Turning elite banking events into always-on, one-to-one networking experiences

At a top-tier banking event, the value is concentrated into a few intense days. Hundreds of senior people arrive with different agendas: a particular speaker to hear, a specialist to meet, a venue question to resolve or a last-minute change to understand. The opportunity is enormous, but so is the pressure on the event team.

Static FAQs and event apps can publish information, but they cannot understand intent, protect attendee privacy, orchestrate a warm introduction or recognise when a person needs human help. GBM wanted the immediacy of a brilliant personal concierge, available to every attendee without losing the care, discretion and control expected in financial services.

We designed the concierge around the moments that determine whether an event feels effortless and valuable. It integrates directly with HubSpot, combining GBM's current event knowledge, live agendas, speaker and sponsor data, attendee records and venue information into one conversational service available through WhatsApp and web chat. HubSpot remains the operational system of record rather than becoming another disconnected data store.

The agent does not guess. It checks live tools before answering event questions, selects the right festival context and verifies an attendee before revealing attendee-only information. Privacy and consent are part of the workflow: aggregate discovery is available without identification, detailed searches require email verification, introduction requests require explicit confirmation, and contact details are only released after acceptance.

Attendees can ask natural questions about sessions, speakers, sponsors, travel, accommodation, venues and the local area; request the latest floorplan; or search for the kinds of people they want to meet by role, company, geography or organisation type. The concierge reads the relevant event and attendee context from HubSpot, then manages an introduction from request to acceptance, notifying the other attendee by WhatsApp or email while keeping personal details protected.

The integration also writes meaningful outcomes back to HubSpot. Introduction activity, approved speaker headshots and sponsor VIP responses update the records GBM's team already works with, while attendee context stays synchronised across current and upcoming events. When a conversation needs judgement or empathy, the concierge sends the human helpdesk a concise summary and a direct route back into the conversation.

The concierge has become a working layer between GBM's event data and the people in the room. Across GBM's international events programme, it has handled 27,478 messages and processed 897 introduction requests—turning questions and networking intent into useful action while the event is still happening.

This is not automation for its own sake. Routine questions are answered from live information, valuable introductions are moved forward through a consent-led workflow and the event team can focus its attention where people genuinely need it. When a conversation requires judgement or empathy, the concierge brings in the human helpdesk with the context needed to take over smoothly.