10 Leeds Digital Festival 2026 Events I’d Recommend to Local Business Owners

**21 September 2026 | 3:00pm–4:30pm | Genieminds**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

This would probably be my first choice for a small business owner.

The event is specifically aimed at Yorkshire SMEs and focuses on practical AI rather than complicated technical discussions.

That distinction matters. There are hundreds of AI tools being promoted to businesses at the moment, but using more AI does not automatically mean running a better business.

For a local business owner, the useful questions are things like:

• Can AI reduce repetitive admin?
• Can it help respond to enquiries faster?
• Can it improve marketing without adding another employee?
• Which AI tools are actually worth paying for?

If you’re interested in AI but don’t know where it realistically fits into your business, I’d put this near the top of your shortlist.

**22 September 2026 | 6:00pm–8:30pm | AI Sales**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

AI becomes much more interesting when it moves beyond generating content and starts helping a business make money.

This session focuses specifically on **practical lessons businesses can apply to sales**, combining AI, business support and marketing.

For local businesses, I’d be listening for ideas around:

• identifying better prospects
• following up with enquiries
• reducing missed leads
• automating repetitive sales work
• improving conversion from enquiry to customer

A business doesn’t necessarily need more leads if it is already losing half of the enquiries it receives. Sometimes improving the sales process is the better investment.

**24 September 2026 | 9:00am–11:00am | Open Velocity**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

This one caught my attention because many small businesses assume marketing problems are simply traffic problems.

Sometimes they aren’t.

You might have traffic but the wrong offer. You might have good services but unclear positioning. Your ads might generate clicks while your website fails to convert them.

This Open Velocity session is specifically about situations where a go-to-market strategy isn’t delivering.

I think it could be particularly useful for businesses already spending money on marketing but wondering why the results don’t match the investment.

**23 September 2026 | 9:30am–10:30am | Jaywing**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

UX — user experience — sounds like something only web designers need to worry about.

It isn’t.

Every time somebody visits your website, tries to book an appointment, complete a form, find your prices or understand what you offer, they are experiencing your UX.

Jaywing’s session brings together UX, customer outcomes and brand considerations.

For local businesses, I think this is especially relevant.

A beautifully designed website can still lose customers if:

• booking is confusing
• information is difficult to find
• forms are too long
• the mobile experience is poor
• customers don’t know what to do next

Good UX removes those little obstacles.

**23 September 2026 | 8:30am–11:00am | Leeds Beckett University & Leeds City Council**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

This event is directly about using digital technology to support business growth and is being organised by Leeds Beckett University and Leeds City Council.

I like the subject because “digital transformation” can sound unnecessarily complicated for a small business.

It might actually mean something very simple:

automating bookings, improving your CRM, connecting your website to your enquiry process, using data properly, introducing AI where it saves time, or replacing an inefficient manual process.

If your business still relies on lots of spreadsheets, WhatsApp messages, paper diaries or repetitive admin, this could be worth attending.

**24 September 2026 | 9:30am–12:30pm | AAWE**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

CX means **customer experience**, and I think this deserves much more attention from local businesses.

This session combines business support with UI/UX and focuses on changing customer expectations.

Customers increasingly expect things to be easy.

They expect to find your services quickly, contact you without hassle, book from their phone, receive quick responses and understand what happens next.

Those expectations apply whether you're running a large technology company or a beauty salon in Horsforth.

Businesses that remove friction usually have an advantage.

**25 September 2026 | 10:00am–11:30am | Barclays Eagle Lab & Mills & Reeve**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

This is another event clearly aimed at SMEs rather than technology specialists.

What makes it interesting is the broader approach.

Small businesses are constantly being sold software, AI tools, CRMs, booking systems, marketing platforms and automation products. Understanding the main categories of technology can make it much easier to decide what your business genuinely needs.

You don't need to become a technology expert.

You just need enough understanding to avoid spending £200 a month solving a £20 problem.

**28 September 2026 | 3:00pm–4:30pm | Genieminds**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

Another SME-focused AI event, but this time structured as a workshop.

That makes it particularly interesting to me.

Listening to people talk about AI is useful, but actually seeing how it can be applied is usually much more valuable.

If you're already using ChatGPT occasionally but haven't yet connected AI to actual business processes, a workshop format could help bridge that gap.

Think beyond writing Instagram captions.

AI can potentially support:

customer enquiries → qualification → follow-up → internal tasks → reporting → content → customer support.

That is where things start becoming interesting for SMEs.

**29 September 2026 | 11:00am–12:00pm | AI Expert**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

Sometimes the simple titles are the most relevant.

This one is specifically categorised around **AI, machine learning and business support for SMEs**.

I'd recommend it particularly to business owners who feel slightly behind with AI.

You don't need to automate your entire company tomorrow.

Start by finding one repetitive task that happens every day or every week and ask whether technology can make it easier.

Then build from there.

**1 October 2026 | 9:00am–11:30am | IDS Group, Lead Talent & Connect Yorkshire**

View official event page on Leeds Digital Festival

I’d probably finish the festival with this one.

The session focuses specifically on SME growth and the relationship between **technology, people and strategy**.

That combination is important.

Technology alone doesn't grow a business.

Neither does SEO, advertising, AI or a new website.

Those things work when they support a clear business strategy, good customer experience and a team capable of delivering the service.

If your business has grown to a certain level but seems to have stopped moving forward, this could be one of the most valuable events on the list.

If I could attend only **three**, I'd personally choose:

• **Beyond the Hype: Practical AI for Yorkshire SMEs** for practical AI without unnecessary jargon.
• **How AI Is Transforming Sales** because technology becomes much more valuable when it improves revenue rather than simply creating more content.
• **What To Do When Your Go-To-Market Is Not Delivering** because understanding *why* your marketing isn't working can save far more money than simply spending more on ads.

For businesses heavily dependent on their website or online bookings, I’d also make **Risk Meets UX: Designing Better Outcomes for Customers and Brands** a priority.

One thing I like about Leeds Digital Festival is that it gives local business owners access to conversations that can otherwise feel restricted to technology companies and larger organisations.

You don't need to attend every AI event or completely change the way your company works.

Go to one or two relevant sessions, take away **one useful idea**, and actually implement it.

That might be improving how you follow up with enquiries, simplifying your website, automating an admin task or finally creating a proper plan for AI.

One useful change is worth far more than ten pages of notes you never look at again.

**These are my personal picks from the upcoming Business Support Services events, based on what I think is most useful for SMEs and local business owners.** The published programme includes sessions across AI, sales, UX, customer experience, technology adoption and business growth.

**Are you going to Leeds Digital Festival this year? If there’s an event you think should be on this list, let me know.**