The meetings and events industry is entering a new era of confidence and digital transformation. Optimism among professionals has reached its highest level in five years, with 85 percent of respondents saying they are optimistic or very optimistic about the year ahead—up from 74 percent from 2025, according to the 15th “Global Meetings and Events Forecast” by American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), a leading software and services company for travel, expense, and meetings & events.
At the heart of this shift, artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from an emerging technology to an essential tool for 2026, with 50 percent of industry professionals now integrating AI throughout event planning and execution.
“Unprecedented optimism and technological innovation are converging to redefine how we create meaningful connections,” said Gerardo Tejado, senior VP professional services at Amex GBT. “We’re witnessing a transformative moment where AI is not just a tool, but a strategic partner that empowers meetings and events professionals to deliver more engaging, impactful, and intelligent event experiences with measurable impact. The meeting and events industry’s growing confidence—with 85 percent of professionals feeling optimistic about the future—reflects our collective ability to embrace change and unlock new possibilities.”
AI’s role in shaping the future of events
AI is already helping organizations unlock creativity, streamline operations, and elevate attendee experiences. From generating content and themes to tracking engagement and sentiment, the technology can help meetings professionals optimize budgets and deliver measurable impact.
The most anticipated AI use cases for the year include:
- Connection: Event communications (35 percent), AI-powered matchmaking for attendees and sponsors (35 percent)
- Content: Creative theme generation (34 percent) and, content creation (31 percent)
- Measurement: Engagement tracking (31 percent)
ROI < ROE: Measuring what matters
Improving attendee experience remains meeting professionals’ top priority for 2026 (33 percent).
Meeting professionals have long strived to measure return on investment (ROI), which is giving rise to “return on experience” (ROE) as a metric. With much of the value of meetings and events tied to the impact they deliver, understanding ROE more accurately pinpoints how an event delivered against its strategic and creative objectives.
AI is essential for ROE, enabling event monitoring via badge scans and session check-ins, transforming behavioral data into actionable insights. Adoption of AI is trending up with 28 percent of meeting professionals planning to use it for post-event evaluation in 2026.
Shifting attendee expectations
To create truly memorable events, it’s crucial to encourage attendees to be active participants rather than spectators, meeting their demand for more engaging, hands-on experiences.
Compared to five years ago, attendees today crave active engagement, with 42 percent wanting more interactive sessions such as like workshops or demos. This was closely followed by the desire for more social activities and networking opportunities (40 percent).
Source: Amex GBT
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