news · 15 October 2026

Figma Helps AI Follow Your Brand, Plus NVIDIA's Nordic Expansion

Today's AI round-up covers some practical developments for events professionals, including new tools from Figma to ensure AI-generated designs stick to brand guidelines. We also look at NVIDIA's significant investment in the Nordic region, which is building out advanced AI infrastructure, and what that signals for global tech capabilities. Plus, we cover news from Anthropic and a new AI tool for social media crisis prevention.

In this round-up

Figma Introduces New AI Agent Control Features
NVIDIA Drives AI Infrastructure Growth in the Nordics
Anthropic Reports Significant Revenue Growth Ahead of IPO
AI Helps Prevent Social Media Crises for Organisations
McKinsey Uses AI Client Simulations for Job Interviews

Figma Introduces New AI Agent Control Features

Design platform Figma has rolled out new features, including a Markdown-based editor called Figma Specs, designed to help define and enforce brand guidelines for both human teams and AI agents. This document can serve as a central reference point for design language, integrating design and code libraries, and can embed elements like FigJam diagrams. Figma also made its code layers feature available in public beta, allowing users to turn designs into code or modify prototypes with AI. This move aims to steer the often unpredictable nature of AI towards more consistent and brand-compliant outputs.

For UK events professionals, this means a more controlled approach to design. If your team uses Figma for event branding, signage, or digital assets, these new features could help maintain brand consistency even when using AI tools for design generation. You could use Figma Specs to formalise your event brand guidelines, ensuring that any AI-generated visuals or code snippets adhere to your specific aesthetic and functional requirements. This helps reduce the risk of off-brand content and streamlines the review process.

NVIDIA Drives AI Infrastructure Growth in the Nordics

NVIDIA is significantly investing in the Nordic countries, helping them become a major hub for AI infrastructure in Europe. The region is projected to deploy 1 gigawatt of AI cloud capacity by the end of 2027, leveraging its abundant renewable energy and strong data governance. Companies like Spotify are already using NVIDIA's inference software to make AI-powered podcast recommendations more efficient, while ABB Robotics uses NVIDIA Omniverse to simulate and train robots with up to 99% accuracy. Finnish telecom Elisa is also launching a beta of Moontalk AIRI, an AI assistant built on NVIDIA models that summarises meetings and calls in real time.

This shows a global trend of building advanced computing power, even if the direct impact on UK events isn't immediate. It highlights the growing backend power making AI applications possible. While these specific examples are not directly event-related, the underlying infrastructure developments are foundational to the future AI tools that will eventually filter down and become relevant to the events industry, from smart venue management to advanced attendee analytics.

Anthropic Reports Significant Revenue Growth Ahead of IPO

AI company Anthropic, known for its Claude models, has seen its revenue surge by 45% to $16.8 billion, or about £12.7 billion, in the three months leading up to the end of September 2026. This financial update was shared with prospective investors as the company prepares for a stock market listing later this year. The impressive growth follows similar increases in previous quarters, indicating a strong financial performance in the competitive AI market. Despite broader market concerns about the high spending on AI infrastructure, Anthropic has also reportedly made a profit for its second consecutive quarter.

While Anthropic's financial performance doesn't directly impact daily event operations, it offers insight into the overall health and growth of the AI industry. Rapid growth from major players like Anthropic means continued investment in research and development, which will lead to more sophisticated and powerful AI tools. This indirectly benefits events professionals by accelerating the development of accessible and practical AI solutions, influencing what new technologies might be available for events in the coming years.

AI Helps Prevent Social Media Crises for Organisations

Gudea, a company that describes itself as a 'storm tracker for the internet', is using AI to help organisations detect and prevent social media crises before they escalate. Unlike traditional social listening tools that only track mentions, Gudea's AI analyses online behaviour, relationships, and the pathways of information spread across over 500 mainstream and fringe platforms. This allows it to identify who is driving a conversation, how fast it's growing, and its potential direction, providing crucial context for decision-makers. The company, founded in 2023, has nearly 40 clients including a Fortune 50 telecommunications company.

For events professionals, reputation management is crucial, especially in the age of rapid digital communication. Gudea's technology offers a proactive approach to monitoring online sentiment around your event, brand, or speakers. Being able to spot a negative rumour or misunderstanding early could give you the chance to address it before it impacts attendee numbers, sponsorships, or brand perception. This could be particularly useful for large-scale events or those dealing with sensitive topics.

McKinsey Uses AI Client Simulations for Job Interviews

Consulting giant McKinsey & Company is trialling a new interview technique for some entry-level job applicants: a 10-minute conversation with an AI-simulated client. This AI tool is designed to mimic around 80% of the scenarios a McKinsey consultant might encounter, providing a realistic yet controlled environment for assessing candidates. Human interviewers will be present to evaluate how well applicants handle these simulated situations, as the AI itself will not be scoring them. This initiative is being tested with undergraduates applying for business analyst roles in some North American offices this autumn.

While this is a recruitment tool for a consulting firm, it is a clear example of AI being used in high-stakes professional assessments. For the events industry, this points to the increasing sophistication of AI for training and evaluation. While not directly applicable to hiring event staff today, similar simulation technology could one day be used to train event managers on crisis scenarios, difficult client negotiations, or attendee interaction, offering a safe space to practice and refine skills.

Sources

By Ed Richards

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