Time to pick the pen back up and rewrite stories for new realities, report’s authors say. Photo Credit: AdobeStock/Aliaksandr Marko
The business events industry must move beyond personalisation and transformation and embrace “regeneration” as artificial intelligence increases the value of human creativity, learning and connection, according to the forthcoming IBTM World Trends Report 2027.
The report identifies an emerging “brain economy” worth an estimated US$6.2 trillion and examines how events can foster meaningful friendships, challenge established narratives and create environments that strengthen human cognition.
Its findings will be presented at IBTM World in Barcelona on 17 November. The report was written by Alistair Turner, managing director of Eight PR & Marketing, with input from Megan Henshall of Google XI.
The research argues that networking may have been undervalued. With hybrid working and loneliness reshaping professional life, it says friendship should play a larger role in how organisers assess the value of bringing people together.
AI is a central theme. Rather than focusing only on tools that change event design, the report considers which human qualities become more valuable as work is automated and argues that in-person participation may matter more than ever.
Turner said the industry now had the “growth, stability and confidence” to move beyond evolution and pursue meaningful change. “This year’s answer is optimistic, exciting and revolutionary,” he said.
Henshall said many organisational stories had been written for a world that no longer exists, adding that events were among the few places where people could come together to create new ones. “It’s time to pick the pen back up,” she said.
The report also considers how geopolitical shifts and workforce changes will influence future demand for meetings, and proposes a new way for destinations to define what makes them distinctive beyond familiar city and national narratives.
IBTM World show director Claudia Hall said: “s artificial intelligence changes how we work, the human qualities that events enable (creativity, learning, trust and meaningful connection) will become more valuable, not less. The report challenges us to think differently about the environments we create and how we measure their impact.”
More than 2,500 destinations, hotels, venues, technology suppliers and start-ups are expected at this year’s event, alongside over 12,000 event professionals attending three days of appointments, product discovery, learning and networking.