Here’s why the co-founder of an AI speakers bureau decided to dive into creating AI for planners he works with — and why more than 1,500 event professionals have started using his timeline generator.

MeetingMentor recently caught up with Noah Cheyer, co-founder of a speakers bureau that specializes in presenters fluent in AI called Speak About AI. Cheyer says, “After speaking with over a hundred event professionals, one pattern emerged clearly: ‘doing more with less’ isn’t just aspirational, it’s the unavoidable reality influencing our industry.” But you already knew that. Then he decided to do something about it, specifically, creating an AI that can help simplify and speed up the timeline-creation process.

MM: What inspired you to create the AI-powered timeline?

Cheyer: During a discussion with Suzette Ford-Duffus, head of meetings and events at Taco Bell, she mentioned that timeline generation was an especially time-consuming part of her work. She said the amount of time she had to spend manually building the initial timeline in Excel or Word, then emailing it to stakeholders for feedback, then having to completely reformat it when she received conflicting revisions, then having to rinse and repeat multiple times and having to update and redistribute it when inevitable changes occur, was onerous. I realized that this cycle typically consumes hours per event — valuable time that could be spent on strategy, creative elements or client relationships.

So I created a custom ChatGPT that streamlines the process of generating timelines, and after sharing it on LinkedIn, over 1,500 event professionals around the world requested access.

MM: So how does it work?

Cheyer: The GPT leads you through the timeline creation process through a detailed custom prompt and follows publicly available industry best practices.

When you input your event details, it creates:

• A month-by-month backwards timeline

• Critical path warnings for non-negotiable deadlines

• Built-in buffer time for shipping and logistics

• Contingency planning for common event disasters

• An easy export to Excel or in a text format.

Through the GPT, you get a chance to see how far you can get with basic AI tools and understand the current applications and limitations of the technology.

Specifically with timeline generation, it can create a high-level, client-facing workback plan that doesn’t require granular data.

MM: Can AI handle all meeting-related tasks as elegantly as it can timelines?

Cheyer: AI right now struggles to handle larger, more complex internal workback plans with a complete breakdown of tasks.

For example, it may struggle with outlining all venue selection, AV/tech setup, speaker arrangements and attendee marketing. However, it can generate 90% of the output you want when focused on just venue selection.

While it still has flaws with custom GPTs, you can jump right into using AI without prior knowledge and save time. As ChatGPT improves, you’ll be able to use it for the broader use cases mentioned.

MM: So what’s the bottom line?

Cheyer: The most valuable resource in our industry isn’t budget or technology — it’s time. Every minute spent on repetitive tasks is a minute not spent creating exceptional experiences.

The event professionals who thrive in 2025 and beyond won’t be those with the largest budgets, but the planners who strategically leverage AI to amplify their unique human skills.

The goal of AI is to help you focus on what truly matters: creating meaningful connections through exceptional events.

MM: Where can people go to try out the Timeline Generator? And is there a charge?

Cheyer: You can check it out in the welcome email of the “Do More With Less Using AI” newsletter, where you’ll receive the link to the timeline generator along with a video tutorial on how to get started — and yes, it’s free.

MM: Do you have more AI GPTs in the works?

Cheyer: Yes! Those who subscribe to the newsletter will get custom GPTs solving real event planning challenges, along with insights from industry leaders maximizing results with minimal resources and strategic perspectives from AI builders focused on practical implementation

Cheyer said he welcomes talking about how AI can help streamline event operations. You can reach him via email at noah@speakabout.ai or connect on LinkedIn.