Project Controls Expo 2025 will be held from October 6-8 at the Nationals Park, Washington, DC. Project Controls Expo is a huge event that attracts over 1,000 delegates and features more than 80 industry professionals presenting on 40 topics. This event is for any project professional at any stage of their career who wants to learn and celebrate project controls, recognizing the value of this discipline and its impact when used effectively.
Project Controls Expo is offering an Introductory Activity Day on October 6 with the option to attend a workshop, followed by full conference days on October 7 and 8. There will be Keynote Speakers and an abundance of tracks.
Workshop October 6
H. Lance Stephenson will conduct a workshop from 10 am to 6 pm on ‘Successfully Managing Mega Programs in Today’s Competitive Environment.’ The workshop will cover the following 7 sessions:
- Understanding Mega Programs
- Stakeholder Engagement and Management
- Strategic Planning for Mega Programs
- Risk Management in Mega Programs
- Project Delivery Models and Contract Strategies
- Execution Strategies for Mega Projects
- Change Management and Adaptive Strategies
Key Note Speakers
Opening Keynote
Anne Alvarado is Senior Manager of Project Controls at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Anne will offer her insights on the project control processes, tools and systems that have been introduced at MBTA and delivered across various portfolio teams. Anne will also reveal how project controls feature when setting policies for the benefit of private finance to provide public infrastructure, assets and services.
Keynote Panel Discussion
Nicholas Johnson Chief Evangelist, Kahua
David Dwyer Gateway Development Commission – Hudson Tunnel Project
Kim Holtz, Rivian
Together Nicholas, David and Kim will form an interactive panel discussion on ‘Best Practices for Mega Projects.’
Nicholas, David and Kim will discuss how they focus on excellent solutions, managing the lifecycle of assets, from planning and procurement to maintenance and disposal. How they leveraging advanced technologies, and implementing best practices driving continuous improvement, sustainability, and innovation.
Closing keynote
Eric Atandi Engineer Supervisor City of Baltimore Department of Public Works. Eric will offer an anecdotal keynote address discussing how with a combination of analytical skills, process and project controls he is able to meet environmental compliance in water treatment and water quality.
Tracks, Tracks, Tracks
With the vast number of tracks available, Project Controls Expo has categorized them into zones (Master Class, Innovations, Megaprojects, AI in Project Controls, Government & End Users, and Case Studies) around Nationals Park, helping delegates to find their areas of interest easily.
Master Class Zone
Brian Leach, Founder and CEO of Steelray, will present ‘Analysing Critical Path Changes: Causes and Detection Methods.’ Brain will explain that scheduling tools are used mainly to calculate the critical and longest paths, which are essential for projecting the project completion date and identifying activities with minimal schedule float. Reviews on the schedule that assess the project’s health identify whether
the critical path has shifted and, if so, determine the root cause. Brian will reveal the primary drivers of critical path changes and the analytical techniques used to detect them. Finally, Brian will offer his insights on the value of adding these methods into routine schedule assessments to enhance the precision and value of project reviews.
Innovations Zone
Gui Ponce de Lyon CEO Emeritus PMA Consultants LLC. Gui will present ‘The Integrated Delay Theory’ Gui will discuss how in scheduling practice, when a delay is knowingly occurring, the existing schedule is used to predict the impact on completion, even though it is not reasonable to consider a scheduled early finish date as a quality prediction of when the project will be completed. If the delay remains unresolved and the late
completion is actualized. Gui will explain In this case, the predictive schedules, rather than the fully progressed update (FPU), are reused in post-completion delay analysis. This incongruity relies on predictions based on what was supposed to happen, which are unnecessary and off-base, as the factual durations, dates, and totals are available from the FPU. The absence of delay analysis methods using the FPU has stymied the development of delay theories that consider the algorithmic properties of FPUs and the limited predictive value of schedules. Gui will reveal that The Integrated Delay Theory (IDT) advances current art by looking at both the forensic properties and causal modelling properties of the graphical path method (GPM) schedules.
Sahard Mathur, Vice President, Director of Controls APSI Construction Management, Inc. will present ‘Transforming Project Scheduling in the field with AI-Powered Agents.’ Sahard will explain how construction projects are becoming more complex with project teams facing growing pressure to deliver with greater speed, accuracy, and adaptability—often with fewer experienced schedulers. Sahard will showcase how AI-
powered agents are transforming project scheduling by making advanced insights, updates, and risk analysis accessible to anyone on the team using natural language; from mobile devices in the field to desktops in the office. Sahard will demonstrate some of the key advantages, using AI powered agents:
- Self-serve schedule analysis that enables Project Managers, and owners to reduce their dependency on schedulers while increasing transparency and efficiency.
- Real-time progress tracking tools that streamline coordination between field and office staff.
- Conversational risk modelling that simplifies Monte Carlo simulations and ‘what-if’ analysis, helping teams proactively address schedule threats, without technical expertise.
- Natural language search capabilities that allow teams to query project documents like specs, RFIs, and submittals instantly.
Megaprojects Zone
Akin Oni, CEO of Eftex Group, will present ‘The Trust Capital of Megaprojects: Leadership, Integrity, and the Unseen Forces Behind Project Success – Building the Ethical Foundations of a High-Stakes Delivery Culture.’ Akin, using case studies, will reveal how great leaders navigate ambiguity and rally fractured teams whilst upholding values under pressure. Akin will discuss three key factors on how ethical leadership, transparency,
stakeholder trust, and cultural intelligence make the difference when the numbers and schedules don’t add up:
- The Role of Trust and Ethical Leadership in Enabling High-Performance Megaproject Cultures.
- How even minor lapses in integrity can lead to cascading failures across project systems and stakeholder relationships.
- Practical leadership behaviours and frameworks for building trust capital across diverse project environments and global teams.
Barrett Richards, Project Director Turner & Townsend will present ‘Using Project Controls to Mitigate Disputes and Claims in Mega-Construction Programs.’ Barrett will explain how Mega- construction programs with their immense scale, complexity, and multiple stakeholders, often face significant challenges which can lead to disputes and claims. Barrett will reveal that with the effective implementation of project controls
plays a crucial role in mitigating risks, leading to project stability, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders. Barrett will discus how key project control functions; such as scope management, schedule tracking, cost monitoring, and risk mitigation—offer structured approaches to identifying potential issues early and preventing costly conflicts. Finally, Barrett will provide practical insights and actionable strategies for industry professionals who want to strengthen their approach to dispute mitigation, fostering a more collaborative and efficient project execution process.
AI in Project Controls Zone
Dathan Beasley, Director of Turner & Townsend, will present ‘Consultancy in the Age of AI: Still Thinking, Just Faster.’ Dathan will offer his insights on how responsible AI integration can transform good consultants into extraordinary problem-solvers. Dathan will reveal how project professionals can gain actionable insights into AI’s practical applications and learning methods to enhance operational effectiveness and
productivity. Clients can discover how forward-thinking vendors are developing sophisticated AI-driven service models to maximize return on investment, and contractors will receive perspectives on emerging professional methodologies that leverage cutting-edge technology.
Nelson Rosa Senior Manager, Capital Projects Group Quality Management, Metrolinx. Nelson will present ‘Unlocking Continual Improvement with Artificial Intelligence: From Lessons Logged to Lessons Leveraged.’ Nelson will reveal how AI can do more with less to drive continual improvement through the Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom (DIKW) pyramid, ultimately progressing organizational maturity and
effectiveness. Nelson will discuss three key AI capabilities:
- Challenging project uniqueness bias by identifying related lessons learned, both from within the organization and the globe. Connect siloed initiatives by sharing across programs and portfolios, preventing duplication, eliminating wasted effort and resources and accelerating learning.
- Clustering related incidents to generate single continual improvement actions that address systemic root causes, not just casual symptoms.
- Transform raw data into contextualized, actionable knowledge. Enhance organizational maturity and operational effectiveness. Quantify the Net Return on Investment (ROI) of continual improvement initiatives to prioritize resources by surfacing systemic risks and opportunities across projects, programs, and portfolios.
Finally, Nelson will demystify AI—clarifying what it can and cannot do—and answer the question on everyone’s mind: Will AI replace the Project Controls function and professionals?
Government & End-Users Zone
Kaveh Hooshvar, Corporate Manager for Project Controls Marathon Petroleum, will present ‘Navigating Change: Hot Topics & Emerging Trends in Project Controls for Industrial Projects.’ Kaveh will explain how the industry is facing evolving economic pressures, digital transformation, and heightened sustainability expectations; therefore, project control professionals must adapt to maintain efficiency and precision.
Kaveh will discuss three hot topics:
- The inclusion of integration of digital tools and data analytics to enhance decision-making, the adoption of agile methodologies to increase flexibility, and strategies for managing cost escalation and inflation.
- The growing importance of sustainability in project planning, as well as the impact of remote and hybrid work environments.
- The critical need for cybersecurity in data management.
By examining these hot topics, Kaveh will provide practical insights and forward-thinking strategies to help industry leaders and project control practitioners navigate change and drive project success in today’s industrial markets.
Olia Carpova Director, Operational Excellence ALTO. will present ‘From Mega Mess to Mega Success: An Innovative Approach to How Project Controls Drives Delivery Through Effective Operating Models.’ ’Olia will reveal how Operating Models that are purpose-built to deliver on the scale and complexity of mega projects can prevent delays, overspending and technical issues. Olia will explain what an Operating
Model is: a blueprint for how an organization operates, defining its structure, functions, processes, systems, governance, and data flows. For mega infrastructure projects that involve billions of dollars, multiple jurisdictions, and long timelines, the operating model becomes the backbone that holds everything together. Olia will reveal lessons learned from building Operating models for each phase of the mega project and how this function is becoming more of a capability within an organization, as opposed to being led by outside contractors. Finally, Olia will discuss how, by embedding its design and execution within Project Controls, this discipline has the power not just to report on progress but to shape how complex projects are delivered.
Technology Zone
Eric Costantino, Vice President of CMC Project Solutions, will present ‘From Data Chaos to Clarity: How Owners Can Unlock the Full Value of Project Controls.’ Eric will explain, using real cases, how CMC produce strategies to simplify complex systems to help organizations gain value from the tools they already use; companies where system confusion existed, and CMC was able to streamline and gain clarity for the use of P6,
Unifier, and Power BI. He will discuss how, with the involvement of stakeholders, meaningful KPIs are developed. Eric will offer examples of high-impact dashboards used by decision-makers and provide tips for defining and tracking KPIs across multiple systems, offering a roadmap for owners to join project controls.
Case Studies Zone
Neeraj Garg, CEO of Frontrol, Inc., will present ‘Setting the Pace for Project Success.’ Using AECOM as a case study, Neeraj will reveal how they built a platform for their project delivery organizations to manage their projects. With 4 key challenges highlighted by AECOM of:
- Single platform for all project functions.
- Built-in real-time reporting for projects and operations managers
- Built in training to enable quick user adoption with enforcement of organization standards and processes
- Ease of use and performance, along with scalability for a high volume (45k+) of small to very large projects
Neeraj will discuss how they met these challenges and delivered ‘Workbench’, an all in one application for AECOMs project delivery organization.
Registration Details
| Type of Ticket | Price |
| Day 1 Workshop | $995.00 |
| Day 2 & 3 | $ 750.00 |
| Activity Day and Day 2 & 3 | $1200.00 |
To register for this event click here
Summary
Project Controls Expo has something for everyone interested in project controls, with over 100 tracks to choose from. The Keynotes are designed to entertain as well as being inspiring.
Project Controls Expo is the largest conference that celebrates project controls and its’ global success incorporates five other countries around the world.
Watch out for the UK Expo in November.