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The AI image here is dark and theatrically lit. Your render is presented more schematically with a neutral background and 2D people. I always provide my customers with both, so yes - texturing and lighting are always the make it or break it thing in a rendering - especially lighting. I present lit concepts to show the mood and vibe of the final product, but do the clay renders or stylized ones like you're showing so all the details and items can be properly seen and discussed in reviews and design development. Your texturing here looks pretty good - some quality 3d scanned people, dark background and more theatrical lighting would really make this pop and not take too much more time (though yes, one day is always tight turnaround for anything). I do my best work when I can make renders and then put them away for a day or two and come back to it with fresh eyes, take notes, and re-render. We don't always have the luxury of that time though. One other though on this render - you've got your camera angled with probably a wide lens, so you're getting this tapered effect for the whole set which takes away from it's presence and power. Try zeroing out the P(itch) of your camera and Use Film Y offset if you needed to make sure you are keeping your vertical corners vertical. This can really make a big difference in how the set feels and presents. Also - I don't always go for photorealism - I quite like stylized renders and I do think there is a tipping point on renders that I reach for where the client isn't thinking about the rendering and only focuses on the design. I'm not anti AI, quite the opposite, but the time spent getting things the exact way you want them and thing clean and in the right places are usually better spent and easier in 3D from the get go. At least for things like this. My $.02.

many times AI shadows are visually off/broken. The texturing is typically too smooth with little fine detail or nuance. text is always jumbled/broken. Also with AI you won't be able to get different angles/shots to line up. Also animation. I'd imagine with creating exhibition spaces, you want to show how lighting of the booth space will look. AI always tries to render an "Artstation" style render not completely accurate based on the light sources in the shot. Use AI to generate things like concepts, colors or composition to work from but don't let it pull you down.

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