In January I founded AI Expo Europe, and now, almost two months before the first edition, I can honestly say that organising a conference looks less like a show and more like a construction site. On 6 and 7 October we meet in Bucharest, at the Radisson Blu, with more than 100 speakers from Romania and abroad. On paper, that is one sentence. Behind it are hundreds of emails, spreadsheets, phone calls and small decisions that, added together, make the difference between a good event and a wasted day for everyone.
Earlier this year I explained why I founded AI Expo Europe. Now I want to write about the how, from the middle of the preparations, with no figures and no premature conclusions. I don’t know yet how it will turn out. I only know what I have learned so far, and maybe it helps someone organising an event, big or small.
Start with the audience and the promise, not the venue
The first temptation is to book a room and then figure out what to fill it with. I prefer the opposite. My starting question is: who comes, and what do they take home? In our case the answer is clear: entrepreneurs, managers, investors, developers and public-sector people who want to understand AI applied to business. No hype, no robots on stage, no “everything changes tomorrow”.
That promise becomes the filter for everything else. A topic makes it into the programme if it helps someone in the room make a better decision. A partner comes in if they fit this audience. When your promise is clear, saying “no” gets much easier, and at an event you have to say “no” a lot.
The agenda is a balancing act
With more than 100 speakers, the risk is not running out of content. The risk is a programme that reads like a catalogue. So we work by themes and tracks, not by names. Each theme has to answer a real question: how you apply AI in sales, operations, healthcare or finance, what European regulation means for a company in the region, what a team that wants to start tomorrow should actually do.
Then comes the balance, which is the hardest part. On the same stage I want to hear:
- big tech companies, who see the trends from above;
- startups, who build fast and make their mistakes in public;
- researchers, who keep our feet on the ground;
- the public sector, which will regulate, buy and have to explain;
- local and international voices, in a mix that doesn’t turn this into an imported conference.
Speaker diversity matters too: age, experience, gender, field. Not as a box to tick, but because a panel where everyone thinks the same is a boring panel. And one rule I brought over from the lessons of a crypto event: the people on stage are there to explain, not to sell. Sales pitches have their place, at a booth or over coffee, not in front of a room that came to learn.
Speakers: invitations, follow-ups and a plan B
Confirming more than 100 busy people is a job in itself. A good invitation is short, personal and says three things clearly: who the audience is, what we would like them to talk about, and why them in particular. Generic invitations get generic replies, which means no reply at all.
Then comes the follow-up, the part everyone underestimates. A “yes” in spring is not a confirmation for October. Every speaker needs details on flights, hotel, transfers, the exact time of their session, the panel format, who moderates, what equipment they need. For international speakers, travel has to be planned early, or prices and availability will wreck your plans.
And, inevitably, there will be cancellations. A meeting that moves, an illness, a cancelled flight. I don’t take it personally; that’s life. But every important session has a backup behind it: a second panellist, a moderator who can carry the conversation alone, a topic that can be merged with another. A good programme is not one where nothing changes, but one that survives the changes.
Partners, without selling the content
An event this size doesn’t happen without partners and sponsors. That is the reality and I am not embarrassed by it. The line I draw is simple: partners buy visibility and access to a qualified audience, not slots on stage. If a partner has a good speaker with an honest case study, they get into the programme on the same criteria as everyone else. If they only want to present their product, there are other formats for that.
Two years ago, when I explained why we organise Crypto Expo Europe in Bucharest, I wrote that the audience’s trust is the only asset that matters in the long run. I still believe that. A serious sponsor understands that an audience that trusts the programme is worth more than a minute of advertising on stage.
Venue, tech and the clock
The invisible part of an event is the part you notice most when it fails. Sound, projection, internet, streaming, translation, signage, check-in, coffee breaks. We do technical rehearsals, we keep a document of “who does what, at what time, and whom to call”, and we test everything twice.
And time is sacred. A session that runs ten minutes over ruins everything after it. Moderators have a clear mandate to politely stop anyone, however important. Speakers know this in advance. Respecting the audience’s time is, for me, the simplest form of respect.
Marketing, tickets and people
Marketing an event is a marathon. We announce speakers and themes in waves and work with communities, industry associations and the business press, not just tech publications. The message is the same everywhere: you come to leave with ideas you can apply, not just with photos.
And the team makes the event. A small team where everyone knows exactly what they are responsible for, plus volunteers who are often the first people an attendee meets. We prepare them as hosts, not as extras: they should know the programme, the rooms and the answer to “where is the coffee?”.
A plan for what can go wrong
I have a risk list that grows every week: what we do if the internet goes down, if a panel loses half its guests, if a room fills beyond capacity, if a speaker says something they shouldn’t. For each one we have a written answer, a person in charge and a communication plan. Not because I am a pessimist, but because after Crypto Expo Europe and Bucharest Summit I know something will go differently than planned. Always. What matters is how fast you react.
What I bring from previous events
As strategic advisor to Crypto Expo Europe and as organiser of Bucharest Summit (a business event in Romania’s capital), I learned that people don’t come for the logo, they come for trust. That a qualified audience is worth more than a big one. And that the best things happen in the hallway, between sessions, between people who would never have met otherwise. That is why networking time is built into the programme, not left to “if there’s time”.
What is specific to AI is the speed. What was new in January can look old by October. So the agenda stays alive until close to the event, and that takes discipline and a team that isn’t scared of change. A good example is AI agents, the topic that climbed fastest up the list in recent months.
If you are an entrepreneur, a manager, or just curious how AI is used in real businesses, I hope to see you on 6 and 7 October in Bucharest. And if you have ever organised an event, I would love to know: what was the one thing you hadn’t thought of that taught you the most?