Part of the AI in Events 2025 research from Event Tech Live. Interview by Adam Parry, founder, Event Tech Live. Published 14 February 2025. Last updated 18 April 2026.
RJ Crowder-Schaefer, Global Head of Event Product and Technology at Bloomberg, on deploying AI-based captioning and translation across 2,500+ events, piloting Microsoft Copilot, and why data privacy risk is shaping the whole AI strategy.
The three things RJ says you need to know
Bloomberg is deliberately slow on AI. Data privacy risk and the potential for personally identifiable information (PII) to leak beyond agreed use cases is the main reason the company has held back, despite running 2,500+ events globally.
AI-based captioning and translation are deployed at scale. This is the area where Bloomberg has found most value so far: establishing an accessibility baseline across all 2,500+ events without requiring any PII exchange.
The onus is on the supplier. Crowder-Schaefer expects Bloomberg’s existing event tech partners to proactively implement security protocols so large corporate clients can trust how data is stored and who can access it.
How is AI used to manage and enhance complex event ecosystems at global scale?
The use of AI within Bloomberg’s events and marketing programme has been limited and deliberately slow, driven by unknowns around data use and privacy among leading AI providers. Many platforms in Bloomberg’s event tech stack have added AI features, but those are supplemental rather than core to each product’s proposition, which is what Bloomberg is primarily focused on.
Where AI has delivered most value across the global events programme is AI-based captioning and translation. Bloomberg has used this to establish an accessibility baseline across all 2,500+ events. The company is also piloting AI products, including Microsoft Copilot, across marketing workflows to enhance and streamline event content, including more targeted audience segmentation.
What data privacy challenges do you encounter when implementing AI in events, and how do you address them?
This is the main driver of Bloomberg’s slower AI adoption, and it is an ongoing topic of discussion inside the company. The specific concern is the potential risk of registrant or attendee PII being shared beyond the planned and agreed-upon use.
As of now, Bloomberg is focused on implementing AI for event use cases where the registrant or attendee experience can be enhanced without sharing any PII with the AI systems involved. As data privacy, security and risk around AI tools become better understood, the company expects to deepen AI usage within its event tech stack.
Crowder-Schaefer places the burden squarely on suppliers. He expects current partners to proactively implement security protocols and redundancies so large corporate clients can be confident their data is safe. The onus is on the supplier to make sure clients are confident in how AI tools are being used, how data is stored, and whether third parties can access it.
How do you see AI improving event personalisation at large, multi-faceted Bloomberg events?
Personalisation at events is one of the most important areas to focus on and one with the most room for growth. Crowder-Schaefer would prefer one of Bloomberg’s current partners to expand their core product to include personalisation functionality, rather than bringing a new provider into the stack, though he sees pros and cons either way.
AI can enhance the end-to-end event workflow: streamlining registration without overwhelming the registrant, providing real-time insights during an event based on attendee attributes (role, interests, location), and delivering near-immediate and useful post-event data to the attendee. Historically, the event audience has been presented with one single experience. Crowder-Schaefer is interested in using user data and AI to provide targeted, custom event experiences through digital technology.
He also sees significant opportunity in using AI to qualify attendees against engagement models (who they are, what they did or did not do during the event) to improve sales opportunities. This is easier to achieve for virtual events and more challenging for in-person, where digital and physical data need to be captured, centralised and then analysed.
“Personalisation at events is one of the most important areas to focus on and one where there’s the most room for growth.”
— RJ Crowder-Schaefer, Bloomberg
About RJ Crowder-Schaefer
RJ Crowder-Schaefer is Global Head of Event Product and Technology at Bloomberg, overseeing the technology strategy for one of the largest corporate events programmes in the world, running 2,500+ events annually.
This interview is part of AI in Events 2025: Adoption, Barriers and Forecast. Download the full PDF report. Browse all Event Tech Live research.
