof insights that capture CFO attention, revealing sponsorship as a predictable revenue generator rather than a marketing expense.
Every event with 20+ booths faces the same problem: attendees miss the connections they came for while exhibitors waste time on unqualified leads. AI-powered platforms like run.events now offer sponsor spotting, product spotting, and buyer spotting to transform chaotic expo floors into curated experiences that drive measurable ROI. The technology isn't about replacing human interaction but removing the friction that prevents meaningful connections from happening in the first place.
Event organizers collect mountains of data but rarely analyze it properly, making the annual promise to draw meaningful conclusions that never materializes amid next event logistics. Modern AI-powered platforms like run.events automatically transform this unused data into actionable intelligence, forecasting attendance trends months out, identifying rising topic interests, and performing sentiment analysis that distinguishes engaged criticism from chronic complaints. The technology doesn't replace human judgment but eliminates guesswork, freeing organizers to focus on creating meaningful experiences while AI handles the pattern recognition that reveals what audiences actually need.
The EU AI Act entered force on August 1, 2024, with a phased rollout through 2027, using a risk-based approach that categorizes AI systems into unacceptable (prohibited), high-risk (heavily regulated), limited risk (transparency requirements), and minimal risk (largely unregulated). Event organizers must avoid major violations like untargeted facial recognition databases, emotion recognition in workplace settings, social scoring systems, and unlabeled AI-generated content or chatbots that don't identify themselves as machines. Required actions include conducting AI inventory to categorize all tools, reviewing vendor agreements for compliance guarantees, implementing transparency measures like clear chatbot disclosures and AI-generated content labels, training staff on AI usage and legal requirements, and developing vendor assessment checklists for procurement.
ABBA Voyage features 3D avatars of the band members in their 1970s prime performing alongside a live band, using cutting-edge AI and motion capture technology to create an alternative virtual reality that feels genuinely real to audiences. The show addresses aging with dignity while solving a deeply personal problem: band member Björn suffers from neurological memory loss and sometimes can't remember his greatest hits, making this digital preservation both a performance and a memory aid. This technology offers broader possibilities for anyone facing age-related or illness-related memory loss, enabling people to create personal AI avatars from photos and videos that preserve their identity and legacy for future generations without requiring ABBA-level resources.
Traditional event networking is essentially a lottery system where attendees at a 2,000-person conference might connect with only 15 people out of 1,985 potential valuable contacts, making the odds of meeting the right person heartbreakingly small. AI matchmaking platforms analyze registration data, professional backgrounds, and networking intentions to create pre-scheduled meetings between people who specifically want to meet each other, transforming random encounters into substantive conversations with context. The technology amplifies rather than replaces human connection by creating the conditions for better interactions to flourish, with early data showing increased attendee satisfaction, better exhibitor lead quality, and measurable business outcomes.
The Paris 2024 Olympics showcased AI's potential to handle complex event management, from reducing scoring disputes by 65% to cutting carbon footprints in half. Meanwhile, McDonald's AI ordering system failed after three years, highlighting the technology's limitations. For event professionals, the sweet spot lies between these extremes: start with small, practical AI tools that augment human capabilities rather than replace them entirely.
Traditional event website development involves a painful dance with agencies through endless revision rounds, taking months and significant budget to produce something that's never quite right. The European Collaboration Summit website was built over a weekend using AI agents called Amal (Copywriter, Designer, and Coder) within the run.events platform, achieving top PageSpeed scores and genuine audience love without human designers or developers. This technology doesn't just level the playing field for smaller events with limited budgets, it fundamentally redefines event marketing by enabling instant market response and maintaining authentic voice while freeing organizers to focus on creating exceptional experiences rather than managing vendor coordination.
Traditional conferences struggle to create meaningful experiences for diverse attendees with different expertise levels, learning objectives, and networking goals. AI-powered personalization solves this by analyzing pre-event and real-time data to deliver intelligent session recommendations and smart networking matchmaking that connects attendees with the right people at the right time. The transformation requires comprehensive data collection through enhanced registration forms and pre-event surveys, paired with the right event management platforms that ensure GDPR compliance and seamless integration.
Early AI chatbots were disasters that gave away free tickets, confidently invented swimming pool parties in March Germany, and could be convinced they were World War II soldiers, creating industry-wide trauma that scared event organizers away. Modern AI support has evolved dramatically with better grounding technology that constrains responses to verified knowledge, but success requires comprehensive FAQ segmentation across different audience levels and regular updates rather than set-and-forget implementation. Platforms like run.events now enable strategic deployment where public websites get general AI chat while mobile apps for registered attendees offer personalized recommendations, turning support into real-time market research that reveals attendee concerns and shapes future event strategy.
This article explores how artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the events industry and why fear or denial is no longer an option for event professionals. It argues that AI has already become a commodity in everyday life and that real competitive advantage will come from thoughtful, strategic integration. The piece highlights practical applications, changing marketing realities, and invites readers to see AI as an ally that can turn uncertainty into opportunity.
New AI-powered browsers like Comet are eliminating traditional digital advertising by blocking ads and replacing search results with direct AI answers, forcing event marketers to abandon the "spend more on Google Ads" playbook. The solution isn't more budget but precision marketing driven by clean attribution data that tracks every registration back to its true source. AI transforms this data into actionable intelligence, helping marketers understand why campaigns work and discover new channels, while humans focus on the creativity and storytelling that AI can't replicate.
Website traffic dropped 23% while brand awareness climbed, revealing a fundamental shift in how people discover events: AI assistants now research and recommend conferences without users ever clicking through to event websites. The counterintuitive solution wasn't fighting this change but embracing it by ungating valuable content and optimizing for AI citations instead of search rankings. Organizations thriving in this new reality focus on building algorithmic trust and relationship depth rather than chasing page views and form submissions.
