Artificial intelligence is evolving from an operational luxury into a primary revenue driver for the exhibition industry, according to Kevin Ng, head of commercial, Asia-Pacific for Jublia AI, speaking at the TEA InnoTech Talk #2 in Bangkok.
Hosted by the Thailand Exhibition Association (TEA) and Expopass at Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre, the session outlined how organisers are moving past simple automation to leverage the “hidden” market demands revealed by attendee data.
The most immediate application involves automating the heavy lifting of hosted buyer programmes. AI eliminates the tedious logistical work of manual scheduling by instantly pairing buyers and exhibitors based on mutual commercial interests and platform behaviour.
“Without a system like ours, it will be very tedious. You have 300 buyers, then you create an Excel sheet, and you need to update it every time ,” Ng said.
By deploying intelligent matchmaking platforms, organisers can now process thousands of profiles simultaneously, ensuring pairings are based on actual user actions rather than just static registration data.
Beyond operational efficiency, these tools provide a clear roadmap for future exhibition space sales. By tracking digital footprints – such as search queries, profile bookmarks, and meeting requests – sales teams can strategically target high-yield exhibitor demographics that were previously invisible.
Ng pointed to the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) as a prime example. Backend analytics during the event revealed massive delegate interest in Japanese companies, despite that demographic making up only two per cent of total registrations.
“If you know that Japan was the second most popular country, that will allow your sales team to sell to more Japanese exhibitors. Event managers can utilise this intelligence to direct their commercial teams toward high-yield markets that attendees actively seek,” Ng explained.
