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Reggie Aggarwal, CEO and Founder of Cvent, opened Cvent CONNECT Europe, the company’s annual user and industry conference, with a forward-looking keynote outlining three key priorities shaping the future of the meetings and events industry: navigating uncertainty amid global economic pressures, the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, and unlocking the full value of event-led growth to drive measurable business outcomes. Highlighting the enduring value of face-to-face experiences, Aggarwal emphasised that events are where relationships are forged, communities are strengthened, and brands come to life. “In a digital-first world, human connection isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s our industry’s greatest advantage.”

In his address, Aggarwal also reflected on Cvent’s continued global growth, which now includes more than 5,000 employees and 25,000 customers worldwide. He highlighted the importance of celebrating milestones, both professional and personal, sharing a candid story about his oldest daughter’s acceptance into her top choice university. Drawing a connection between life’s memorable moments and those created through events, he said: “Seeing my daughter achieve her dream was a powerful reminder that effort, resilience, and support make all the difference. Success comes from persistence, innovation, and the communities we build at events like this.”

Aggarwal concluded his introduction by reaffirming Cvent’s commitment to empowering event professionals through innovation, education, and connection. “The future may be digital-first,” he said, “but it will always be human-led.”

Reggie’s Three Key Industry Priorities

1. Navigating Uncertainty

Aggarwal acknowledged that inflation, shifting tariffs and geopolitical conflicts have created a complex environment for planners and hospitality professionals. Despite these challenges, optimism in the industry is at a five-year high, with in-person events continuing to deliver measurable ROI and human connection remaining central to business success. “Our industry has proven to be incredibly resilient,” said Aggarwal. “Real progress comes from looking beyond the headlines and focusing on what truly matters: building relationships, creating impact and maintaining a long-term vision.”

2. Embracing AI

A central focus of Aggarwal’s keynote was the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, which he described as “a monumental shift on a scale unlike anything we’ve seen before.” Leveraging its global scale and continued investment in cutting-edge technologies, Cvent is accelerating its AI journey to shape the future of events and deliver even greater value to its customers. He introduced CventIQ™, a collection of powerful intelligence capabilities embedded across the Cvent platform. CventIQ goes beyond AI, incorporating Cvent’s robust industry expertise, proprietary insights & analytics, smart platform and intelligent infrastructure to deliver practical, easy-to-use AI-powered solutions.

Aggarwal highlighted several new tools including:

• Session Snapshots: delivering live transcripts, audio snippets and slide captures directly to attendees.
• Session Insights: providing automated summaries of session feedback for actionable takeaways.
• AI Response Assistant: enabling hotels to respond to RFPs faster while improving conversion rates.
• AI 3D Event Designer: allowing planners to instantly generate interactive, to-scale venue layouts and lighting simulations.

“AI is about redefining productivity, not replacing creativity,” Aggarwal emphasised. “It is a force multiplier, helping deliver exponential outcomes while enabling industry professionals to focus on the critical strategic and human-led aspects of their work.”

3. Unlocking the Marketing and the Event-Led Growth Opportunity

Aggarwal concluded by highlighting the rise of Event-Led Growth (ELG), a go-to-market strategy positioning events as a central driver of customer engagement, acquisition, retention and revenue.

To support this, Cvent developed Cvent Essentials, a streamlined solution enabling teams to manage small, repeatable events such as VIP dinners, executive roundtables and regional networking sessions at scale. With minimal training, teams can set up events in minutes, turning in-person gatherings into measurable growth engines.

In addition, Cvent continues to enhance its webinar platform, empowering marketers to engage video-first audiences, such as Gen Z and Millennials, in a more impactful way. These solutions, together with recent acquisitions and product innovations, give marketing teams the tools to run integrated, omnichannel event programmes that deliver measurable results.

Register

Industry professionals can still register to attend Cvent CONNECT Europe virtually, which offers conference content both live and on-demand 30-days post-event, including Aggarwal’s opening keynote. To register, please visit the Cvent CONNECT Europe website.