IntelligenceAUVEMARE / Story 047
IBEX 2026 Brings Customer Behaviour and AI Into the Same Conversation
8 October 2026 · 1 min read
AI-generated illustration of a marine industry discussion. It does not depict the actual IBEX Marine Ideas Exchange or its participants.
Image: AUVEMARE / AI-generated with OpenAI. No photographer.
At IBEX in Tampa, the Marine Ideas Exchange brought marine executives together to discuss leadership, changing customers and the practical implications of artificial intelligence.
Soundings Trade Only held its Marine Ideas Exchange on 7 October, the second day of IBEX 2026. The programme combined executive conversations with panels on customer behaviour, innovation and business use of AI.
A leadership discussion between editor-in-chief David Gee and Dometic Marine president Eric Fetchko opened the sessions. ICOMIA chief executive Joe Lynch subsequently led a customer-focused panel with representatives from Dometic, Garmin and Regulator Marine.
Technology and the people using it
Navico Group, Garmin and MarineSource contributed to the technology discussions. Further sessions examined how ideas become finished products and how business leaders approach AI-related data, privacy and policy.
Together, the topics placed technical development alongside the decisions companies make about customers and staff. The event was a forum for discussion, rather than an announcement of a single new marine product.
