AI in Associations Summit 2026
ACA CEO Angelina Pillai recently represented the ACA at the 2026 AI in Associations Summit, sharing insights into the organisation’s growing use of AI to support members and strengthen governance. Her contributions included a presentation on the ACA Business Concierge, which helps members navigate our valuable member-only content; and participation in a panel discussion on Governance in Practice.
More than 100 association leaders gathered in Sydney recently for a full day of strategic discussion on one of the most pressing questions facing the sector: not whether to use AI, but how to govern it effectively.
Hosted by Associations Forum, the program delved into effective usage, regulatory compliance, and real-world applications, including the ACA’s pioneering Business Concierge. The summit opened with a clear framing:
AI governance is now a board-level responsibility, and the biggest risk associations face is doing nothing.
A live audience poll revealed the wide range of ways AI is already embedded in association platforms, tools, and member systems, often without any formal oversight in place. For architecture practices of every size, the message was equally direct: AI is already in your business, whether you have chosen it or not, and the question is whether you are getting ahead of it.
ACA Business Concierge
Angelina Pillai described how the ACA Business Concierge is a practical example of what responsible AI adoption can look like. Embedded in the ACA website, the Concierge helps members quickly locate, interpret and apply ACA resources on topics including employment obligations, HR policy, contracts, fees, and practice management.
Critically, it draws exclusively from verified, existing ACA content; a closed system built on trusted sources rather than the wider web. Designed for specific, defined tasks rather than open-ended use, its scope is clear and its outputs trustworthy. For members, it means faster, more accessible support to the information that matters. And the ACA’s website has a lot of information!
Putting governance into practice
Angelina was then joined by Alexandra El-Shamy (President, Hockey NSW) for an audience Q&A exploring Practical AI Governance for Associations: Where to Start. Alexandra outlined a practical framework for leaders to map where AI is operating in their organisation and put proportionate oversight structures in place, without over-engineering controls. Together, they discussed the risk considerations and trust safeguards that made the Concierge possible, giving attendees a grounded, replicable model for moving from AI experimentation to responsible, member-centric deployment.
Real-world applications
Tim Boyle (CEO, ARCS Australia) outlined how ARCS uses AI to create entire streams of content (newsletters, podcasts, news pieces, and social media clips) at a scale that simply wouldn’t be fiscally possible without it. Nothing they produce is purely AI-generated; all content remains under close human review. Tim’s key proviso: everything must pass the trust test. AI is only as good as the prompts you give it and the authenticity of the source material behind it.
Navigating what’s coming
Ross Creelman (Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) made the case for associations to move from passive compliance to active engagement, noting that existing legal frameworks already apply to AI use and mandatory requirements are emerging. For ACA members, staying across this landscape is increasingly important.
Call to action
Tim McKibbin (CEO, Real Estate Institute of NSW) closed with a clear call to action: audit your AI use, update your policies, build your team’s capability, and lead adoption intentionally rather than reactively. REINSW’s appointment of Australia’s first AI Board Advisor offered a compelling marker of where progressive association leadership is heading.
Top 10 Takeaways
- AI is already everywhere – governance now matters more than adoption.
- The real risk sits with vendors, not staff tools – know what’s embedded.
- Efficiency gains often just shift workload, with new types of work generated – plan for volume, not savings.
- Trust drops when content feels AI-generated – be deliberate about where and how you use it.
- AI governance is a Board responsibility – not a tech side issue.
- Start simple: inventory, policy, vendor checks, transparency.
- The trusted ACA Business Concierge shows what good looks like – member-led, governed, and human-checked. Keep humans in the loop – review, refine, stay accountable.
- AI is a force multiplier – small teams can scale impact quickly.
- Shift from one-off outputs to ongoing member value – reuse, refine and redeploy what you create.
- As Angelina concluded in her presentation, “AI didn’t replace anything for the ACA. Instead, it revealed what we already had, and made it usable.” That’s the real takeaway for Associations.