Bio

James is a distinguished data leader in the construction industry with a career starting as a Quantity Surveyor in 2000. With a first-class honours degree and a dissertation on data and digitalisation in construction, he joined the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in 2002 and was elected a Fellow in 2012 for his significant contributions.

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His career includes working on significant projects for Imperial College and Oxford University Colleges, leading the Education sector at Gleeds in London, and advancing to Head of Insights and Analytics in 2020. As a qualified Data Analyst since 2022, he now spearheads Gleeds' Global Data, Insights, and Analytics department, focusing on driving digital transformation in the industry. James was named one of the Top 100 People in Data 2023 by Data IQ, marking him as a key figure in the field.

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James talks on digital transformation and AI advancements within project delivery and construction

Bio

Andy is the Executive Director of the Major Projects Association, prior to which he spent 30 years as a practitioner, consultant and assurer of complex projects and programmes for public, private and third sector organisations both domestically and internationally.

Andy is a respected author, having worked with HM Treasury, Cabinet Office, the Association for Project Management (APM), Axelos and PeopleCert to develop best practice guidance on their behalf. Publications include PRINCE2, P3M3, Routemap and the Governance of Co-Owned Projects. He is the Chair of the APM’s Governance Special Interest Group and is leading on the Project Data Analytics Task Force.

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Andy can give talks on the ambition and work of the Task Force as well as how the world of project management can learn from other disciplines/professions that have been transformed by AI/data analytics.

Bio

Jo is a Deputy Director at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), leading their Project Futures team in the implementation of the IPA's flagship transformation programme Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP).

Jo has worked for over 20 years in project delivery, most recently in the successful delivery of the Environment Agency’s £2.6bn 6-year flood risk management programme. She believes we need urgently to transform our approach to project delivery in order to achieve the best outcomes for the economy, the environment and society as a whole.

Jo is pioneering the use of data analytics in this transformation, including as a founding member of the Project Data Analytics Task Force.

Bio

Sue Simmonite is BAE Systems' Global Project Management & Control Director with 28 years of experience in various sectors.

Based in the UK's Chief Technology Information Office, she drives operational excellence across different cultures and geographies. She plays an active role in global project support, chairing key reviews and sponsoring senior PM leadership programs.

A representative for APM, PMI, and the UK MPA, Sue is an APM Fellow and an inaugural BAE Systems PM Fellow. In 2021, she joined the APM Board of Trustees and was recently appointed as Deputy Chair.

Bio

Grant is the Executive Managing Director, Buildings at Sir Robert McAlpine, one of the founding members of the Project Data Analytics Task Force and Chair of the Construction Data Trust.

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​Grant  has over 30 years experience in development and delivery of large infrastructure and building projects and businesses in the UK, Asia and North America.

Bio

Gareth is the Head of Data & Analytics at Sir Robert McAlpine, one of the founding members of the Project Data Analytics Task Force and Director of the Construction Data Trust.

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Through his efforts to transform industry, Gareth was recognised in the Data IQ Top 100 influential people in data (2021).

Bio

James Lea, a Fellow of the APM and BCS, founded Project Science, consulting in project delivery confidence through the 'physics of projects'.

A physicist and engineer, he uses data science, including AI and machine learning, for innovative project data analysis, advocating learning from past projects.

He contributes to the field through talks, webinars, and publications in the APM Project journal on topics like AI in project management, antifragility, project physics, and language in projects.

His guiding principle is the constant pursuit of improvement.

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James speaks on predictive analytics - how we can use data science to learn from the past in order to predict - and shape - the future.

Bio

Ronald Dyer is Academic Lead - Digital Innovation and Senior University Teacher in Complex Project Management fat the Sheffield University Management School.

His focus is on building the school's digital skills roadmap as it relates to AI, Analytics, VR etc. as well as development of students' project management competencies for employability.

He possesses over 20+ years of project management experience across financial service, education, agriculture and energy focused organisational transformation initiatives.

He has worked on several large IT integration projects at Goldman Sachs, Citi-Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

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Ronalds speaks on data visualization & digital transformation.

Bio

Aleks joined the rail industry in 2020 with DfT, later moving to the £11 billion Trans Pennine Route Upgrade Programme in 2022, leading PMO Function integration.

Previously a Management Consultant in healthcare and tech, he managed several transformation projects. He is a Chartered Management professional, certified Project Manager, Agile practitioner, with MSP Certification, and a member of professional bodies.

Aleks holds an LLB (Hons), an Executive MBA, and is pursuing an MSc in Infrastructure & Construction Project Management. He excels in transforming infrastructure projects with innovation and data.

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Aleks speaks on leadership, specifically around adaptability and distributed leadership. 

Bio

Donnie is chair of the PMI UK Chapter Organisational Project Management (OPM) Forum and previously the APM’s People SIG for 10 years. He is also a Visiting Teaching Fellow at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and has strong relationships with other prestigious academic bodies.

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Donnie is the co-author of Project Leadership 3rd Edition published in 2015 by Gower, has had over 30 articles published and contributed to 5 books including Programme and Portfolio Management Demystified and MSP® Survival Guide for SROs. He has presented at over 100 events and conferences including for the MPA, Defence Academy, IOD, APM, PMI, RICS and ICE and a host of private and public sector organisations.

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Donnie talks on Human Insight Enhanced Through Data & AI – how to augment and integrate human-centric data with existing project performance data and reporting to shape decision making in real time to predict project outcomes. 

Bio

Nermeen has worked in major project delivery for the past 25 years, working in and setting up PMOs, with a special interest in planning and assurance.  She is an advocate of digital revolution and using it to drive our profession forward, ensuring that a data driven approach is the default, and part of what we do. She currently leads the digital PMO offering at WSP.

Bio

Nick is the Co-founder of InForecast and the Project ESG Co-pilot platform. He previously founded and led Digital Advisory services at Mott MacDonald, specialising in bespoke digital project solutions.

With a wealth of experience in leading digital transformation initiatives at global consultancies, Nick is a qualified project manager and a certified data analyst, underpinned by an engineering background.

He is an active member of the Association for Project Management and serves on the committee at APM Thames Valley. Additionally, Nick is a professional member of the British Computer Society.

Bio

Yoshi is an accomplished professional who transitioned from neuroscience into a pioneering role in product management and marketing.

With publications in eye-tracking and brain stimulation research, he shifted his focus to digital and data, recognising the vast potential in project delivery and construction where he was project manager for the construction data trust.

Currently, Yoshi manages communications at Gleeds Digital and is a distinguished graduate of the Major Projects Association Rising Stars programme.

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Yoshi talks on new technological advancements in businesses and the intersection of AI and Neuroscience; particularly how artificial intelligence mimics how the human brain works.

Bio

Ant is a mathematician and chartered engineer, who brings a data not project background to Project Data Analytics Task Force. Since starting out wet behind his ears building machine learning models for the supercomputer at QinetiQ two decades ago, his entire career has been focused on machine learning, data science and data product development, both stand alone and in concert with sensor technology. He has found these skills were equally applicable across diverse industries from military research to international retail, from medtech to F1.

For the past decade, Ant has been leading on data science/engineering and data product strategy, which has led him to his present role as the Chief Data Officer at Projecting Success. Passionate about data driven delivery, Ant yearns not just to release the power of data, but to build a collaborative approach to tackling the problems we face, together.

Bio

PMP, Head Of Benefits Management, New Hospital Programme Vice President And Director Of Technology, PMI UK​. As the lead for Benefits Management in the UK’s New Hospital Programme, Merv oversees the return on investment for a £20bn government project aimed at constructing forty new hospitals, revolutionising healthcare infrastructure delivery.

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As VP and Director of Technology at PMI UK Chapter, Merv guides our digital strategy, fostering a vibrant community of 3,800 members.

Together, the teams champion initiatives in Sustainability, Women in Projects, and AI in Project Management, aiming for transformative project management practices.

Bio

Senior Programme & Project Manager, PMP, CDBA, PMI UK AI In Project. 

Lavinia is an accomplished programme and project management both for-profit and not-for-profit organisations.

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She holds a BSc in Engineering, MSc in Computer-Integrated Systems, PMP credential in good standing, Agile and Low-code/No-code certifications and is an active member of Project Management Institute (PMI).

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At PMI UK Chapter, Lavinia serves on the Steering Committee in the AI in Project Management community of action and is the Women in Tech workstream lead.

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She is an advocate of digitalisation and has a special interest in data-driven decision-making.