Designing with Tech: Elevate Your Aesthetic Through Smart Innovation

94% of K&B designers have had no formal AI training. The result is a room full of smart professionals who have been told for two years that AI matters, shown plenty of slides about it, and never once watched someone build a working tool from a blank screen. This workshop fixes that in one sitting. Most AI sessions tell you AI matters. This one hands you a working agent.

We build one AI agent, live, on stage, with no code. Here is why this agent and not some abstract demo: across home-services businesses, a large share of inbound calls go unanswered, and most leads either don’t leave or message, or are answered after days, or not at all. Meanwhile the buyer rewards speed. A strong majority purchase from whoever responds first, texts are read within minutes, and businesses that respond instantly and set same-day appointments close at 78% to 2,100% higher rates. The single highest-value thing a small K&B business can automate is the gap between a lead coming in and an appointment getting booked. That what we build with you: an agent that catches the missed call or new lead, replies instantly, qualifies, and books the meeting.

The workshop runs in three parts:

1. 15 minutes to cover the principles and the anatomy of an agent in plain language (trigger, instructions, knowledge, and action, four parts, no jargon),

1. 60 minutes building it live,

1. The final 15 minutes to review what we built and take your questions.

We build click by click, narrating every decision, using consumer-grade tools at a known, modest monthly cost so nobody leaves thinking this requires an enterprise budget. We name tool categories and walk the build. This is vendor-neutral, not a product demo. By the end, the agent is live and we test it together in the room.

Because this is a live build at a convention center, it is engineered to survive a bad network: the same build is staged to run on backup connectivity, with a recorded walk-through of the identical steps and an offline fallback, so you see a complete, working result even if the room's WiFi does not cooperate. You learn the method either way.

You do not just watch. You leave with the exact build checklist, the same steps in order, so you can recreate this agent in your own business within the week. We also draw the line clearly: where an AI agent belongs in a K&B workflow, and what must stay with a human. Pricing judgment, client promises, scope changes, and exceptions stay with you. Knowing what not to hand the agent is half of doing this well.

This is a Beginner-level workshop by design. If you have never built an AI Agent that does work automatically, this is the room where you build your first one.

The traditional design-to-estimate pipeline is plagued by bottlenecks: manual spreadsheet calculations, drafting delays, and backend code violations that ruin profit margins. This interactive workshop demonstrates how next-generation spatial AI unifies these steps. Attendees will discover how to convert architectural PDFs or quick room scans into editable, photorealistic 3D spaces staged with real materials. Crucially, the session will showcase how the platform automatically applies spatial code compliance in real time while simultaneously building an itemized Bill of Materials (BOM) and localized labor cost breakdown. Participants will leave with a practical framework for using real-time tech on-site to build trust, handle client objections instantly, and guarantee buildable designs during the initial consultation.

Smarter Kitchens & Baths: Elevating Design with Technology reveals how intelligent lighting, AI-enabled appliances, and seamless AV integration transform kitchens and baths into wellness-focused, emotionally engaging spaces. We’ll explore shifting client expectations, real-world case studies, and strategies for incorporating smart tech without compromising aesthetics. Attendees will gain inspiration and practical tools to confidently enhance both the beauty and function of their projects.

This session blends case studies, informational insights, client video interviews, and live audience polling to showcase the intersection of interior design and smart home technology. Throughout, participants will engage in live Q&A checkpoints designed to address their project hurdles and client concerns.