t ’ s 11am and someone

Not only has her daughter just found out that her A-Level results were better than expected , Porter ’ s team at Inspired Minds have also discovered they ’ re shortlisted for two EN Indy Awards .

“ It ’ s the first time we ’ ve ever entered any industry awards and I can ’ t see any of us getting any work done today now ,” Porter says as she sips her drink .

Having worked in the exhibitions industry for more than 25 years , Porter launched Inspired Minds in 2016 . Today , the company has 18 employees and 26 freelance staff in four countries .

One of its EN Indy Awards nominations is for World Summit AI – a two-day gathering of the global Artificial Intelligence ecosystem of enterprise , big tech , startups , investors , science and academia , during World AI Week in Amsterdam 9-13 October . The other is for growing a powerful online community of more than 236,000 people from 160 countries interested in ensuring that AI ’ s evolution is a force for good in the world .

Unlike the traditional model of launching shows and developing communities around them , Porter decided to build a global AI community first and then bring it

together through a series of events . “ The word ‘ inspired ’ is Latin for ‘ breathe into ’ so my company name represents the idea that I wanted to breathe new life into the way events can be the vehicle for communities to work collaboratively ,” Porter says .

Inspired Minds also organises Intelligent Health AI , a two-day September summit in Basel , Switzerland and Intelligent Health UK in London in May – bringing together clinicians , data scientists , startups , academics , and investors – to advance discussions on how to apply AI in healthcare .

Porter has also geo-cloned World Summit AI for the Americas . It takes place at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal , Canada each April .

Porter is keen to mirror what she believed the events industry should look like from a gender equality perspective . So , despite the AI sector being male-dominated , she has always achieved equal representation of speakers and participants . It ’ s a mandate that has seen her partner with global organisations such as Women in Tech and become involved in initiatives to encourage more women and young girls into STEM education , and strive for greater representation in the development of AI from low income countries .

One of these countries is

Above : Sarah Porter , CEO Inspired Minds

Afghanistan , where Porter had been working on opening the first STEM school for girls in Kabul , after bringing attention to an all-female Afghan robotics team that had been denied visas to the US in 2017 to compete in an international robotics competition .

Porter brought the girls to Amsterdam instead to showcase their work on the main stage at the inaugural World Sumit AI . The power of her AI community was harnessed later to evacuate the girls from Kabul airport to escape the Taliban .

“ They genuinely feared for their lives … We used AI tracking beacons to locate them in the melee of Kabul airport and managed to rescue 54 people ,” she says .

The return to power of the Taliban may have put paid to Porter ’ s STEM school in Kabul but it hasn ’ t weakened her resolve to inspire women to succeed in both AI and the world of events .

“ There were many dark days in the beginning . I was a mum to three young kids who had gambled everything on an idea . We ’ d built a community of 30,000 people but only sold our first ticket to World Summit AI three weeks out . I was petrified , but my advice to all women making their way through the events industry is something Apple ’ s ex-chief of staff once told me : “ Be bold and be brave . Have the courage of your convictions and bury your fear in the ground .” EW

26 Issue 2 2024

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