“An innovative way to take people from the stage to a place where we can work out if we're the right supplier for them.”
100+ marketers were asked to sketch the AI tool or solution that would make their work more human. AI turned every sketch into a concept – providing a unique snapshot of what the industry wants from AI. But then we went one step further, matching every idea to the exhibitors on the MAD//Fest floor already building it.
An audience full of problems on one side, exhibitors full of solutions on the other – and a surprisingly poor track record of getting the two to actually meet.
Sponsors and exhibitors underwrite the whole show – the floor, the stands, the economics of the thing. But they buy that space on a promise: that the right people will walk up and start a conversation. Applause in the keynote room doesn't pay that invoice. Footfall at the booth does.
Nobody wants to sit through another "sponsored keynote" – or, worse, a platitude-filled panel. The moment a stage starts to feel like an ad, the room checks out.
Everyone ignores the matches that amount to "you work at Company X, so are you interested in Booth Y?" Badge-data targeting knows your employer and your job title – it has no idea what problem you actually walked in trying to solve.
Every sketch named a problem – and AI found who in the building was already solving it. Each doodle became a concept on the big screen, then got matched to the exhibitors closest to solving it: a personal guide, on the sketcher's own phone, before they'd left their seat. Matched on the problem they'd drawn sixty seconds earlier – not the job title on their badge.
Real, unretouched sketches, drawn by hand in the room at MAD//Fest London. Every one became its own AI concept – and its own exhibitor match.
Every sketch was scanned by QR code and returned as a polished AI concept on the big screen – the room's collective imagination, filling up in real time.
Each concept was read against the MAD//Fest exhibitor list and matched to the stands most likely to solve it – no generic directory, just a shortlist worth their time.
Attendees left the keynote already knowing which booths to walk to first – and why, in their own words, sketched sixty seconds earlier.
Three real results pages from the room – watch each one scroll down to its "go say hi" shortlist of exhibitors, matched to that idea.
RapidPulse · 24-hour consumer insights – matched to the research stands already on the floor: Cint, Dynata, OnDevice and Kantar.
Most keynote content peaks on stage and fades by the coffee break. This one kept working after the applause – all the way onto the show floor.
One shared prompt, framed by the keynote: the AI tool or solution that would make their work more human. Pen and paper, no artistic skill required.
A QR scan analyses each doodle, turning it into a rich image gallery and business plan – on participants' phones and on the big screen – so the room could watch its own ideas flowing in.
The world-first step: each concept is matched to the MAD//Fest exhibitors closest to solving it, and sent as a personal guide to the sketcher's phone.
A read of all 76 ideas – themes, tensions, white space, a crowd-powered manifesto, and an eight-page comic drawn from the room's own sketches.
Read the Signal ReportSketches, the vision wall, and the match landing on people's phones – the whole loop, live at MAD//Fest London.
“An innovative way to take people from the stage to a place where we can work out if we're the right supplier for them.”
“An incredible live experiment – taking stage content, getting the audience involved, using AI in a completely frictionless way to drive connections in a way that's very difficult to achieve.”
He spoke truthfully and addressed the elephant in the room about the data and how we deal with it.
Very responsive with ideas and creative feedback to personal thoughts on your work and job role.
Super fun and interactive.
Very insightful! Loved it.
Great talk with supporting info.
Engaging and fun.
He spoke truthfully and addressed the elephant in the room about the data and how we deal with it.
Very responsive with ideas and creative feedback to personal thoughts on your work and job role.
Super fun and interactive.
Very insightful! Loved it.
Great talk with supporting info.
Engaging and fun.
Feedback collected via Talkadot, unfiltered. See the room's full feedback →
The session itself sent qualified attention to the show floor. But it also left the room – and MAD//Fest itself – with content worth publishing.
A strategic read of all 76 ideas: themes, tensions, the white space, and a crowd-powered manifesto for more-human marketing.
The room's ideas, inked as an eight-page comic – strategic doesn't have to mean dry.
Every idea consolidated into a single .md file, ready to drop into any LLM and interrogate for insights.
I built VisuAIse Futures because an audience's own imagination is the most powerful asset you have at your shows – and MAD//Fest proved it can be worth more to your exhibitors, too.
This idea emerged out of the idea-to-agenda session matching we launched at SXSW earlier this year – it's so exciting that we can now build almost anything that you can imagine, and in days not months.
If you'd like your next keynote to send qualified people to your sponsors' stands, or something else that solves your biggest pain point, then I'd love to hear from you.
If you're planning an event with exhibitors, sponsors or a commercial floor to prove right, let's talk about what a VisuAIse Futures session could deliver.