Project Controls Expo USA 2026
Project Controls Expo USA 2026 will be held October 5-7 at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The event is broad-scope and non-industry-specific, representing major-sector organizations such as US federal agencies, energy companies, megaproject owners and infrastructure.
It is a large event, with over 800 delegates expected in Washington, over 40 international expert speakers, 6 core streams and 80 topics. This year, Project Controls Expo will run a workshop on October 5 from 10 am to 5 pm, followed by two full days of streams and keynote speakers.
Workshop October 5
David Grau, Sundt Construction Professor at Arizona State University, will run an ‘Integrated Project/Program Management (IP2M) Maturity and Environment Total Risk Rating (METRR): Assessing EVMS Effectiveness, Risk, and Performance for Large and Complex Capital Projects’ workshop in the Eisenhower Boardroom.
Keynote Speakers
Amber Young is a physical scientist and an EVMS professional with extensive experience in both DOE and DOD data structures. Amber will focus her keynote on how she is leading the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Project Management’s AI Strategy board. Amber will reveal how she is integrating detailed AI analysis into project governance and Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS).
Amber will discuss three key areas:
- The PARS AI Ecosystem: How (DOE) uses AI to transform project controls and Earned Value Management (EVM).
- “Walt”: An in-depth look at the DOE’s proprietary AI Assistant.
- AI Agents: Using natural language processing and API integrations to automate reporting and get real-time project updates
Eric Delarosa, Vice President, Executive, Program Controls. Eric’s keynote, ‘Integrating Cost and Schedule to Improve Project Delivery,’ will focus on two key areas:
- The impact of modern software: Shifting from siloed tools like Excel spreadsheets to shared data platforms.
- Improving planning protocols: Replacing manual, disjointed processes with streamlined planning techniques.
Eric will suggest that by following these key areas, project certainty will improve, as these unified steps will help project teams achieve higher cost and schedule predictability.
Streams
The streams will be subdivided into zones around the park:
- Technology & Innovation in Project Controls will be at 3rd base, Delivery of Complex Projects & Programs will be in the Roosevelt room.
- Owners & Government Capital Programs will be in the Kennedy room.
- Project Controls Capability, Organization, Culture & Future Skills and Risk Resilience and Independent Assurance will both be in the Regan room.
We’ve reviewed a selection from each category to give you a sense of what to expect at Project Controls Expo 2026.
Technology & Innovation in Project Controls
Omkar Kadam is a senior consultant at Turner & Townsend. He will present ‘Seeing Beyond the Surface: Detecting AI-Generated Content in Construction Reviews’. With the rapid adoption of generative AI, the unrecognised risk in construction has increased, where invoices, change orders, estimates and labor documentation form the foundation of financial controls and audits.
Modern AI tools can now fabricate narratives, manipulate images and produce complete document packages that closely mirror authentic records, without any field validation. Traditional audit workflows were not designed to detect AI-generated content that is consistent, well-structured and statistically plausible.
Omkar will reveal that as Gen AI lowers the cost of creating convincing artefacts at scale, the risk of undetected payment leakage and audit failure grows. Omkar will examine AI-generated content through a construction-specific lens, evaluate the limitations of current detection technologies and introduce a structured framework of non-software-based methods.
These include metadata forensics, auditor pattern recognition, cross-verification and statistical analysis. Together, these techniques will form a layered defense to help auditors, project controls professionals and construction managers detect AI’s hidden hand before it undermines project integrity and governance.
Daniel Friedman-Brown is a Solution Engineer with Lumivero. Daniel will present ‘Beyond the Baseline: Turning Project Controls Data into Portfolio Decisions.’ Daniel will explain how, as programs become more interconnected, leaders need more than static reports. They need to understand how schedule, cost, risk and dependencies interact across the portfolio and explore those relationships in real time.
Daniel will show how organizations are connecting control outputs into a live portfolio layer that preserves context, improves stakeholder understanding and enables more informed decisions.
Daniel will share techniques for connecting P6, cost and risk data into a unified view and ways to visualize where schedule risk intersects with cost exposure and portfolio dependencies. These approaches will move organizations from reactive reporting to proactive portfolio navigation.
Delivery of Complex Projects & Programmes
Vivek Khullar is a Section Manager with Burns & McDonnell. Vivek will present ‘From Reports to Results: Turning Project Controls into Executive Decision Power on Capital Programs’. Using real-world lessons from infrastructure, utilities, transportation and life sciences programs, Vivek will demonstrate how project control functions can evolve in organizations as a critical driver of executive decision-making.
Offering strategic decision support through integrated cost and schedule controls, portfolio forecasting and standardized governance frameworks that deliver earlier risk and opportunity visibility. Vivek will offer practical strategies for building scalable control structures that improve accountability, accelerate decisions and enhance program predictability.
Saumil Maniar is a Senior Director with PMA Consultants. Saumil will present ‘Project Closeout is critical to Project Controls’. Saumil will discuss how project closeout on major construction projects represents a critical, but undervalued phase in the project lifecycle.
For large organizations managing significant project portfolios, a dedicated project closeout process is essential for knowledge retention and portfolio-level performance analysis. This is critical to project controls functions – cost, schedule and risk – on existing and future projects.
Saumil will reveal that project closeout is a core project controls function. Using his recent experience managing capital projects for multiple owners, as well as his industry experience with AACE International Recommended Practices — RP 10S-90 and RP 68R-11,
Saumil will explain how structured closeout deliverables can drive meaningful project controls outcomes for owners, consultants and other stakeholders. Saumil will also identify common gaps in current closeout practices and will propose approaches to address them.
Owners & Government Capital Programs
Eric Atandi is a Project Management Officer Manager at the City of Baltimore, Department of Public Works. Eric will present ‘Application of AI in Project Controls – A Case of Using AI Technologies in Baltimore City Department of Works (DPW) Projects’. Using 3 projects from a large portfolio as a limited AI study, Eric will reveal the results of Baltimore’s exploratory AI Study.
The study aimed to improve predictive forecasting, flag early warnings of delays and cost overruns and recommend corrective action based on past project behavior and historical data.
Dr Courtney O. Lackhard is a Retired Director of Project Controls for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Dr Courtney will present ‘Modernizing Construction Management in Capital Improvement Programs: Implementing an Integrated Phase-Gate Project Control Process.’
Dr Courtney will examine common root causes of process failure and outline a practical methodology for evaluating and improving existing organizational processes. By introducing an integrated phase-gate project controls process that modernizes construction management by aligning cost, schedule, risk and quality/claims management across the full project lifecycle, Dr Courtney will demonstrate how structured gate reviews can strengthen governance, improve decision-making and support design-to-budget and design-to-schedule outcomes.
Finally, Dr Courtney will present a practical framework for improving predictability, transparency and overall performance in capital improvement program delivery.
Project Controls Capability, Organization, Culture & Future Skills
Jacque Keats is Chief Operating Officer at SMA, Inc. Jacque will present ‘Integrated Program Controls 2.0’. Jacque will explain Digital Data Fabric, which is central to Integrated Performance Management (IPM) 2.0. Jacque will discuss the key benefits of IPM 2.0:
- Acting as an intelligent, connective backbone that unites formerly fragmented IT and OT systems.
- Allowing data to be analyzed where it resides without requiring physical duplication or continuous manual handoffs.
- Powering advanced analytics and AI engines so teams can transition from reacting to variances to predicting risk and automating processes.
- How the intelligent infrastructure layer replaces static reporting with real-time transparency and modernizes program management frameworks.
Rachel Jayne is the Founder of The Awakened School and a Conscious Leadership and Impact Strategist. Rachel will present ‘How to be Unshakeable When All Eyes Are on You: Conscious Leadership Under Pressure’.
Rachel will reveal that leaders are expected to communicate with clarity, inspire confidence and make high-stakes decisions under constant pressure; however, many professionals struggle with visibility anxiety, self-doubt and disconnection when the pressure is highest.
Drawing on conscious leadership principles, nervous system regulation and high-impact communication techniques, Rachel will share strategies for leading with authenticity while maintaining performance in demanding environments.
Dina Keirouz is President of Blue Stone Management. Dina will present ‘Project Controls Deserves a Seat at the University Table’. Dina will offer her insights on how project controls quietly saves every megaproject from itself. Still, with trillions flowing into infrastructure, chips, data centers and energy projects, the US is staffing programs with people with hand-me-down skills picked up between crisis meetings.
This is not a strategy. Dina believes, like the UK and Australia, it’s time for accredited university project controls programs, covering cost and schedule integration, risk quantification, AI literacy, commercial awareness and governance. AI won’t replace project controls professionals; it will free them.
Risk Resilience and Independent Assurance
Vidya Murugan is a Senior Risk Manager with Arcadis. Vidya will present ‘From Risk to Resilience: The Smart Path to Climate-Ready Project Delivery’. During this interactive stream, Vidya will reveal practical strategies for integrating climate risk into project controls and risk registers, empowering organizations to anticipate, adapt and thrive amid uncertainty.
Delegates can explore proven tools like climate scenario analysis, stakeholder engagement and real-world case studies to identify acute and chronic risks, enhance resilience and unlock value for their projects. Vidya will provide a step-by-step roadmap from Risk to Resilience.
Dathan Beasley is Director at Turner & Townsend.
Asma Lala is a Senior Consultant/Program Risk Manager for Turner & Townsend.
Dathan and Asma will present ‘Risk-Driven Project Controls: Why Risk Should Drive Forecast, Not Sit in a Register’. Dathan and Asma will reveal how Mega capital programs are delivered through complex contracting strategies, multiple stakeholders and accelerated schedules, which introduces significant uncertainty in cost and schedule outcomes.
Although risk registers are developed and workshops conducted, outputs often remain disconnected from cost forecasts, schedule updates and contingency management. Dathan and Asma, drawing on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) experience, will present a practical framework that connects risk identification, structured risk registers and periodic reviews with core project controls processes, including Cost & Schedule Risk Analysis (CSRA).
Registration Details
| Ticket Type | Access To | Price |
| Individual (build your package) | Expo (Day 1-3) | Starting from $319 |
| Basic Combo | Expo Day 2 and 3 | $599 |
| Premium Combo | Expo Day 1 (Workshop) Day 2 &3. | $1399 |
Corporate packages are available for 10+ delegates via email.
To register click here
Summary
Project Controls Expo USA is a huge global event, attracting delegates who want to engage in the latest technology & Innovation available, as well as 80 other topics. This event is for project professionals at any stage of their careers who want to learn about project controls, recognize the value of this discipline and understand its impact when used effectively.
Project Controls Expo is holding conferences around the world. Watch out for the UK version scheduled for November 2026.