A Conversation with Yudi Soetjiptadi, Founder & CEO of Eventus International
Most industry events promise the same things: big-name speakers, a packed agenda, plenty of networking. Few organizers stop to ask what attendees actually walk away with.
Yudi Soetjiptadi, Founder and CEO of Eventus International, has built his company's summits and exhibitions around that exact question. Eventus curates events across the entertainment, technology, and financial sectors, including the SPiCE series, where iGamity has served as Official Media Partner, designed less around scale and more around access: getting the right people in the same room and giving them a reason to talk honestly.
We spoke with Yudi about how attendee expectations have shifted, why AI's biggest impact on events will happen behind the scenes rather than on stage, and what actually makes a conference memorable once the badge comes off.
Executive Events Are Judged on Immediate Value, Not Theory
The expectations of today's attendees have fundamentally changed, according to Yudi. Delegates are no longer looking for high-level theory or broad industry discussion, they want insights they can apply the moment they're back at their desk.
That shift shapes how Eventus builds its agendas. Rather than general industry overviews, the company prioritizes real-world case studies, operational challenges, regulatory updates, emerging technologies, and strategies shared directly by the practitioners living them.
"Every delegate should leave with knowledge that creates immediate value and gives them a competitive edge in an increasingly dynamic business environment," Yudi explains. If someone invests the time and cost to attend, he says, they should leave understanding exactly how the latest regulatory shifts, emerging technologies, and market trends will affect their business along with the connections and strategies to act on that understanding.
Making Events Feel Rooted in Where They Happen
One of the directions Yudi is most excited about is making events feel genuinely connected to their host city, rather than confined to a generic conference venue.
Every market carries its own business culture and identity, and Eventus has been building that into its programming directly, through curated networking experiences, immersive social formats like the SP'iCE Breaker Welcome Evenings, and conversations that extend past the standard conference format.
The payoff, Yudi says, shows up in the feedback Eventus hears most consistently: that its events deliver a stronger return on investment than much larger gatherings. A focused, executive-level format gives delegates direct access to C-suite leaders, regulators, and decision-makers throughout the event. The kind of access that's much harder to get in a larger, more crowded room. Combined with experiences that celebrate the host destination, Yudi believes this is what turns first-time attendees into repeat ones.
AI's Real Impact on Events Will Happen Behind the Scenes
AI is already a major topic on conference stages across the industry — but Yudi believes its more significant impact will happen well before attendees ever walk through the door.
He sees AI and advanced data analytics reshaping how organizers design events in the first place: surfacing emerging market trends, regulatory developments, and attendee interests in real time, and giving teams the agility to adapt a programme quickly if a major regulatory announcement or market shift lands right before an event. AI, in his view, will also help personalize the event experience itself — connecting attendees to the right content, speakers, and networking opportunities for them specifically.
But for Yudi, the technology isn't there to replace the room. "Technology should not replace face-to-face engagement," he says. "Instead, it should remove barriers, strengthen collaboration, and create more opportunities for meaningful dialogue around the issues that matter most" — including building more sustainable businesses, advancing player protection, and promoting responsible gaming across the industry.
What Actually Makes an Event Memorable
Practical value matters, but Yudi is clear that what makes an event genuinely memorable goes well beyond what happens on stage.
It isn't the late-night party, the stack of business cards, or the number of meetings scheduled. For Yudi, it comes down to something harder to manufacture: how many honest conversations someone actually had, how many new ideas they picked up, and how many real relationships they built.
The events that stick, he says, are the ones built on genuine conversation rather than comfortable, rehearsed ones — moments where operators, regulators, suppliers, and delegates openly discuss the challenges the industry is actually facing, instead of repeating prepared talking points. That's where ideas get exchanged and real collaborations start.
When delegates realize they're not facing their challenges alone, and leave with practical ideas shaped by their peers' real experience, an event stops being just a conference. For Yudi, that's the real goal: an environment where business grows, industries move forward, and people leave with connections and lessons that outlast the event itself.
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