New research shows AI is reshaping the trade show industry fast. Here is what that means for businesses investing in exhibition stands.
When was the last time you planned an exhibition campaign the same way you did five years ago?
If your exhibition marketing still looks the same as it did then, with a few social posts before the show, a blast email to your database, and a spreadsheet of leads you need to chase up, you are not alone.
Most businesses are still working this way, and the gap between that and the exhibitors running smarter, AI-assisted campaigns is growing, and fast. For Australian businesses, artificial intelligence is already changing how exhibitions are planned, promoted, and measured. And the numbers behind that change are worth paying attention to.
The data backs this up. According to the UFI Global Exhibition Barometer, 92% of businesses participating in exhibitions are rapidly adopting AI-driven tools across planning, promotion, and lead management. That number keeps climbing. We cover what that actually means for Australian businesses, and where the real opportunities are.
The numbers that tell the story
The global exhibition market is far from shrinking, and the businesses seeing the strongest returns are the ones embracing new technology to improve how they exhibit.
Here is a snapshot of where things stand right now:
- 92% of businesses participating in exhibitions are now using AI in some capacity, an increase from prior years
- 45% of event organisers are actively using AI tools to improve operations and personalise attendee experiences
- According to UFI Global, global exhibition revenue grew 18% in 2025, building on 16% growth in 2024
Nearly half of all event organisers are now actively using AI in their day-to-day work. The Event Industry News report also found that 30% of event companies incorporated AI within the last 12 months alone. Businesses aren’t easing into this gradually, they are moving quickly.
You do not need to be a large operator to be doing this. The Event Industry News AI Report found that 55% of businesses already using AI in the events space have fewer than 50 employees. If you have been sitting back assuming this is something for bigger companies with bigger budgets, the data suggests otherwise.
How AI is being used in exhibition marketing right now
A lot of the conversation around AI makes it sound like something you need a dedicated tech team to use. That is not where most exhibitors are finding value. The tools are already built into platforms many event professionals are already using every day. The ways AI is being used are more practical than people expect, and the results are measurable.
Here is where the biggest impact is being seen.
Personalisation at scale
One of the most useful things AI does is allow you to personalise your communication without needing a big team to do it. For exhibitors, that looks like targeted emails prior to the event built around individual attendee profiles, follow-up sequences based on what visitors actually engaged with at your stand, and content on event apps that adapts based on what a user has already looked at.
The Event Industry News AI Report identifies data analytics (20%), personalisation (18%), and content creation (15%) as the three most common AI applications in the events space. Personalisation is no longer something only big brands can pull off. It is becoming the standard in the industry.
Smarter lead generation and qualification
Trade shows have always been one of the most direct ways to get in front of qualified buyers. That has not changed. What has changed is how quickly exhibitors can work out who is worth following up with and who should be contacted first.
AI tools can now have the ability to track and analyse real-time behaviour. It can spot those who are most likely to convert based on how long they spent at your stand, what they interacted with, and what their registration data suggests about their role and intent. It’s a win for your sales team, as they can save time by knowing exactly who to call first, not spending Monday morning trying to remember who was actually interested.
According to Wave Connect’s trade show research, 72% of attendees are more likely to purchase from an exhibitor they met face-to-face, and 81% of trade show attendees have purchasing authority. AI just makes sure you focus on the right people first.
Content creation and campaign planning
Generative AI tools are now being used across the whole pre-show and post-show content cycle. From drafting ad copy and social posts to building follow-up email sequences, the time and resources required to run a proper exhibition campaign have come down considerably for businesses using these tools well.
For most businesses, the biggest drain around an exhibition is the time it takes to do it properly. AI does not remove that work; it means that often what took three people can now be done by one person. This also means more consistent output across every event touchpoint.
The Event Industry News AI Report found that training staff (30%) and cost (25%) remain the biggest hurdles to wider adoption, though most businesses find it more accessible than they expected once they get started.
Source: Eventmoboi
The operational impact: less waste, better results
Beyond marketing, AI is changing how large-scale events are planned and resourced. Companies using AI in event management are reporting up to 30% lower operational costs, driven by better attendance forecasting, smarter staffing decisions, and fewer expensive surplus orders on things like catering and materials. Alongside those cost savings, Wave Connect’s research shows that 95% of event organisers expect AI use in events to grow over the next year, with 72% already describing it as valuable or essential to how they work.
For businesses exhibiting, this matters because the experience at the event itself affects your results. When organisers use AI to manage attendance and logistics, the show runs more smooth
ly, traffic flows better, and the right visitors end up in the right places. This has a flow-on effect on the quality of conversations you have at your stand.
Whether you are exhibiting in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, or Adelaide, when the event runs well, the conversations on the floor are better. That is what it all comes down to.
Visitor engagement: what the data is actually showing
The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) tracks attendee and exhibitor behaviour closely, and their research series points to a consistent finding: what happens at the stand, and how visitors move through an event, is the single biggest driver of exhibitor success.
AI is now giving individual exhibitors real visibility into that. Real-time analytics platforms can track:
- How visitors move through the event and which stands attract the longest stays
- Which areas of your stand get the most attention
- How engagement patterns shift across different days of the show
- Digital interactions on event apps and registration platforms before and during the event
This kind of data used to sit with large organisers who had full research teams behind them. Now it is available to individual exhibitors. That means you can make decisions during the show, not just after it, and you can show your leadership team actual numbers when they ask what the ROI was on the event. When you combine that with a well-considered exhibition stand strategy, the results compound.
AI makes the face-to-face part count for more, not less. When your marketing in the lead up to the event reaches the right people, when those people show up at your stand already warm to your brand, and when you can track what happens afterwards, the value of that in-person conversation goes up.
According to CEIR research, 84% of attendees and 90% of exhibitors still say face-to-face interaction is their top priority at exhibitions. What AI gives you is a clearer picture of what worked and who was genuinely interested. The conversation itself is still yours to have.
Source: CEIR research
What this means for the Australian exhibition market
Business events contribute $19.6 billion to the Australian visitor economy, and the Australian Business Events Association describes in-person gatherings as the most impactful marketing channel available to businesses today. Most organisers are planning more events through 2025 and 2026, not fewer.
The expos and trade shows around Australia span every major capital city and virtually every sector, from construction and manufacturing through to retail, health, and technology. The buyers are in the room. The question is how well your marketing puts you in front of them before, during, and after the event.
The businesses doing well at those events right now are those investing in smarter marketing, better stand engagement, and more rigorous follow-up. Looking at the 2026 trends in exhibition stand design, the move toward stands that combine physical impact with data-driven tools is well underway. 55% of businesses already using AI in the events space have fewer than 50 employees. If your competitors in Australia are running sharper AI-assisted campaigns and you are not, that gap will grow.
AI will not replace exhibitions. It will make them matter more.
There is an argument that AI and virtual events will eventually make physical exhibitions redundant, yet the numbers tell a different story.
According to Wave Connect’s event marketing data, 86.4% of event organisers globally plan to maintain or grow their in-person events in the coming year. And HubSpot’s State of Marketing report found that 24% of marketing budgets now go to events, the highest single-channel allocation they track. That is not a format on the way out.
Every other marketing channel is getting noisier. Paid search, social media, email, all of it is getting harder to cut through as AI makes it easier to produce content at volume. The ability to run automated campaigns and generate personalised messages at scale is going to be something every business can do. Which means it will be the baseline, not the advantage.
What stays rare is a real conversation. When someone walks into your stand at a trade show and spends ten minutes talking to your team, that is a level of engagement no other channel comes close to. You cannot automate a handshake. You cannot A/B test trust.
Here is what is actually going to change, and it matters more than most people realise.
Exhibitions are going to stop being seen as just a marketing channel and start being recognised as the most valuable source of buyer data in your whole marketing mix.
When AI is applied to what happens at trade shows, including registration data, stand dwell time, product interactions, and follow-up behaviour, you get a window into buyer intent that paid channels simply cannot replicate. The in-person environment generates a quality of signal that no click or impression can match. AI is the tool that turns that signal into something your whole marketing strategy can learn from.
What this means for your exhibition display strategy
Your display stand is the physical expression of everything your marketing is trying to do, so you need to make sure it is working hard enough.
Custom exhibition stands built to create genuine interaction, not just to look great from a distance, are the ones that give your marketing team and AI tools something to actually work with after the event. Great expo signage that clearly communicates your brand means people who have already seen your marketing will recognise you the moment they walk in. The conversation that follows is warmer and far more likely to make an impact.
It is worth asking some honest questions about your current setup:
- Is your stand generating enough meaningful touchpoints for your marketing team to work with after the show?
- Is it visually strong enough to pull people in from the aisle, before any conversation even starts? (See: what makes a good exhibition stand)
- Are you using video or interactive content to hold people at the stand longer? (See: maximising your exhibition stand with video)
- Could a brand activation give visitors a reason to stop and stay, and give you richer engagement data to work with?
These are strategy questions as much as design ones. If you are weighing up your options, it is worth reading about the benefits of a custom-built exhibition stand beyond just the visual impact. A well-designed stand performs differently on the floor, and that performance has become more measurable than ever.
If you want to know what is coming up, take a look at our upcoming events calendar for trade shows and expos around Australia.
Where does this leave you?
AI is changing how exhibition marketing works. The data points in the same direction. Businesses that take the face-to-face environment seriously and combine it with the marketing they do around their events, are building an advantage that other channels cannot match.
Every other channel is getting louder and more crowded. Exhibition marketing, when it is done well and measured properly, is becoming one of the few channels that still cuts through. It generates something no other channel can: real buyer intent, from real people, in a room they chose to show up to.
Exhibitions have always been where business gets done. AI is making sure you can prove it, repeat it, and build on it.
If you are thinking about how your exhibition displays need to work harder, we would love to talk. At Evexis, we work with businesses across Australia to build display solutions that perform well before the show, on the day, and long after the stands come down. Get in touch with our team here.
