Strategic collaboration combines future-ready venue infrastructure with AI strategy, training, governance, and implementation support.
Smart City Networks, the nation’s leading provider of technology services for the convention and events industry, has entered into a strategic partnership with HIVE, a human-centered AI enablement firm, to help convention centers and event venues move beyond isolated AI experimentation toward practical, organization-wide implementation.
Our partnership with HIVE allows us to pair the technology foundation and industry expertise we bring to venues with the training, strategy, and governance needed to put AI to work responsibly.”
— Mark Haley
The partnership brings together Smart City’s more than four decades of experience in high-performance network infrastructure, venue operations, and event technology with HIVE’s leadership in enterprise AI strategy, organizational readiness, workforce enablement, governance, and implementation. Rather than focusing solely on AI tools, the partnership will help organizations establish the leadership alignment, governance, workflows, and workforce skills needed to build repeatable AI capabilities and support successful long-term adoption.
Also Read: CIO Influence Interview with John Elliott, Cybersecurity Author Fellow at Pluralsight
“AI will change how venues operate, how events are supported, and how teams make decisions, but meaningful adoption requires more than access to new tools,” said Mark Haley, President of Smart City Networks. “Our partnership with HIVE allows us to pair the technology foundation and industry expertise we bring to venues with the training, strategy, and governance needed to put AI to work responsibly.”
Through the partnership, Smart City and HIVE will offer an adaptable AI enablement model for convention centers and event venues. Based on each venue’s needs, support may include enterprise AI readiness assessments, workflow redesign, high-value use case discovery, AI governance, leadership alignment, hands-on workforce enablement, implementation coaching, and continuous optimization.
Smart City and HIVE will help venue teams transform operational data into practical AI-powered workflows that improve efficiency, strengthen decision-making, support staff, and create better experiences for organizers, exhibitors, and attendees.
“Technology alone doesn’t transform an organization. People do. Convention centers already have incredible operational expertise, deep institutional knowledge, and years of valuable data. Our role as a Smart City partner is to help people connect those strengths with AI in ways that improve decisions, increase efficiency, and create better experiences. Together, HIVE and Smart City are helping organizations build the human foundation that allows AI to succeed,” said Mitch Mitchem, Co-Founder and CEO of HIVE.
Smart City Networks has a longstanding history of advancing convention center technology through infrastructure modernization, high-density connectivity, network operations, and on-site support. The HIVE partnership expands that work by adding a structured path for organizations to activate AI, connect technology investments to the people and processes that create value, and prepare venues for the next generation of event technology.
Catch more CIO Insights: How Are CIOs Aligning Technology with Workforce Agility?
[To share your insights with us, please write to psen@itechseries.com ]
