What Is Agentic AI, and How Does It Improve Event Engagement?

The events industry can’t stop talking about AI and its potential uses. Many conversations in recent years have centered on generative AI, but a major new focus is agentic AI. 

What exactly is agentic AI? In short, agentic AI is an autonomous learning model that proactively addresses users’ needs rather than just reacting to them. In a recent AI Journal article, RainFocus CMO Ashleigh Cook noted, “Agentic AI is reshaping how brands interact with audiences—and those who embrace it stand to gain a significant competitive edge.”

This emerging technology presents event teams with several game-changing possibilities, some of which were briefly introduced during our opening keynote at INSIGHT this year. In this post, we’ll dive into what forward-thinking event teams are already doing with agentic AI and share considerations for getting started. 

How Teams Are Currently Using AI Agents 

Event teams are always seeking to improve their attendee experience. Many used a “more is more,” approach, planning year-round to ensure attendees had an expansive selection of sessions, networking opportunities, meals, and activities to choose from. However, they often found attendees became overwhelmed by needing to decide where to go and who to meet with. 

Enter agentic AI. Now event teams can prescribe the right experience to every attendee and help them efficiently get to where they need to go — even if event schedules shift or other elements change. Here’s how:

Session scheduling: Rather than browsing a catalog, attendees can rely on AI agents to recommend and then schedule sessions for them. AI agents predict which session attendees will enjoy based on their registration responses, session favorites, and other actions. They can optimize attendees’ agendas, avoiding scheduling conflicts and preventing wasted time.  

Matchmaking and meeting planning: Attendees don’t always know who they want to meet with. AI agents help by matching like-minded individuals who are interested in the same topics, working in the same role, or attending similar sessions. For scheduling, agents detect which times work for both attendees and book an available room. Likewise, agents can help attendees find and book meetings with subject-matter experts.

Wayfinding: AI agents can guide attendees around events. Using room details, agents can answer common questions such as “Where is lunch being served?” or “Where is my next session?” Furthermore, agentic AI prevents attendees from wasting time in transit by identifying which sessions or activities are nearby. Beyond the event venue, it can answer questions about local attractions and provide travel tips. 

Facial authentication: Agentic AI can verify attendees’ identities based on their facial features and then instantly check them in. In addition to registration, facial authentication has several other applications, including session access control, gift redemption, and meeting sign-in. 

Event logistics and problem-solving: Because AI agents are always learning, they can provide bespoke solutions for less common attendee problems. For example, if an attendee joins a waitlist for a session but doesn’t make it in, an agent can recommend similar sessions, provide a session summary, or schedule a 1:1 meeting with the speaker. 

Post-event analysis and engagement: Using what they’ve learned about your attendees, AI agents can offer personalized event recaps and follow-up reminders to drive engagement post-event. They also provide insights into your attendee behaviors, enabling you to make data-driven decisions for future events.

Considerations for Agentic AI

Agentic or otherwise, all AI relies on accurate, updated data to function properly. Fortunately, modern event technology provides ample amounts of behavioral data for AI to sort through, structure, and repurpose. 

This is what makes events ideal for agentic AI. That said, human guidance is still very much needed to instruct AI agents on what data to use. Here are a few things to consider as you implement agentic AI into your events:

Centralized data is a must-have. Although AI is powerful enough to pull data from multiple event management technologies, having a single platform for all of your events ensures that data is collected in a consistent format. This makes it easier for agentic AI to recommend experiences and answer questions based on past attendee behaviors. A single platform also maintains security and privacy with attendees’ personal information. 

Integrate events into the customer journey. Attendees’ experiences don’t start and end with your event. Whether they are customers, partners, or prospects, they have likely interacted with your brand several times before the event and will continue their journey afterward. Integrating sales and marketing data into your event management technology gives agentic AI a clearer understanding of the entire customer journey, enabling it to personalize experiences further. In return, marketers can expect greater insights into what drives customer behavior. Agentic AI will help them anticipate customer needs and eliminate redundancy in the buyer’s journey. 
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