Planners need to determine how to balance live events with technology, such as artificial intelligence.

For decades, the formula for conference content was fairly predictable: Hire a keynote speaker, assemble a few panels, create breakout tracks and give attendees an agenda. That model is being challenged. AI can now summarize presentations, recommend sessions, translate speakers in real time and turn hours of programming into bite-size takeaways. At the same time, attendees have become accustomed to personalized digital experiences that help them find exactly what they want, when they want it.

For corporate meeting planners, that raises a bigger question than how to incorporate AI into an event. If an attendee can get the essential information from a 45-minute presentation in a two-minute AI-generated summary, what makes the live session worth 45 minutes of their time?

For Monique Rochard-Marine, CITP, CMM, CMP, CTSM, MBA, head of global commercial services and operational efficiency at Cordis in Lakeville, MN, the answer is simple: Make them feel something.

“AI can absolutely give me the top takeaways from a keynote, but it cannot recreate what it feels like to be sitting in a room with hundreds of people and have a speaker tell a story that completely pulls you in,” she says. “Most of us remember how something made us feel long after we have forgotten what was shown on a slide.”

That, she believes, raises the bar for what belongs onstage.

“Don’t just give me information I could have gotten in two minutes somewhere else,” Rochard-Marine says. “Inspire me, challenge me, make me smile and laugh, make me uncomfortable, make me think differently. Give me a reason I needed to be in that room.”

Carrie Davenport, CMP-Fellow, CEM, CSEP, principal of strategic events and experiences at Altria in Rock Hill, SC, adds, “What AI will never deliver is the special moments that take place organically at an event between sessions, trade shows and other scheduled programming. It is the real connection between people.”

The answer to what deserves precious live-event time may therefore extend beyond what happens onstage. It may also require planners to think differently about how much of an event should be programmed at all.

The traditional conference agenda assumes that attendees with broadly similar professional interests want broadly similar content. But one person may be looking for technical education. Another wants access to senior leadership. Someone else may care primarily about networking and finding peers facing the same business problem.

Technology is making it possible to serve those attendees differently. Rather than simply recommending sessions based on information attendees provide during registration, AI can increasingly use behavior and expressed interests to surface sessions, people and content likely to be relevant to them.

Freeman’s attendee research has identified personalization as a priority for planners, pointing to AI-enabled curated agendas, persona-based wayfinding and interest-driven meetups as ways to tailor an event to individual attendees.

Rochard-Marine expects that personalization will accelerate, but she sees a potential downside if planners take it too far, saying, “Different roles, experience levels and personalities don’t necessarily need the same content delivered in the same way. But I also wouldn’t want personalization to become isolation.”

That distinction may become increasingly important.

Jena Dunham, vice president of marketing and creative services at Etherio in Atlanta, GA, sees the same tension between relevance and shared experience, adding, “Personalization matters because no one wants to spend two days sitting through content that wasn’t meant for them.”

But individualization cannot come at the expense of the collective moments that give a meeting its identity.

“We also come together because there’s something wonderful about being part of a shared experience — laughing at the same moment, hearing the same big idea, having something to talk about over dinner,” Dunham says. “The best meetings will give people more choice without losing that sense of ‘we were all there.’”

The same technology that can help attendees find exactly what is most relevant to them could also fragment an event if everyone is sent down an entirely different path. The challenge for planners will be determining what should be personalized and what should remain collective.

Rochard-Marine says, “Give people choices and content that’s relevant to them, but don’t personalize away the human connection that brought everyone together in the first place.”

The result could eventually be less emphasis on rigid conference tracks and more emphasis on individual attendee journeys built around a common core. That doesn’t necessarily mean handing control of the meeting over to an algorithm. The planner’s role may instead shift from programming every minute of an attendee’s day to creating enough high-quality options that attendees can construct the experience that delivers the most value to them.

AI Raises the Bar for Live Content

Information is no longer scarce. An attendee can ask an AI chatbot to explain an industry issue, summarize a report or provide a list of trends before arriving at a conference. What is scarce is attention — and access. A live event can give attendees the opportunity to question an expert, challenge an idea, solve a problem with colleagues, hear what peers are experiencing and participate in a conversation that wasn’t on the agenda.

Research suggests the quality of that programming matters to the decision to attend in the first place. Freeman’s Event Organizer Trends Report found that 78% of attendees considered the perceived value of content and programming very or extremely influential in their decision to participate.

That means content isn’t simply something attendees consume once they arrive. It is part of the reason they show up.

“The data shows that content still remains a top consideration, but connecting attendees to content in a personalized way is where organizers can help,” says Ken Holsinger, executive vice president of industry research and insights at Freeman. It’s also important to help younger attendees navigate content offerings. “Ask attendees questions to help them curate a more personalized agenda,” adds Holsinger.

The finding becomes even more significant as AI gives prospective attendees another option: access to the information without attending in person.

Dunham agrees that content alone is no longer enough of a reason to attend a meeting.

“The best live content,” Dunham says, “gives me what AI can’t: access to real people who’ve had first-hand experiences, candid conversation and the chance to ask the question I didn’t know I had until someone said something interesting.”

For Jonathan Lese, event and operations leader for Grow Your Events in Stamford, CT, that same conversation starts with understanding why attendees came to the event in the first place. The objective may not always be to “learn” in the traditional sense. They may be there to solve a problem, meet people facing similar challenges, gain access to experts or strengthen relationships. Content should be designed around that purpose rather than around a predetermined number of hours that need to be filled.

Rochard-Marine says it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify the traditional model of “people talking at you from the stage.” That doesn’t mean presentations and panels are disappearing. It means they have to earn their place.

“I am much more interested in conversations, storytelling, smaller group discussions and formats where people can truly connect with each other,” she says. “Sometimes, 15 really good minutes can be much more impactful than filling 45 minutes or an hour just because that’s the typical time block we have always used.”

“Expertise gets you considered, but the ability to tell a story, connect with a room and make people want to put their phones down is what earns the stage,” Dunham adds.

For planners, that may require questioning some of the most established conventions of agenda design. A session doesn’t necessarily need to last an hour because an hour is available. A panel doesn’t necessarily need four speakers because that is how panels have traditionally been structured. A keynote doesn’t automatically deserve the largest block of time simply because a high-profile speaker is delivering it.

AI can recap a session for those unable to attend live.

The Audience Becomes Part of the Content

For years, planners have talked about making meetings “interactive.” The next phase could go considerably further. Instead of designing a session and adding audience participation afterward, planners can begin with the questions attendees actually need answered.

That could mean collecting questions weeks before a leadership meeting, using polling to determine what a session covers, allowing attendees to vote on topics in real time or breaking a large audience into smaller groups to work through problems and bring their findings back to the room.

But, there’s a big difference between true participation and putting a poll on the screen and calling it interactive Rochard-Marine says, adding, “The best content gives people an opportunity to contribute their own experiences, challenges and ideas.”

A sales meeting, for example, doesn’t necessarily need another executive presentation explaining challenges that salespeople already understand. It could instead bring high-performing teams together to discuss what is working, identify common obstacles and create solutions that can be shared across the organization.

The content becomes less about telling employees what the company knows and more about capturing what employees know.

Dunham says Etherio is increasingly trying to build that participation directly into the programming when clients allow it, which may include live polling, table discussions, peer to peer sessions and other ways for attendees to bring their own experiences to the discussion.

“Sometimes, the most valuable person in the room isn’t on the stage,” Dunham says.

“I enjoy formats where attendees learn as much from the person sitting next to them as they do from the person onstage,” Rochard-Marine adds.

Lese says, “When a conference does include someone talking from a stage for hours on end, people will get on their phones and lose interest. Attendees learn when they are engaged.”

One format he recommends begins with a speaker presenting a specific situation or business challenge, then turning the conversation over to attendees. Participants discuss the issue in smaller groups before reporting their observations and ideas back to the larger audience.

AI can then capture and summarize what emerges from those conversations.

“The bottom line is that people learn and get content from each other, not just from someone onstage,” Lese says.

That distinction may become increasingly important as AI assumes more of the work of capturing and distributing information.

“Sure, AI is important to summarize and distribute information, but it’s not the way people are learning,” Lese says. “They are learning from interacting and engaging with others. People are social by nature and want connection.”

The other major change is happening after attendees leave the room.

Historically, event content had a relatively short shelf life. A presentation happened, perhaps a recording was posted online, and attention quickly moved to the next meeting. AI makes it considerably easier to turn one session into multiple pieces of content. A keynote can become a transcript, executive summary, short video clips, social posts, an internal article, podcast material, follow-up education and personalized recommendations for attendees.

The technology is already moving into event platforms. Freeman launched a generative AI tool called Key Takeaways that transcribes live session audio and generates summaries and insights. Attendees can access key points from sessions they missed, while organizers can use post-event reporting to better understand engagement and session effectiveness.

“This is an example of putting research into action. Attendees told us discerning key steps and highlights from a session is incredibly important to them and Freeman responded by building this tool,” says Holsinger.

For corporations spending significant amounts on leadership meetings, sales conferences and customer events, that can fundamentally change the return on their investment. A presentation delivered to 500 employees no longer needs to reach only those 500 people during that particular hour. The ideas generated during the meeting can become an internal knowledge resource distributed across an organization for weeks or months. Employees who were not present can access highlights. Attendees can revisit relevant material. Different departments can receive versions tailored to their needs.

Rochard-Marine sees this as one of AI’s most powerful applications for events, saying, “The live experience should be designed for the people in the room, but afterward AI gives us so many more ways to extend the life of that content. A great keynote doesn’t have to disappear when the speaker walks offstage.”

That means repurposing may need to become part of content planning from the beginning rather than an afterthought.

Language Barriers Are Falling

Personalization isn’t limited to determining which sessions an attendee should see. Increasingly, technology can also change how different attendees experience the same session.

AI-powered translation and captioning tools are making it easier for global audiences to participate in content delivered in languages other than their own. Wordly’s 2026 research of 205 enterprise leaders who run multilingual meetings found that 88% had increased their use of interpretation or captioning.

That could have significant implications for global organizations. Rather than requiring every employee to consume a leadership presentation in English, companies can increasingly provide captions or translated audio in multiple languages simultaneously. Recorded sessions can be transcribed, translated and repurposed for employees in other markets.

More Content Isn’t Necessarily Better Content

AI creates another problem: It makes producing content incredibly easy. That doesn’t mean attendees want more of it. In July, Cvent released research of nearly 1,000 marketers and event professionals in which 85% said the proliferation of AI-generated content has made building audience trust more difficult.

That makes authenticity a potential competitive advantage for live events. Attendees may not need another 30 sessions to choose from. They may need five excellent ones. They may place increasing value on unscripted conversations precisely because those moments haven’t been generated, polished or optimized by AI.

Dunham makes a distinction between simply reducing content and becoming more disciplined about what earns a place on the agenda.

“At Etherio, we’re not focused on programming less, but rather, programming better,” she says, adding that attendees have already invested time, money and energy to participate, which makes every minute of the agenda valuable.

“If we’re giving something precious agenda time, it should leave attendees with a new idea, a meaningful connection or something genuinely useful they can take back with them,” Dunham says.

“More is definitely not always better,” adds Rochard-Marine. “We’ve all been to meetings where every available minute gets filled because we feel like we need to maximize people’s time. Sometimes, we’re actually doing the opposite.”

Her test for whether something deserves a place on the agenda? What will someone get from being in the room that they couldn’t get from reading an email, watching a recording or asking AI to summarize it?

“If we don’t have a good answer to that question, it probably doesn’t deserve 45 minutes on the agenda,” she says.

Dunham says Etherio is also asking much the same question of every piece of programming: Why does this need to happen live?

“If we don’t have a compelling answer, we might need to rethink the format,” she says, “because getting people together is too expensive, and frankly too special, to spend that time delivering information they could have gotten at their desks.”

“I’d rather have fewer sessions that people are still talking about at dinner than 10 sessions they can’t remember the next morning,” Rochard-Marine says.

Measuring What Happens After the Applause

The way planners measure content may need to evolve as well. For years, some of the easiest measures of event content have also been among the most limited: How many people attended the session? Did they stay? What score did they give the speaker?

Increasingly, the more consequential question is what happened after attendees attended the event?

Lisette Sheehan, vice president of measurement and analytics at Sparks in Middletown, NJ, says that is often where event measurement falls short, adding, “Attendance and satisfaction data have always been easy to collect. What AI is finally giving us is visibility into what happened next: what people went back to, who they connected with and what they actually did with what they learned. That’s the difference between a session that was well received and one that actually changed something.”

“Attendance tells me someone showed up. A satisfaction score tells me they liked it. Neither necessarily tells me whether it mattered,” Rochard-Marine says. “Did someone do something differently because of what they heard? Did it create a connection? What are people talking about in the hallway, at dinner or the next morning?”

The Planner as Content Architect

AI can generate a session description, summarize a keynote, translate and recommend what an attendee should watch next. What it can’t determine on its own is why hundreds or thousands of people should leave their desks, board airplanes and gather in one place. That becomes the planner’s job.

The next generation of meeting planners may increasingly act as content architects: deciding what information should be delivered digitally, what requires a live audience, when technology should personalize the experience and when technology should get out of the way.

If AI can deliver the summary, the information and the takeaways without requiring someone to travel a far distance to enter the ballroom, the live event has to deliver something else. “You may forget exactly what was on slide seven,” Rochard-Marine says. “You don’t forget how you felt in that room.” C&IT