2025 AR Summit Recap: Navigating AI, Elevating AR, and Driving Business Impact

The 2025 AR Summit once again brought the Analyst Relations community together in Kansas City for three days of insight, connection, and inspiration. With over 250 attendees from leading global companies, the event focused on the evolving role of AR in the age of AI and explored how professionals can amplify their impact on business outcomes.

This year’s stage featured voices from AWS, Profound, Acceleres, Commerce, and G2, as well as top analyst firms including S&P Global, Futurum Group, Moor Insights & Strategy, and Nucleus Research. The program offered a mix of forward-looking keynotes, breakouts focused on practical application, and collaborative working sessions, all capped with memorable networking experiences.

Networking Opportunities: Building Connections That Last

The Summit opened with an elegant rooftop welcome reception at the Loews Hotel, where attendees reconnected with colleagues and forged new professional relationships overlooking the Kansas City skyline.

On the second evening, the energy spilled outdoors once again at the AR Street Party. Hosted across from the Loews on the KCCC Lawn, the evening brought live music, local food and drinks, and a vibrant community atmosphere. These moments of connection underscore what makes AR Summit so unique—opportunities to collaborate, share ideas, and celebrate the strength of the analyst relations community.

Keynotes & General Sessions: Insight for Today, Vision for Tomorrow

This year’s keynotes and general sessions highlighted the transformation of analyst relations in a world reshaped by generative AI:

• Spotlight CEO and Co-Founder Rick Nash opened this year’s AR Summit by defining AR’s new imperative: Influence Orchestration. He highlighted how peer reviews and ungated analyst research are the two most cited sources for AI search engines, positioning AR pros to drive real business impact.
• Josh Blyskal from our partner, Profound, explained that traditional SEO techniques won’t drive B2B mentions and citations in AI answer engines. Comparative content, listicles, and sources like Reddit dominate AI citations. 
• Spotlight’s very own, John Rockhold, reminded attendees that they are not alone amidst change — there’s a thriving community of AR pros navigating the same challenges. As one respondent stated in our 2025 Analyst Survey, analysts face the same uncertainty: “We are witnesses to an existential opportunity and an existential threat. For analysts and AR.”

For a complete summary of the keynote highlights, access our Day 1 & 2 Recap!

Breakout Sessions: From Insight to Action

Breakout sessions gave attendees the chance to dive deep into their most pressing challenges. This year’s highlights included:

• Examples and practical tips for analyst portals, automated RFI tools, and other technologies enabling AR pros to meet the needs of their evolving mandate. Plus, a sneak peek at what the future has in store for the industry’s leading AR platform, Spotlight Oz.
• Strategies for sourcing, monitoring, and analyzing customer user reviews to surface valuable insights on your customers and competitors.
• The fan favorite, The Insight is Right, themed session covered techniques for enabling marketing and sales with insights and outcomes from analysts.

Each breakout was designed to provide hands-on insights, frameworks, and tools that attendees could bring back to their teams immediately.

Shaping the Future of Analyst Relations, Together

The 2025 AR Summit showcased the momentum of the AR industry as it embraces both the opportunities and challenges presented by AI. More than ever, AR professionals are not just managing analyst relationships—they’re driving measurable business value, influencing buyers, and helping their organizations adapt to rapid change.

A heartfelt thank-you goes out to our sponsors, speakers, and especially to the analyst relations professionals who make this community thrive.

To learn more about AR Summit’s keynote sessions, check out this one-pager.