A blog by Kelley Walker, Event Innovation Lead
I love working in the events industry, it is so fast moving with innovation constantly reshaping how experiences are designed and delivered.
Just three months into 2026, I can feel the pace of innovation is greater than ever and in my role as TTA’s Innovation Lead, I’m seeing AI, automation and user-centric design rapidly reshape agency and client thinking alike.
I never forget we are all human
Striving to be at the forefront of innovation and digital technology is embedded in TTA’s culture. As a team, we are always excited to embrace and adapt to new technologies and integrate more AI tools to support us day to day, from venue finding and agenda creation to speaker profiling, timeline planning, resourcing and event data analysis.
But my view is that we should never forget what we are here for. The events industry exists to promote human interaction through memorable experiences, and I am convinced that no matter how far technology advances it can never replace the human element of events both in terms of the relationship between agency and client, and client and audience.
So, whilst in my role I embrace technology for the efficiencies and the insight it brings, I never lose sight of the essential human connection with our clients and their audiences. In events, I believe we should always remember that people want to deal with people, and they want to feel that their event experience is curated by humans not by AI.
I’m impressed by Cvent’s AI capabilities
Event professionals know Cvent as a trusted event management platform, and its future-focused approach is gaining pace, making its rapidly evolving AI capabilities especially compelling, in my opinion.
We are a Cvent partner and we have worked very closely with this event tech leader for many years to deliver smarter, more scalable events, and I believe its emerging technology is now making a real difference to how we improve client delivery from agenda shaping and supplier management to an upgraded audience experience.
For example, with CventIQ, agenda automation, supplier recommendations, and predictive modelling are helping shape more relevant event content and are really improving the event planning process. Whilst audiences are benefiting from AI chatbots acting as virtual concierges, answering registration questions, building schedules, recommending sessions, and suggesting valuable connections.
There are also new developments that allow audiences to revisit key event moments with live transcripts, session snapshots and instant feedback summaries. Furthermore, Cvent’s context-aware AI assistants are providing deeper insights into attendee behaviour and session performance to help event managers create the optimum attendee experience.
Honestly, I could write a blog just about the new Cvent features. I know other platforms are advancing too, but I genuinely believe that Cvent has done a great job of embracing new technologies and delivering real value in the new features they have released.
I have enjoyed creating our own bespoke solutions
Digital innovation isn’t only coming from the specialist software vendors, the TTA team is innovating too. One of the most rewarding and exciting parts of my job has been overseeing the development of our own bespoke digital solutions to help our long-term clients drive efficiency and transparency into their event management processes.
In 2025, one of our global healthcare clients came to us with a complex problem: managing global meetings without a bespoke, unified management platform. So, we put our heads together with our development partner and designed and delivered a fully customised solution in just three months that addressed their pain points and supported their unique operational requirements.
The platform, which we call Congress Cloud, transformed booking, attendance tracking, and financial management, giving the client far greater visibility and control. The first congresses using the platform were a great success, and the continued commitment and partnership across all stakeholders has allowed us to keep evolving the solution to improve the client and user experience.
I really enjoyed being part of the development process, seeing a product being conceived, developed and then rolled out was immensely satisfying, and I am very proud that in 2026 this solution is being used to support multiple medical congresses. Building on this success, we’re now designing a similar solution to help other organisations streamline meeting expense management and reporting.
It’s a cliché, but the future is exciting
Whilst AI has been talked about for some time, it now feels more real. I genuinely feel that AI has put us at a watershed in event design and delivery with an exciting future of making rapid advancements efficiency, delivery and in the event experience itself.
I am proud that at TTA we have a culture that genuinely embraces this change and we constantly adapt and innovate to set new benchmarks for excellence in event delivery. But the essence of events is creating special human connections, and we never forget that these cannot ever be replaced by technology, thank goodness!