IBTM World 2025 opens with advocacy and AI taking centre stage

IBTM World 2025 officially opened today in Barcelona, with Exhibition Director Claudia Hall leading the ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside event partners, celebrating the long and fruitful history of hosting the event in the city. The opening day immediately set a future-focused tone, with key discussions centred on the transformative power of AI and the critical role of industry advocacy.

The event commenced with a powerful keynote from Nathalie Nahai, a behavioural science advisor and rare polymath. Her session, ‘The Power of Human Connection & Empathy in the Age of AI’, explored how technology must serve human values.

Reflecting on her session, Nahai stated: “I was talking about empathy, connection, belonging, self-determination, and how that can inform the ways we use our AI with criticality and discernment. AI as a category covers a broad suite of different types of tools. If we’re going to benefit from them, they have to be in service to a deeper set of values that support our potential for belonging, for connection, for creativity, for mastery, for dignified lives.”

She left the audience with a profound question: “How can we use, develop and deploy AI and other forms of technology to support the flourishing of life, to support human wellbeing and to regenerate the planet we live on?”

This focus on the future of events was further explored in a landmark session on the newly launched Future Stage. Julius Solaris, Founder of Boldpush, engaged in a conversation with ‘Ameca’, the world’s most advanced humanoid robot. When asked the pivotal question, ‘Is AI ready to take over events?’, Ameca responded, “In short, AI is the tool and human creativity is the artist. Together they build events that are smarter, more personal and more human.”

On the eve of the official opening, the IBTM World Forum for Advocacy, in partnership with The Business of Events, convened 42 international leaders and policymakers to shape the future of the business events industry. The outcomes of this crucial forum, which explored policies needed to unlock our industry's global potential, were presented on the IBTM Main Stage during the opening day.

Following the Forum, IBTM World hosted ‘IBTM:Eve’ at the Hotel Miramar, Barcelona. This exclusive soirée set the tone for a landmark show, offering an opportunity to thank industry supporters, welcome influential voices, and generate excitement for the days ahead.

The celebration also included the announcement of several prestigious industry awards:

• The Iceberg Excellence Award: Presented to Kathleen Warden, Director of Conference Sales at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), this award recognises leaders whose work creates a long-term, purposeful impact.

• The IAPCO Collaboration Award: Won by MCI Australia for their delivery of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2025, in partnership with the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA), the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and the Australian Space Agency (ASA).

• The 2025 ICCA Global Community Impact Award: Awarded to Wee Min Ong, Vice President of Sales & MICE at Marina Bay Sands, for shaping the future of meetings through sustainability, inclusion, and community legacy.

• The JMIC Profile + Power Award: Ben Goedegebuure, Chief Global Strategy Officer at Maritz, received this award for his significant contributions to advancing the influence of the meetings and events industry.

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