Entrepreneur Alistair Croll has developed Envoi, a novel virtual conference platform where AI agents represent attendees, attend digital sessions, and facilitate connections to enhance real-world interactions and business networking.
- AI agents attend virtual booths and talks to create networking insights
- Platform aims to improve connection quality and reduce conference FOMO
- Developed in Canada, debuting at Startupfest Montréal in 2026
What happened
Alistair Croll, a Canadian entrepreneur and event organizer, has created Envoi, a platform designed to integrate AI agents into the conference experience. These agents represent their human counterparts in a virtual conference space where they visit digital booths, attend talks, and interact with other AI agents. This generates a profile of attendees and surfaces potential connections ahead of the physical event.
Envoi will initially debut at Startupfest in Montréal, where around 25 users have already tested the live platform. The AI agents start engaging weeks before the event, enabling attendees to have a richer, more productive experience by arriving with contextual knowledge about others, thus maximizing meaningful interactions at the conference.
Why it matters
The platform addresses common conference challenges such as networking difficulties and conference-related FOMO by giving attendees AI-powered assistance to proactively discover relevant people and schedule meetings. This early context-building aims to transform how attendees interact, shifting some socializing from time-limited physical events to an extended virtual timeline powered by intelligent agents.
Moreover, Envoi’s approach to moderation and ethics helps prevent inappropriate behavior by keeping interactions professional and accountable. Attendees’ AI agents enforce adherence to event codes of conduct and maintain records of communications, which helps create a safer and more respectful environment for business networking.
What to watch next
Envoi’s upcoming deployment at Startupfest will be a key test of how well AI agents can complement human activities at live events. Success may prompt interest from other conference organizers looking for technology solutions to improve attendee engagement and networking efficiency.
Additionally, Envoi is starting to attract attention from corporate clients who see potential for internal executive meetings and knowledge sharing. How the platform scales, adapts to diverse event types, and balances automation with personal privacy will be important factors to monitor in its broader adoption.