A Decade of Change, Accelerated by AI
The meetings and incentives industry is on the brink of its most significant transformation since the rise of digital sourcing — and artificial intelligence (AI) is leading the charge.
Recently, Teneo Hospitality Group sat down with its Client Advisory Board to dig into the promise and pitfalls of AI in the meetings, events, and hospitality space. What emerged was clear: AI is more than a tool; it’s a complete mindset shift. And for the MICE industry, it may be the biggest accelerator seen in a decade.
Client Advisory Board 2025
Concept Ideation: from Weeks to Minutes
One of the most talked-about opportunities? Speed to concept.
“What used to take our team two weeks now takes two hours,” said Cynthia D’Aoust, who oversees the incentive program for major consumer brands. “AI allows us to present multi-destination concepts faster and with more creativity — but the key is still human input. Strong prompts get strong results.”
Cynthia’s team uses generative AI platforms like ChatGPT to rapidly develop theme ideas, destination rationales, and program titles, giving clients more to react to earlier in the creative process; however, she’s quick to note that quality control still matters.
“AI can’t read the room. It’s great for drafts, but we verify everything before it hits a client inbox.”
Floor Plans, Itineraries, and Invoice Audits: Yes, AI Can Do That, Too
The use of AI across the event lifecycle has yielded some surprising use cases, from developing itineraries to — yep — creating basic floor plans.
In addition to experimenting with Perplexity as a supplemental tool, “we’ve started using AI tools to generate initial floor plan mock-ups. It’s not flawless, but it saves our team hours,” said Maria Ramos, director of the Meetings & Events Division at Talley Management Group.
“For incentive programs, I use ChatGPT to structure entire daily itineraries,” added Daniel Briones, senior director, Lamont & Associates. “It gets us to 80% fast. From there, we refine and localize. The time savings are undeniable.”
Even operational tasks are getting an AI assist. Cheryl Payne, CMM strategic partner and owner at Innov8 Meetings & Events reported using Microsoft Copilot to streamline roster comparisons and invoice accuracy checks, though her company is still navigating data compliance barriers.
Content Customization at Scale
Personalization has always been a north star in marketing, but now it’s scalable.
“We trained a private ChatGPT model on our past events,” said Kathy Meader, VP, Events & Education at RSPA. “Now we can generate tailored content like event descriptions, promo copy, even email subject lines with the tone and style that fits our brand and audience.”
This kind of AI fine-tuning, often described as “vertical-specific GPT,” allows event marketers to preserve voice and messaging while moving faster. According to Teneo’s leadership, it’s a direction they’re also moving toward.
AI in the Sales Stack
“AI will be fully integrated into Teneo’s next-generation CRM and sales operations platform,” said Jamie Bruce, president of Teneo Hospitality Group. “We’re designing tools that anticipate clients’ needs and reduce friction in the sales journey — because speed, relevance, and personalization are now baseline expectations.”
Teneo’s recent Summit in Orlando featured an entire AI track, including a keynote from Mitch Mitchem — an expert in humanizing AI through live demonstrations and strategic storytelling. Attendees also received a curated AI Tools Resource Guide, drawing from input shared across the Client Advisory Board.
AI is Not a Replacement. It’s a Realignment.
Despite the excitement, Teneo’s Client Advisory Board was unified in its warning: AI is not a replacement for human insight — it’s an adjustment to where we spend our time and creativity.
“It’s not about removing the human touch,” Cynthia emphasized. “It’s about removing the repetitive tasks that keep us from connecting on a deeper level — with clients, with attendees, with purpose.”
Final Thought: the Future is Prompt-Driven
AI will not eliminate planners, sellers, or marketers, but those who resist adapting risk falling behind their industry peers.
From storyboarding immersive experiences to forecasting attendee engagement, the MICE industry has never had more powerful tools at its disposal. The winners? They’ll be the ones who learn to prompt better, review smarter, and act faster.
Teneo is proud to stand alongside a Board of innovators helping to push our industry forward, one question, one conversation, and yes, one prompt at a time.
