Small teams treat events as hit-or-miss expenses: good on stage, unclear in outcomes. This episode builds the “AI Event ROI Engine,” a compact, repeatable system that uses AI before, during, and after an event so a single webinar, pop-up, or local meetup reliably becomes qualified conversations and measurable pipeline. Lyric opens with a human story about a founder whose one well-run event doubled month-over-month leads. Nova defines minimal signals and conservative goals (attendance-to-meeting, qualified-lead thresholds, attribution windows) so teams avoid noisy vanity metrics. Stryker shows scrappy live-capture tech: simple lead-enrichment flows, smart forms, short on-site qualification prompts, and safe telemetry that feeds follow-up automations. Pulse closes with a 30-day nurture cadence, decision rules for who gets human outreach, and an ops checklist so the team executes without burning out. Listeners leave with three immediate scripts, an event-day telemetry pack, and a CTA to visit apexblue.com/event-engine for templates and prompt packs.