Elevating experiences doesn’t have to be a Herculean lift. Strategic use of emerging technology such as generative artificial intelligence for meeting planning and facial analysis can streamline tasks and drive creative advances.
At Smart Meetings Innovation Experience in Atlantic City—a destination of firsts, from the first computer conference to the first female African-American millionaire—top meeting professionals met to explore what is possible in the future of events.
Sophia, XtraORdinary Booking Agency’s AI humanoid robot kicked off the learning as a co-host. The three-day gathering included hands-on opportunities to use AI to create an event from scratch for SEARCH Foundation and help the community by working in the garden with C.R.O.P.S., a local organization that helps alleviate food insecurity.
Innovative ideas were baked into the BEOs as well. A poolside reception at Ocean Casino Resort’s cabana deck offered a taste of the property’s fine dining options. And an evening at The Yard at Bally’s featured boardwalk favorites in a glass house. An unexpected fresh perspective that was a big hit was the “butt sketch artist,” who artistically captured attendees’ clothed backsides.
Read More: Atlantic City: A New Wave
After curated meetings, attendees left with a stronger sense of how to leverage technological possibilities and new relationships. These are the highlights:
Agents of Change
In a presentation titled, “Everything You Need to Know About AI (But Didn’t Know to Ask),” Now-ist and Meeting U CEO Jim Spellos was frank. “Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic buzzword—it’s a practical tool you should already be using.”
He walked meeting professionals through a whirlwind tour of what today’s most advanced AI tools can really do—and how to use them wisely. The good news: AI is not a tool that will require you to learn a whole new skill set. You don’t have to know how to write code. If you can write an email, you can prompt an AI. You just have to know how to ask. Effective prompting can be broken down to a simple formula: Role, End Goal, Constraints, Ask Questions, Provide and Iterate.
Need a sample? Try: “You’re the world’s best event marketer. Write a 200-word blog post about sustainable meeting trends in a warm, professional tone. Make it easy to understand for a high school student.”
“It’s not magic—it’s clear communication,” he said.
Spellos also pointed out that planners may already use AI without realizing it. It is embedded in everything from Excel spreadsheets to Canva design and Google searches. While some tools are best for different tasks, investing time in the pro version of a favorite platform can train it to understand your voice, brand and style. (See sidebar, Your AI Toolbox: 10 Tools to Make You a More Efficient Planner)
The next evolution of AI is the transition to agent assistants that can perform a series of functions based on a desired outcome using a variety of tools. They can already do everything from prepping your day using your calendar and sorting emails to iterating agendas based on feedback analysis to ordering a hamburger for delivery. Speaker Katie McMahon, president and chief operating officer at Native Voice, orchestrated the first-ever JetBuy burger order by a humanoid during the conference and predicted that the future is voice-activated rather than heads down—a development that could relieve a lot of cases of tech neck.
What else can AI do for meeting professionals? Try:
- Brainstorming creative event concepts
- Summarizing lengthy reports or YouTube videos
- Transcribing and summarizing meetings
- Building presentation decks
- Writing and scheduling social media
- Creating or enhancing images and audio
- Analyzing budgets to find potential areas for savings
Your Meeting Professional Job Is (Mostly) Safe
As powerful as generative technology is becoming, it is not coming for your meeting professional job if you take the time to master the tool rather than turning away from it. In fact, Nick Borelli, marketing director with the AI facial analysis company Zenus, suggested it might make events more essential than ever. In a world of deep fakes and hallucinations, where no one knows what to believe online and images are regularly manipulated, face-to-face meetings are the most authentic and trusted vehicles for building relationships.
Human insight and quality controls are still vital. Combining individual industry knowledge with AI capabilities creates stronger, faster outcomes. “Perfect is the enemy of good,” Spellos reminded attendees. “Start experimenting—even if it’s not perfect.”
Read More: How Event Planners Are Using AI in 2025
Your AI Toolbox: 10 Tools to Make You a More Efficient Planner
- ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Best for: Brainstorming, writing, summarizing
Your go-to assistant for drafting emails, blog posts, social copy or simplifying complex info. Great for “explain it to me like I’m 12” moments. - Claude (Anthropic)
Best for: Document analysis and chat-based research
Handles long uploads like RFPs or contracts with ease and gives nuanced, contextual answers. - Canva Magic Studio
Best for: Designing presentations, flyers and social graphics
Tap into AI-powered design suggestions, instant resizing and text-to-image tools that bring visuals to life. - Fireflies.ai
Best for: Transcribing and summarizing meeting recordings
Records Zoom/Teams calls, delivers full transcripts and highlights action items automatically. - Otter.ai
Best for: Live captioning and meeting notes
Offers real-time transcription and collaborative note-taking during events or hybrid meetings. - ElevenLabs
Best for: Creating high-quality voiceovers
Turn scripts into human-like audio for video intros, virtual event narration, or accessible content. - Descript
Best for: Editing audio and video with text
Cut “ums,” fix mistakes or clone your voice. It’s like Word for your media files. - Gamma
Best for: Instantly creating slide decks from bullet points or ideas
Feed it an outline and get a clean, visual presentation in minutes. - Beautiful.ai
Best for: Branded, smart slide design
Professional-looking decks that adjust layout automatically—perfect for planners presenting to execs or clients. - Runway
Best for: AI-generated and edited video
Remove backgrounds, extend footage or turn images into short video clips—no editing team required.
