Wordly looks back at the cost pressures of 2025 and predicts that engagement and accessibility are poised to reshaping events in 2026…
2025 was pivotal for events and trade shows, defined by rising production costs, growing audience expectations. The year also saw increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable value to attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors. As competition for attention intensified, organisers were forced to rethink how events deliver participation and relevance without expanding teams or budgets.
As the events industry navigated these challenges, Wordly, the pioneer in AI live translation and captions, reached several significant milestones that positioned the company to better support events in 2026. The company surpassed 5 million users, expanded to 4,000+ customer organizations, and was named to the Inc. 5000 list, while celebrating its sixth anniversary.
Wordly also launched key advancements, including AI Summaries, AI voice transcripts and AI dubbing, an ROI Calculator, and compliance resources for ADA/US DOJ Final Rule, California SB 707, and the European Accessibility Act.
Looking ahead, Wordly Founder & CEO Lakshman Rathnam highlights three trends that will shape events and trade shows in 2026.
Reshaping events in 2026: A shift from one-size-fits-all to individualised experiences at scale
This year, organizers faced a crowded event landscape, forcing them to compete not just with speakers or destinations, but on how relevant the experience felt to each attendee. In 2026, successful events will move beyond uniform programming toward experiences that adapt to individual attendee roles, and preferences. As audiences become more global and diverse, personalisation will increasingly include how attendees consume content, participate in sessions, and engage in their preferred language.
โAttendees are increasingly selective about where they invest their time,โ said Rathnam. โIn 2026, events that feel personalised; whether through content, networking, or language access will drive stronger engagement and loyalty.โ
AI tools will enable organisers to deliver tailored experiences at scale, from language preferences and session discovery to post-event insights that reflect what each attendee actually participated in. New capabilities such as AI Summaries also allow organisers to provide attendees with personalised post-event recaps based on the sessions they attended, extending engagement beyond the live experience.
2026 prediction: AI will become core event infrastructure as attendees expect instant, readable access
While many event teams experimented with AI this year, 2026 will mark a shift toward operational reliance driven by speed and budget pressure. Attendees will increasingly expect immediate access to content, especially the ability to read live captions, pushing organisers to embed AI into the core event stack.
โPeople already consume content by reading captions,โ said Rathnam. โIn 2026, attendees will expect that same experience at events. Live captions will become a standard way audiences follow sessions, stay engaged in busy environments, and absorb complex information, whether or not translation is needed.โ
Wordly enables this shift by delivering live AI captions and translation across sessions and rooms through a single platform. AI voice transcripts and AI dubbing will also allow organisers to quickly repurpose event content for marketing, training, and on-demand use, without adding production time or complexity.
2026 prediction: Multilingual content will drive engagement, reach, and event ROI
As competition for attendance and sponsorship intensifies, events in 2026 will differentiate themselves by how accessible and reusable their content is. Multilingual access will play a growing role in expanding audience reach, increasing engagement, and demonstrating ROI to exhibitors and sponsors.
โEvents that limit content to a single language limit participation,โ Rathnam stated. โMultilingual access allows organisers to reach more people and create more value from the same content.โ
With real-time translation, captions, and AI dubbing, Wordly enables organisers to deliver sessions that are accessible to international and multilingual audiences without adding interpreters or specialised equipment. This approach helps increase live participation while extending the lifespan of event content, allowing organisers to reuse sessions across regions, channels, and audiences long after the event ends.
About Wordly
Wordly is the pioneer and leader in AI translation, providing a high-quality, secure, easy-to-use, and affordable live AI translation and caption solution for communicating across multiple languages. Wordly translates dozens of languages in real time, making in-person and virtual meetings and events more inclusive, accessible, and engaging. Its SaaS platform meets enterprise-grade security and privacy standards and eliminates the need for human interpreters or special equipment. Millions of users across thousands of organizations, including corporate, nonprofit, government, education, and religious sectorsโtrust Wordly for their multilingual communication needs. For more information, visit www.wordly.ai.
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