A conversation about creating impactful event experiences and critical skills needed in the era of events and AI with Alexa Berube, a co-founder of Reposite, an AI-powered online vendor and supplier sourcing platform, who leads MPI’s AI-Enhanced Event Professional certificate course.
In what ways do you see AI becoming essential for creating more impactful and memorable event experiences?
AI is quickly shifting from a “nice-to-have” to critical infrastructure for meetings and events. It helps planners design smarter experiences from the start by analyzing attendee preferences, comparing venues and identifying the best locations, formats and room setups, not just the lowest cost options.
AI also enables true personalization at scale. Platforms like Cvent Attendee Hub and CventIQ can recommend sessions, networking matches and content tailored to each attendee’s goals, making events feel curated instead of generic.
Finally, AI helps remove friction from the attendee journey. From virtual assistants that answer questions in real time to automated captions, summaries and post-event highlights, AI makes events easier to navigate and easier to learn from, extending the impact of the experience well beyond the event itself.
What practical skills do event pros need to develop to effectively harness AI?
The most important shift isn’t becoming a tech expert, its developing practical AI fluency.
First, planners need a foundational understanding of how AI works and where it realistically fits into event workflows. Programs like MPI’s AI-Enhanced Event Professional certificate help ground planners in the basics while showing how AI applies to sourcing, agenda design, communications and post-event analysis.
Second, prompt writing and workflow design are becoming essential skills. The real power of AI comes from knowing how to structure prompts and integrate AI into everyday tasks—think about everything from building agendas and drafting sponsor proposals to analyzing attendee data.
Finally, planners need stronger data literacy and governance awareness. As AI surfaces insights from event data, professionals need to interpret those insights, ask better questions and ensure attendee data is used responsibly and transparently.
How has participant feedback changed during your time presenting the AI-Enhanced Event Professional certificate program?
One of the biggest shifts we’ve seen is a move from anxiety to practicality.
Early participants often came in worried about whether AI might replace parts of their role. Now, most attendees arrive already experimenting with tools and are focused on questions around governance, strategy and implementation.
Because the program emphasizes hands-on exercises, prompting labs and real-world event case studies, participants tend to leave with a clear action plan, usually with several AI experiments they can apply immediately to their next event.
Every time we run the program, we’re updating the curriculum to reflect the latest tools and strategies hitting the market so planners leave with the most current knowledge possible.
Perhaps the most encouraging change is the growing sense of community. Participants increasingly share prompts, tools and lessons learned with one another.
Learn more about the MPI Academy’s AI-Enhanced Event Professional and AI for Event Sales certificate courses.
