The 5 Congress Trends That Will Make or Break Your 2026 Strategy
About the webinar
Medical congresses are broken. $100M budgets. Little proven ROI. And everyone’s throwing AI at the problem like it’s 2019.
Robert Tegge from ZS and Pierre Metrailler are dissecting what’s actually happening at congresses. Not the “digital transformation” theater. The real shifts that separate winners from “we’re still figuring out our KPIs” teams.
Trend #1: Budget Migration
Big booths out. Targeted Tier 2-3 presence in. Reinvest savings into digital infrastructure. Result: 40% smaller footprint, 3x engagement.
Trend #2: KOL Engagement Stack
Differentiated invites. Real conversations. Instant insight capture. “Market research” that’s actually useful.
Trend #3: Kill the KPIs
Stop counting badges. Track 5 metrics that matter. Capture quality insights. Leadership finally gets congress value.
Trend #4: Split Strategy from Operations
Different teams. Different skills. Same goal. Revolutionary concept.
Trend #5: AI That Works
Abstract scrubbing. Influence network analysis. Augment humans, don’t replace them. Skip the AI slop.
Who should attend
- Congress leaders tired of explaining why they can’t prove ROI
- Commercial teams wondering why congress leads disappear
- Medical teams collecting insights on napkins
- Anyone planning 2026 with a 2024 mindset
Speakers
- Robert Tegge — Associate Principal, ZS
- Pierre Metrailler — CEO, Onomi