The Future of Events · For Kate Disley, Tembo Creates

01 · The Shift

Marketing is being rebuilt around AI. Roles, agencies, the wider support layer.

The function itself is changing, and the consultancies, agencies and freelancers around it are changing with it.

Roles

Marketing teams are reorganising around one operator directing multiple AI systems. A senior marketing job description in 2026 reads very differently to one in 2024. Narrower specialism, wider output.

Agencies

Consultancies are changing too. The forward deployed marketer, embedded inside the client and running AI workflows on their behalf, is replacing the deck-and-strategy model that has defined agency work for the last decade.

Ecosystem

The wider support layer is reorganising around one question: who owns the AI implementation inside the client. For most B2B sectors, that question hasn't been answered yet.

02 · The Window

Anthropic and OpenAI built forward deployed teams for enterprise. Nobody has built one for events.

Anthropic places engineers inside Blackstone and Goldman Sachs portfolio companies. OpenAI's Deployment Company runs embedded teams with measurable efficiency gains per engagement. The pattern is now appearing in the wider support layer too: Collingwood Group hired a Head of AI four months ago and is currently recruiting a junior associate underneath them to firm up an AI consulting offering.

$1.5B AI services venture with Blackstone and Goldman Sachs

Forward deployed engineers placed inside portfolio companies across healthcare, financial services, and retail
AI capability delivered by people working inside the client, not licences sold from outside
Enterprise-first coverage. Mid-market and below isn't being served

The Deployment Company: 19 investors, embedded teams, measurable outcomes

Forward Deployed Engineer headcount has scaled from a handful to dozens in under a year
20 to 50% efficiency gains per engagement, the kind of result that justifies the price tag
Same pattern as Anthropic. AI capability delivered through embedded people, not self-serve software

The model is coming down-market, fast

Anthropic's Claude for SMB product is actively hiring across GTM, support and product
The forward deployed model isn't only an enterprise play, it's becoming the default for mid-market
Tembo's client base sits in exactly the segment this reaches next

Collingwood Group: search firm building an AI function

Hired a Head of AI four months ago inside the business
Now hiring a junior associate underneath the role to firm up an AI consulting offering

Where the events industry sits today

No events agency has a forward deployed AI offering. None visible in the UK or US market
Event organisers, exhibitors and B2B media businesses are asking the questions Goldman Sachs portfolio companies were asking 18 months ago
The first agency to answer credibly takes the position. Second place here is worth a lot less than first

03 · The Proposal

A new role. Internal acceleration. External positioning.

A single senior hire that covers both roles Tembo has advertised (Event Marketing Manager and Head of Digital Marketing) and creates new responsibilities layered on top, focused on internal AI enablement and external deployment. The same person delivers the work in both job descriptions and builds the capability the wider B2B events, media and information sector is about to need.

01

The immediate work

Campaign planning and delivery. CRM and marketing automation. Digital strategy, paid media, attribution. Everything in the two open job descriptions, delivered to a senior standard.

02

AI inside the agency

Campaigns, workflows and reporting all get AI in the loop. Either the same output in less time, or better output in the same time.

03

The capability layer

Beyond the delivery work: building Tembo's view of how B2B events, media and information companies should be using AI.

04 · The Possibility

What this opens up over the next 12 to 24 months.

Creating this role will open up opportunities across the business. Below are examples of what each Tembo division could look like with AI woven through.

Impact

Campaigns & event delivery, AI in the loop

Campaign optimisation agents running A/B tests and budget shifts in real time
Predictive attendee and lead scoring fed into the CRM
Personalised journey generation across email, paid and on-event touchpoints
AI-driven attribution and revenue reporting per channel and per event

People

Talent & freelance network, AI-augmented

AI talent-matching agents pairing briefs to the right freelancers in the network
Automated portfolio and CV review for inbound applications
Continuous-learning agents keeping the network's AI skills current
Skills-gap analysis across the team, surfacing where to invest next

Content

Production & editorial, AI-assisted

Research agents scanning the event landscape weekly for topics, speakers and trends
Speaker discovery and outreach at scale, scored on relevance and reach
Production agents drafting decks, briefs, post-event reports and recap content
Audience mapping tools building topic-to-segment fit before content goes live

Consultancy

Advisory & embedded support, productised

AI readiness audits scoped, priced and repeatable across the client base
Embedded implementation: forward deployed work inside organisers and exhibitors
Bespoke agent development for client-specific workflows, then licensed back
Training and enablement so internal client teams can run what's been built

05 · 90 day road map

Get it working inside Tembo first. Then build the offer.

A 90-day plan with a clean shift every 30 days.

Days 0 to 30

Phase 01 · Embed

Both open roles fully picked up

Event marketing campaign calendar live across the slate. CRM and marketing automation operational. Digital strategy in motion, paid media accounts taken over, attribution scaffolded across channels.

Marketing operations audited end to end

Tools, data layer, vendor stack and freelance network mapped. Highest-leverage points for AI to enter the workflow identified.

AI tooling live across teams

Internal AI tools shipped to marketing and content. Prompt libraries, automation flows and review processes in active daily use.

Client base mapped to the opportunity

Every account scored against the surface in Section 04. The lowest-friction first AI engagement target identified.

Internal AI playbook in active use

Documented workflows, weekly check-ins and team training. The agency operates with AI as working practice rather than a slide topic.

Days 31 to 60

Phase 02 · Compound

AI readiness audit packaged

Audit scoped, priced and ready to sell. Workshop, diagnostic and report deliverables defined.

Intelligence layer started

Structured view of what events, media and information businesses are paying for being built inside Tembo.

Pipeline forming through listening

Discovery conversations with a shortlist of warm accounts. Intelligence-led, not sales-led. Real briefs surface.

First internal tool productised

An internal automation rebuilt as a sellable or licensable product. The first recurring revenue surface defined.

First external Tembo piece published

Forward-thinking content live under the Tembo masthead. The agency starts being read, not just hired.

Days 61 to 90

Phase 03 · Offer

First paid AI engagement landed

Live client work using the new service shape. The case study Tembo runs new business off for the next twelve months.

Full service ladder scoped

Audit, embedded implementation, agent operation and training. Each with scope, pricing and delivery model.

Second hire identified

The AI-fluent specialist who keeps delivery from bottlenecking on a single person. Role written, candidates lined up.

Talent identification function started

First structured view of the AI-fluent people the wider client base will be hiring inside the next year.

Quarterly review run with leadership

Next 90 days planned. The 6 to 12 month direction sketched. Year one shape locked in.

Follow-up proposal and notes on how Tembo can stay ahead of the curve.