Case Study
Fast Company
AI Sketch Robots
New York City
Sketch Bots at the Fast Company Innovation Festival
Sketch bots turn a photo into something guests can hold: a portrait drawn live, in pen, by a robot arm. On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, Milestone Media brought three of them to the Fast Company Innovation Festival at Convene Brookfield Place in New York City. In about two and a half hours, they drew more than 130 portraits, each one inspired by the event's World's Fair theme and printed on custom-branded festival paper.
The Event
The Fast Company Innovation Festival brings together leaders in business, technology, design and culture for a program of talks, sessions and experiences. In 2026, Capital One Business joined as the festival's first-ever title partner.
Nearly 500 guests attended the evening, which ran as a four-hour program with attendees moving between rooms. Our sketch bots were one part of that program, with a focused window to serve as many guests as possible.
How LDJ Productions Found Us
LDJ Productions, a production company with teams in New York and Los Angeles, produced the event. Miranda Williams, Coordinator, Production, found our website and sent us an inquiry on July 13. We sent a full proposal that same day.
"It's very thorough, which I appreciate!" Miranda wrote back.
From there, we worked closely with Miranda, Camille Coward and Aaron Cook to align the experience with the event's theme, venue and run of show.
A World's Fair Theme, Drawn by Hand
LDJ set a World's Fair theme for the evening, and every sketch was built to match it. Guests chose from five custom AI sketch styles:
Engineering The Future
Little World Traveler
Future Vision Portrait
Tomorrow's Fair Ambassador
Mid-Century Expo Dream
Each style placed guests in a scene full of World's Fair detail, from passports and globes to famous landmarks, and some included a personalized sign with the guests' names.
LDJ's client designed the sketch paper. Every portrait printed under a "Welcome to the Innovation Festival" header, with the Fast Company Innovation Festival and Capital One Business logos across the bottom. Every guest walked away with a branded keepsake from the title partner.
People search for this experience under many names, including sketchbot, drawing robot and draw me bot. At Milestone Media, we call them our AI Sketch Robots.
How It Works
1. Guests pose for a quick photo at the capture station.
2. They pick one of the five World's Fair sketch styles.
3. AI turns the photo into line art in the chosen style.
4. A robot arm draws the portrait live, in pen, on the branded paper.
5. Guests take home the original and get a digital copy by text.
For a closer look at the process, read how drawing robots work at events.
Planning for a Short, Busy Window
Because the sketch bots shared the night with a full program, we built the plan around volume. Three robots ran side by side, and four Robo Techs managed the capture station, guided guests through their style choice and handed off finished portraits.
Guests were already gathering before the official start, so our team started drawing early to fit in more sketches. The setup ran on its own power and used the venue's 6' table, which kept the footprint clean and matched the room.
The Experience by the Numbers
130+
Sketches Drawn
100+
Guests Sketched
19
Group Sketches
125+
Sketches Sent by Text
Guests kept coming back throughout the evening, and some returned to try a second style. Nearly every portrait was also sent to a guest's phone, which gave the festival's branding a life well beyond Brookfield Place.
What LDJ Productions Said
"Thanks again for tonight! Everyone loved it."
Camille Coward, Senior Manager | Producer, LDJ Productions
"The World's Fair theme gave us so much to work with. Watching guests pick a style and then crowd around the robots to see their portrait come to life was the best part of the night. A lot of them came back to try another one."
Carolina Fernandez, Robo Tech, Milestone Media
Why Sketch Bots Work for Festivals and Sponsor Activations
Festivals are crowded with things to see, so an activation has to earn attention. Sketch bots do that on their own. A robot drawing a portrait by hand draws a crowd, and guests who stop to watch usually get in line.
For sponsors, the payoff lasts longer than the event. Every sketch carries the event's branding, and a hand-drawn portrait is a keepsake people keep. It gets framed, pinned to a desk or shared online, long after the festival ends.
Plan Sketch Bots for Your Next Event
Milestone Media brings AI Sketch Robots and custom photo experiences to festivals, conferences and corporate events nationwide. Tell us about your event, and we will design an experience your guests will remember. Visit MilestoneMedia.us or call 908.340.0490.
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