How do you "own" the summits you go to?

The AI Summit just wrapped up. I couldn’t make it this year.

Still, I’ve spent enough days at such gatherings to recognise a familiar pattern: packed keynotes, fascinating hallway conversations, exchanged business cards — and a week later, almost nothing to show for it. The business cards sit in a drawer. The “let’s stay in touch” promises dissolve by Tuesday.

The problem was never the summit.

A summit is like a book — full of strong ideas and useful insights. But ideas, like books, need a retention system. Without one, inspiration evaporates. Execution is rare.

This is where AI can help.

I call the approach the MINE framework, because that’s exactly what we should be doing — mining an event for what it’s actually worth.

Start with Meetings. Every summit produces two kinds of encounters: the people you came to meet, and the ones you stumbled into. Both matter. Before leaving each session or networking break, jot down a few essentials — name, company, and one thing they said that stuck. That’s enough. At the end of the day, feed those notes into an AI tool along with the business card details and ask it to draft personalised follow-up messages you can send within 48 hours. The difference between a connection and a contact is follow-through.

Next are Ideas. The best sessions usually leave you with one idea you can’t stop thinking about. But it often arrives half-formed — a phrase, a metaphor, a question someone raised. Unprocessed, it fades before you reach home. Capture one to three sparks from each session — voice notes work well — then ask AI to clarify them, connect them to a real challenge you’re facing, and help you prioritise which one deserves attention first.

Then comes News. Summits are announcement machines: policy signals, product launches, funding rounds. Most of it washes over you in the moment. Keep a running note throughout the day. Later, paste it into an AI prompt and ask what actually matters to your business. Request a one-line summary you can share with your team. Clarity beats overload.

Finally, Experiments. This is where summit energy usually dies. You return inspired. Your inbox ambushes you. By Friday, the spark is gone. The antidote is committing to one small experiment before you leave the venue — not a grand strategy, just one thing you can start on Monday. You could even ask AI to suggest that experiment based on what you captured during the day.

The next morning, take your full MINE notes and ask AI to distil them: the top three insights, the one action that matters most, and the five people worth following up with this week.

Most people leave summits with a bag full of lanyards and a head full of ideas. A simple system like this might make you the one who actually does something with them.

If I’d had this for all the summits I’ve attended, I’d probably be sitting on a gold-MINE — sorry, couldn’t resist.

Parminder Singh is co-founder of AI ventures ClayboxAI and Kampd, and has held APAC leadership roles at Google and Twitter. For feedback, email eteyeonai@timesofindia.com.