Hey Benson: Intelligent Event Planning and Social Coordination App

Hey Benson is an AI powered event planning and management application designed to remove the friction from making plans with friends. Instead of long group chats, manual forms, and constant back and forth, users can simply chat with Benson and makes it easy to go from “what should we do?” to actually going out.

hey-benson

OVERVIEW

Project Overview

Planning social outings often turn into long group chats, missed messages, and unclear decisions. People spend more time coordinating than actually enjoying the event. While there are event apps and chat tools available, none fully handle planning, invitations, and coordination in one place using AI.

Benson allows users to create events using natural language, where the AI understands intent such as date, time, participants, and location preferences. Once an event is created, Benson automatically manages invitations using contact based delivery through SMS, email, and in-app notifications. A dedicated group chat is generated for each event, where Benson actively participates to assist with coordination, suggest nearby venues, and handle updates.

Hey Benson is designed as a communication plus coordination engine rather than a traditional event application. It removes the need for friend requests, manual forms, and repeated confirmations by relying on AI orchestration and automation rules.

Key Features

hey-benson

01.

AI Driven Event Workflow Engine

Hey Benson uses AI driven workflow logic to handle the full event planning flow from a single user command. The system understands intent and executes a sequence of actions such as creating the event, identifying participants, sending invitations, setting up a group chat, and managing updates. Instead of only suggesting options, the AI directly carries out these steps, removing manual effort and keeping the planning experience simple and conversational.

02.

Contact Based Social Graph with Flexible Invites

The platform replaces traditional friend systems with a contact based social graph. Participants are identified directly from a user’s contacts, allowing instant invitations without onboarding friction. If a person is not saved in the contact list, users can still invite them by providing either a phone number or an email address. Benson uses the available contact details to send invitations through the appropriate channel. Invitees can RSVP with Yes, No, or Maybe through the app or a web invite page without downloading the application, allowing hosts to easily track responses. For email invitations, the system automatically generates an AI designed event poster to improve engagement and response rates.

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hey-benson

03.

Embedded AI in Group Conversations

Benson is embedded directly into every event related group chat. The AI responds contextually when tagged, assists with coordination, and supports decision making within the conversation itself. This transforms group chats from unstructured discussions into guided planning environments.

04.

Automated Updates with Multi Channel Delivery

Hey Benson automatically manages event changes and notifications in real time. Updates to time, location, or event details trigger instant notifications across SMS, email, in-app notifications, and web-based invite pages. Channel based fallback logic ensures reliable delivery, keeping all participants aligned regardless of device or platform.

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Features at a Glance

  • trumanNatural Language Event Creation

    trumanAI Based Coordination and Decision Support

    trumanContact First Invitation Model

    trumanInvite via Email or Phone Number

    trumanAI Generated Event Posters for Email Invites

    trumanAutomated Reminders and Change Notifications

    trumanChannel Based Delivery with Fallback Logic

    trumanNo Friend Request Dependency

    trumanDedicated Event Based Group Chats

    trumanWorks Across iOS, Android, and Web

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Challenges and Solutions

Here are some challenges that our team encountered while working on the project:

1. Invitation Friction and User Onboarding

Challenges

In the initial product flow, inviting participants required users to add friends before sending event invitations. This created unnecessary friction, slowed down planning, and made it difficult to invite people who were not already on the platform. The experience did not align with the goal of fast and effortless social coordination.

SOLUTIONS

The team redesigned the system around a contact based invitation model. Users can now invite participants directly using saved contacts or by entering a phone number or email address. Invitations are delivered through SMS, email, or web invite pages, removing the dependency on friend requests and allowing anyone to join an event without prior onboarding.

2. Translating Intent into Action Without Manual Forms

Challenges

Although the AI could understand user's intent from natural language input, early versions of the product still relied on manual forms to finalize event details. This interrupted the conversational flow and reduced the effectiveness of AI-driven planning.

SOLUTIONS

AI orchestration rules were introduced to automatically convert user intent into actions. The system now extracts event details such as date, time, participants, and preferences directly from chat input. Events, invitations, and group chats are created automatically, eliminating the need for form based workflows and keeping the experience fully conversational.

3. Scalability, Cost Control, and Reliable Communication

Challenges

During MVP testing, heavy reliance on third party location services resulted in rising API costs. At the same time, ensuring reliable delivery of invitations, updates, and reminders across SMS, email, and in-app notifications was critical for successful coordination.

SOLUTIONS

The team shifted venue and recommendation logic to an AI based approach with controlled usage to reduce dependency on costly external APIs. In parallel, a channel based communication system with fallback logic was implemented. If one delivery channel fails, the system automatically switches to another, ensuring reliable notifications and consistent coordination across platforms and devices.

Technology Stack

React Native

Used to build a unified cross platform mobile application for iOS and Android with a consistent user experience.

Node.JS

Powered the backend architecture, handling event logic, AI orchestration flows, user management, and API integrations.

OpenAI (GPT-4o / GPT-4o Mini)

Enabled natural language understanding, intent parsing, event orchestration, and AI driven recommendations.

PubNub

Supported real time group chat functionality and live message synchronization across users.

SendGrid

Handled email invitations, including delivery of AI generated event posters.

AWS (EC2 Production Environment)

Hosted and scaled the application infrastructure, ensuring reliability and performance.

truman

SEAN HYNES

Leader of the Effort

Sean is an AI/ML Engineer having over 20+ years of collective experience in the Tech industry. He leads end-to-end AI development processes, integrating cutting-edge technologies to deliver user-centric solutions. His expertise spans research, conceptualization, wireframing, interactive prototyping, and the design of intuitive user interfaces. 

He is capable of overseeing projects through all stages, from architecture building to crafting actual layouts and focuses on leveraging artificial intelligence for optimal outcomes.

Our team at Biz4Group is well experienced in manifesting innovative ideas for multi-dollar projects.

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