VIVA Creative, the Washington‑area experiential‑marketing firm, announced that its invitation‑only series, The Creative Continuum, will convene industry leaders on July 21, 2026 for a session titled Human Connection in an AI World. Hosted at the company’s Rockville studio, the event is positioned as a strategic forum for marketers, event producers, and technologists grappling with the rapid rise of generative AI and its impact on live brand experiences.
Event Overview
The July 21 gathering brings together more than 150 senior marketers, creative technologists, and media executives for a day of panel discussions, networking, and hands‑on workshops. According to VIVA Creative co‑founder Emily Greene, the series was born out of a need to surface “human creativity” as a counterbalance to the automation surge highlighted in recent industry surveys. Greene cites EventTrack 2026, which reported that 84 % of Fortune 1000 marketers plan to increase event spend this year, underscoring a market shift toward immersive, in‑person experiences despite AI‑driven efficiencies.
Why Live Experiences Matter in an AI‑Driven Market
The central premise of “Human Connection in an AI World” is that AI can amplify, not replace, the emotional resonance of physical events. Gartner predicts that by 2027, 70 % of B2B marketers will allocate a larger portion of their budgets to AI‑enhanced experiential campaigns. VIVA’s own data aligns with that trend: its 2025 post‑event analysis showed a 32 % lift in brand recall when AI‑generated personalization was layered onto traditional stage‑craft. The session will explore how generative tools—from large language models to AI‑powered video synthesis—can be woven into live storytelling without diluting the human element that audiences still crave.
Panelists Bring Diverse AI Perspectives
The lineup reads like a micro‑ecosystem of the broader AI market:
- Jeff Kaplan, Global Events & Experiential Marketing Executive, who has overseen AI‑augmented activations for multinational consumer brands.
- Jasmine Bulin, Immersive Experience Designer formerly at Meta, renowned for blending AR overlays with real‑world installations.
- Cliff Chiet, Chief Integrated Marketing Director at iHeartMedia, a veteran of data‑driven audience segmentation across streaming platforms.
- Zave Greene and Luke Anderson, Co‑Founders of CorridorContext, a startup that uses LLM‑driven narrative engines to personalize event content in real time.
- Joe Talbott, President of Global Content & Creative at VIVA Creative, who will tie the discussion back to the agency’s own AI‑first workflow.
Moderated by Emily Greene, the conversation is expected to surface concrete use cases—such as AI‑generated on‑site signage that adapts to crowd sentiment, or real‑time language translation powered by Google Cloud’s Vertex AI.
Implications for Enterprise Marketing Teams
For enterprise marketers, the session offers a practical roadmap to integrate AI without sacrificing brand authenticity. The key takeaways are likely to include:
- Data‑first creative pipelines – leveraging Microsoft Azure’s AI services to ingest attendee interaction data and feed it back into creative ideation cycles.
- Scalable personalization – using Adobe Experience Manager’s AI modules to deliver dynamic content that reflects individual preferences captured during an event.
- Measurable ROI – applying Salesforce’s AI analytics to track post‑event conversion metrics, a practice that IDC projects will become a standard KPI for 45 % of large‑scale activations by 2028.
These insights could reshape how C‑suite leaders allocate spend across traditional media, programmatic advertising, and experiential budgets.
Comparative Landscape
VIVA Creative’s focus on hybridizing AI with live experiences sets it apart from pure‑digital platforms like Amazon Web Services’ EventBridge, which primarily orchestrates virtual events. While companies such as Google and Adobe provide robust AI tools for content creation, VIVA’s niche lies in the integration of those tools into physical venues, a capability that few agencies currently claim. The Creative Continuum’s invitation‑only model also mirrors the exclusivity of industry think‑tanks like the MIT Media Lab’s AI‑Design Forum, positioning VIVA as both a service provider and a knowledge hub.
Market Landscape
The experiential‑marketing sector is at a crossroads. IDC estimates the global market for AI‑enhanced live events will exceed $12 billion by 2027, driven by demand for data‑rich, immersive brand moments. At the same time, Forrester notes that 46 % of marketers view AI as a “critical differentiator” for post‑pandemic event strategies. Companies that can seamlessly blend AI‑generated assets—such as generative video, synthetic voice, and predictive crowd analytics—into on‑site experiences are poised to capture a larger share of this growing spend. VIVA Creative’s “Human Connection in an AI World” session therefore arrives at a pivotal moment, offering a testbed for tactics that could become industry standards within the next 12‑18 months.
Top Insights
- AI‑augmented events are moving from novelty to necessity: Gartner’s 2026 forecast predicts 70 % of B2B marketers will boost AI spend for experiential campaigns.
- Personalization at scale is now feasible: Tools from Adobe, Microsoft, and Google enable real‑time content adaptation without manual redesign.
- Hybrid expertise differentiates agencies: VIVA’s blend of AI integration and live‑event production gives it a competitive edge over pure‑digital platforms.
- Measurable ROI drives adoption: IDC expects AI‑driven event analytics to become a core KPI for nearly half of large enterprises by 2028.
- Talent convergence fuels innovation: The diverse panel—spanning ad agencies, tech giants, and AI startups—highlights a cross‑industry push toward human‑centric AI experiences.
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