Eliminating Research Costs with Automated Event Scouting

At a Glance
Client: Professional Keynote Speaker

The Problem: Identifying speaking opportunities required hiring expensive contractors to manually scour the web for hours.

The Solution: The "Speaker Event Logger," a custom GPT agent developed by Q&AI.

The Result: Eliminated contractor costs entirely and reduced research time from hours to minutes.

The Challenge:
The High Cost of Manual Discovery

For professional speakers, a full pipeline of gigs is essential for revenue. However, finding events with active "Calls for Speakers" is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Our client was relying on a costly, manual process: hiring external virtual assistants and researchers to scour the internet for upcoming conferences.

High Overhead: The client was paying hourly rates for contractors to manually search Google, visit event websites, and hunt for "Apply Now" buttons.
Inconsistent Data: Contractors would often miss key details like submission deadlines or audience demographics.
Lag Time: It often took days to get a list of potential leads back, by which time some application windows had already closed.

The client needed a way to fill their pipeline without draining their budget on administrative research.

The Solution:
The "Speaker Event Logger" GPT

Q&AI developed a specialized autonomous research agent: The Speaker Event Logger GPT.

We replaced the human research team with an AI capable of performing in-depth web research based on specific criteria (Year, Industry, Location) and instantly logging structured data.

How We Built It

We engineered the GPT to act as a tireless research assistant that connects directly to the client's pipeline.

1. Targeted Web Research
The user simply prompts the GPT with criteria, such as "Find me healthcare leadership conferences in the US for 2026." The GPT uses live web browsing to scan conference directories, association websites, and event portals.

2. Intelligent Data Extraction
Unlike a simple keyword search, the GPT reads the event pages to understand context. It extracts critical details that used to require human reading, including:

Fee / Honorarium: Does the event pay speakers?
Travel Policy: Is flight and hotel covered?
Audience Profile: Who is in the room (e.g., "ERG leaders," "Financial advisors")?
Topics: Specific themes the organizers are looking for.

3. One-Click Database Logging
Once a relevant event is found, the GPT formats the data and logs it directly into the client's master spreadsheet. It populates fields for Submission Deadlines, Application Links, and even a calculated Fit Score to help prioritize applications.

The Q&AI Advantage:
Speed and Structure

The distinct advantage Q&AI provided was the ability to turn unstructured web content into a clean, actionable database instantly.

The system doesn't just "find links"—it builds a strategy document. By automatically populating columns like "Audience" and "Topics", the GPT gives the speaker everything they need to write a tailored proposal immediately, without visiting the website themselves.

The Results

The "Speaker Event Logger" completely transformed the client's business development process.

100% Cost Reduction: The client stopped hiring external contractors for event research, saving thousands of dollars in annual administrative fees.

Hours to Minutes: Tasks that previously took contractors 5–10 hours to compile are now completed by the GPT in under 10 minutes.

Faster Speed-to-Lead: With instant access to application links and deadlines, the speaker can apply months in advance, securing prime spots before competitors even find the event.

Conclusion

Q&AI proved that intelligent automation isn't just about saving time—it's about protecting profit margins. By automating the research phase, we empowered the speaker to focus entirely on what they do best: crafting proposals and delivering talks.