TMS. What is the core mission of Grip today, and how do you see it evolving in the next 5 years?
Tim Groot. The core mission of Grip today is to connect people, ideas, and opportunities through successful events. Using our AI-powered event platform built for business relationships, we help exhibitors, sponsors and attendees foster meaningful connections and drive measurable outcomes.
Over the next five years, we will continue to evolve our comprehensive, end-to-end event platform. This includes deeper integration of advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning, enhanced data insights for event optimization and expanded service offerings. Our goal is to set new standards for engagement and success metrics to empower events to be even more successful and valuable across the world.
TMS. Grip is known for revolutionizing event technology. What role does innovation play at Grip, and how do you keep ahead of industry trends?
Tim Groot. Innovation plays a central role at Grip. It drives our ability to deliver cutting-edge solutions, such as the world’s most advanced AI-powered matchmaking event app. By leveraging machine learning, we continuously refine our capabilities to provide personalized, value-driven experiences for event participants.
To stay ahead of industry trends, 50% of all our costs are in our research and development team. Plus, I personally spend about 20% of my time investigating emerging technologies, then actively incorporating feedback from clients and users.
This iterative process enables us to adapt quickly to changes in the industry and maintain our position as a leader in event technology.
The hardest thing with innovation in event technology is ensuring new products and features can be used at multiple events, not just one. That’s why we focus on deploying our advanced technology successfully at 500+ events a year. That’s where the real challenge lies and what we’re super focused on. How to make it scalable and easy to implement at a large number of events – and event types – is crucial.
TMS. What are some emerging trends in the tech space that you believe will shape the future of business networking?
Tim Groot. There are many emerging trends in the tech space that will shape the future of business networking. Some of those that will massively benefit event organizers, include:
AI personalization: Artificial intelligence will play a growing role in tailoring attendee experiences, offering recommendations, and connecting participants with the right opportunities but also helping them get to the right event information quickly.
Immersive technologies: Augmented reality, either via smart glasses or contact lenses, will create more engaging and interactive event environments. This will allow participants to network and collaborate in entirely new ways.
Smart hardware: Smart badges (where event participants can easily exchange contact information with the click of a button), location tracking and other ways of facilitating interaction between event participants will become a lot more common in the coming years.
Data-driven insights: The adoption of advanced data analytics will provide actionable insights for event organizers, helping them optimize strategies and measure ROI.
Sustainability and accessibility: With an increasing focus on eco-friendly offerings that support green and accessible events will gain prominence. This includes event technology integrating with existing ESG systems to automatically calculate the carbon footprint of an event.
TMS. How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance, and what practices or habits have helped you stay grounded as a CEO?
Tim Groot. Work-life balance is an interesting concept. You have to think about it over an extensive period of time. During some weeks or months, you’ll work very hard and at other times, you can take it a bit easier when the team is firing on all cylinders. In many ways, you move as a counterbalance for the organization.
When everyone is making great progress, you can take a step back, when you feel that there is a need for additional energy you have to be there to double down and bring all your energy to a problem to fix it as quickly and effectively as possible.
Besides that, some key practices that have helped me over the last 10 years of being a CEO are:
1. Setting aside dedicated time for family, friends, and personal interests to recharge.
2. Regular physical exercise, which boosts energy and reduces stress. I play football twice a week, go to the gym once a week and row multiple times a week.
3. Mindfulness and meditation, which help maintain focus and emotional resilience in a demanding role. I meditate 2-3 times a week and did a 10-day retreat in 2023 that I found refreshing and uplifting.
