I’ve been building event technology for 13 years. Eleven years at Attendify, one year at Hopin, and now a year since starting Highbar.ai.
And yet, even with all that time in the industry, I still feel like an outsider. Too much of event tech just doesn’t make sense. Companies spend heavily on services just to make the technology work. Consultants are hired to explain what “all in one” platforms really mean. Organizers are locked into multi-year SaaS contracts, with penalties if they try to leave early.
When we built Attendify, we didn’t set out with a grand strategy. We just created a DIY event app with transparent pricing because it felt like the only fair way to compete. It worked — to a point. But looking back, it was just one moment in a bigger pattern.
Last year at IMEX America, I snapped a photo during a session by Julius Solaris. He broke down the waves of innovation that have defined event technology: online registration, event apps, engagement tools, virtual events, and now, AI.
Each wave has expanded what’s possible for attendees and organizers. But each has also carried the same underlying tradeoffs: complexity creeping in where simplicity was needed, and customization taking precedence over usability and accessibility.
When I started Highbar, I asked myself: will AI just become another wave in this cycle — or does it have the potential to break it?
I believe it’s the latter. For the first time, the technology exists to create personal experiences without the crushing costs of customization. To enable discovery that feels natural, not buried in endless menus. To capture data that actually translates into insight, not just dashboards that gather dust. And even to open the door to new business models where event technology feels like a win-win rather than a tax.
To me, the original promise of event apps was to act as a kind of “tracking pixel for the real world.” A tool that could make sense of the live event experience and help both attendees and organizers get more value from it. But the industry never came close — innovation stalled before that vision could be realized.
AI gives us a second chance. If we use it well, it could mark not just another wave of tools, but a fundamental break from the old tradeoffs that have limited progress.
That’s why I started Highbar.ai: to see if we can finally deliver on the potential event technology has always promised.
