Replace the label with a job
AI can describe several unrelated functions: recommending meetings, drafting text, summarising feedback or changing operational records. Write the intended outcome in ordinary language before comparing suppliers. A claim about AI-powered networking says little about whether the platform can help a particular buyer find an available exhibitor at the right time. Do not compare unlike capabilities under a single AI score.
Look for the action boundary
Read-only answers and changes to live data need different evaluation. Swoogo’s MCP documentation lists both retrieval and write actions, including transactional emails. Ticket Tailor describes ticket-price changes through its AI assist connector. Those documented capabilities justify asking about authorisation, confirmation and audit history. They do not establish that the tools are unsafe or that their output is always correct.
Use a small, representative test set
For an event assistant, try a straightforward schedule question, an ambiguous room name, a cancelled session and a question the source material cannot answer. For networking, examine whether suggested contacts are relevant, available and permitted to see one another. Define what counts as a useful answer before the demo. Record the source data, version and settings so a later change can be compared fairly.
Ask how uncertainty is handled
A confident invented room number can be worse than an honest request for clarification. Ask whether an answer links to its source, how quickly changed event information propagates and when the assistant escalates to a person. Check how an organiser corrects a bad result. An impressive curated demo is not evidence that the system handles every real attendee’s wording.
Follow the data
Identify what is sent to external providers, where it is processed, how long it is retained and whether it is used for training. Ask about subprocessors, account separation and the ability to remove access. A marketing assurance that the organiser controls the data is not a substitute for contractual terms and a demonstrated permissions model. Use fictional attendee records during initial evaluation.
Measure the outcome without inventing savings
Choose measures appropriate to the job: correct answers, resolved queries, accepted meetings or accurate changes. Count human correction and escalation time as well as the time saved on the first draft. Avoid universal productivity claims based on a handful of examples. Buy a demonstrated improvement to a defined job, with a workable fallback when the tool cannot complete it.
Sources and research basis
Sources checked 2026-10-17. Supplier capabilities and venue specifications are attributed to their published documentation. No first-hand test or visit is implied.