Agenda 2026

08.00

Registration and networking

10.00

Keynote Address: The Future of Construction Productivity: GCC vs Global Benchmarks

This keynote compares construction productivity in the GCC against global benchmarks, examining where the region leads, where it lags, and why productivity gains have remained elusive worldwide. It explores the structural, technological, and workforce factors shaping performance—and what must change for the GCC to close the gap and set a new productivity baseline for large-scale, complex projects.

10.15

Keynote Panel: Execution at Complex Scale: Lessons from Industrial Construction Technologies

This session cuts to what worked in EPCC projects—off-site fabrication, digital workforce planning, BIM for industrial projects, supply chain digitisation and data-driven controls/scheduling—what didn’t, and which of these proven practices the wider construction sector can realistically adopt today.

Led by:

Benoît Meulewaeter

Director

Accuracy

In conversation with:

Amin Aljaber

Chief Information Officer

Nesma and Partners

 

Badr Burshaid

Director

Saudi Aramco

 

Erhan Cengiz

Director of Projects

National Infrastructure Construction Company (NICC)

 

Juland Al Busaidi

Head of Project Technical Service

OQEP

10.50

Panel: Executives in the Room: The Hard Truths Leaders Miss About Construction Tech

A candid, executive-level session addressing common misconceptions about the real capabilities and limits of BIM, AI, robotics, and automation. The discussion cuts through hype to clarify what these technologies can—and cannot—deliver, and what leadership decisions most directly determine success or failure in construction technology adoption.

Led by:

Cristina Savian

CEO and Founder

BE-WISE

11.20

Panel: Who Owns the Decision? Human-AI Collaboration in Construction

As AI enters construction workflows, the challenge is no longer adoption but decision ownership. Examine the limits of AI judgment—hallucination, bias, and “average outcome” behaviour—and how human–AI collaboration models can augment professionals, set clear guardrails, and keep humans accountable and in control.

Fabrizio Degni

AI Ethics and Data Governance Lead

Global Council for Responsible AI

Lionel Vuillemin

Vice President, Projects & Asset Management Transformation

DAMAC Properties

Moez Gharbi

Director of Digital Delivery & Operations

NEOM

Dr. Ozan Koseoglu

Global Head of BIM

Siemens

11.50

Solo Talk: Why Visibility Isn’t Control: The Hard Truth About Construction Technology

Construction organizations have more dashboards, reports, and tools than ever—yet projects remain reactive, margins unpredictable, and decisions delayed. This session explores why visibility alone doesn’t equal control, and what leaders must change in how financial, project, and execution data are connected to achieve real predictability and accountability on live projects.

Aisha Ali

President

Premier Construction Software

12.00

Networking Break

12.30

Panel: Data Before AI: Fixing the Foundations

AI fails without clean, connected data. Know how to prepare construction data for real AI use that delivers value by eliminating silos, moving toward a unified data lake and shifting from BIM models to true information management.

Aisha Ali

President

Premier Construction Software

Fady Sleiman

Group Chief Information and Digital Officer

Albawani

Dr. Himanshu Jindal

Head of Asset Management

Dar Al Riyadh

Thanos Papadimitriou

Chief Information Officer

Intermass Group

Reality Capture Case Study Series: Closing the Gap Between Site and Office

Real-world case studies show how LiDAR, 360 capture, drones, and AI are transforming progress tracking, QA/QC inspections, claims, and reporting, cutting decision cycles from days to hours. By connecting site activity directly to management systems, these tools improve visibility and close the long-standing gap between the site and the office.

13.00

Case Study 1:

 

Ammar M. Al Jamal

BIM Manager

Trojan Construction Group

13.10

Case Study 2:

 

Douglas Zuzic

Chief Digital Officer

Innova

AI Case Study Series: We Don’t Want Talk, Show Us What Worked: Where AI Delivers Value Today

A case-study-driven series cutting through AI hype to focus on real deployments with measurable results. Practical examples across HSE, contracts and claims, scheduling, progress tracking and more show how AI strategies were implemented, how business cases were built and what actually delivered value on live construction projects.

AI-Assisted Contract Review & Claims Analysis | AI for Construction Scheduling & Delay Prevention | AI-Driven Progress Tracking & Visual Documentation | AI in Procurement & Spend Optimization | AI for Equipment Utilization & Fuel Management | AI-Assisted Design Coordination & Change Tracking

13.30

Case Study 1:

Senior representative of Zepth Technologies

13.40

Case Study 2:

Senior representative of Zepth Technologies

 

Ramy Abdelwahab

Technology Hub & AI Solutions Director

NMDC Group

13.50

Case Study 3: AI for Supply Chain Risk Management: Prequalifying Subcontractors at Scale

 

Mohamed Atef

Regional Director

Modern Building Leaders

Onsite Robotics Case Study Series: When Does the Business Case Finally Work?

Examine where construction robotics delivers real value today. Grounded in GCC site conditions, they explore how robotics addresses summer heat, safety, productivity and manpower constraints and where the business case works when weighed against low-cost labour.

14.00

Inspection & monitoring robots

 

Khaled Alkhoujah

Manager, Technology Operational Excellence

Adnoc Group

Case Study 2:

14.30

Networking Lunch

15.30

Panel: Transforming Project Delivery Through AWP, BIM, and Digital Twins

Discover how Advanced Work Packaging (AWP), Building Information Modeling (BIM), and Digital Twins are reshaping project delivery—driving greater predictability, efficiency, and value across the construction lifecycle.

• Target
• Streicher
• Calik Enerji
• Técnicas Reunidas Initec

16.00

Panel: Stop Digitising Chaos: Closing the People-Process Gap

Adoption breaks down when organisations skip skills, mindset and change management, diving straight into tools without fixing processes first. Understand why automating a bad process only delivers bad results faster and what it takes to upskill site teams, supervisors and executives together to make transformation stick.

Dana Nahas

Corporate Engineering Director

Trojan Construction Group

Khalid Ababneh

Executive Director - Development & Projects

IMTIAZ Development

Shadi Al-Ghanim

Chief Technology Officer

Al Ayuni Investment And Contracting

16.30

Close of day 1

08.00

Registration and networking

10.00

Keynote: AI Ethics and Data Governance in Construction and the Built Environment

Fabrizio Degni

AI Ethics and Data Governance Lead

Global Council for Responsible AI

10.10

Panel: ESG, Net Zero and Delivery Reality

What ESG and net zero targets mean for design and operations—and how they translate into delivery on site. Explores how off-site manufacturing, material efficiency and design choices are being applied and what Dubai Decree 11 means in practice for developers and contractors moving from targets to execution.

Led by:

Deepthy K B

Senior Director MENA

Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI)

10.40

Dual Discussion: The Broken Adoption Model: Why Small and Medium Size Contractors Are Left Behind

Why Tier 2 and Tier 3 contractors struggle to adopt technology, how current business and contracting models exclude them, and what clients, Tier 1s, and authorities must change to avoid systemic failure.

11.00

Panel: Beyond Pilots: Scaling Modular and Off-Site Construction

Modular and off-site construction has proven its technical viability, yet mass deployment remains limited. Explore why modular has struggled to scale, what it takes to commercialise systems beyond pilot and how shifting from upfront cost comparisons to a total cost of ownership (TCO) view is key to unlocking adoption at scale.

 

Ajay Venu

Director Project Controls

Modon Real Estate

 

Mansour Faried

Chief Engineer

China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East

 

Mohamed Amer

Managing Director

ICC MENA

Offsite Case Study Series: Modular, Steel and Mixed Construction Systems in the GCC

These case studies highlight real-world deployments of modular and mixed construction where they outperform traditional methods on speed, quality, and delivery certainty and reveal what contractors must change—across design, sequencing and execution to scale modular construction successfully in the GCC.

Data-Driven Modular Delivery | Modular Construction: Speed, Efficiency & Quality at Scale in the GCC | Industrialised Construction for Giga-Projects: From Concept to Reality

11.30

Case Study 1: Moving Beyond Pilots — Modular Systems Approved by Authorities

 

Steve Day

Divisional Manager

Dutco Construction

11.40

Case Study 2: Modular + Lean Execution

 

Rahul Chiramana

Manager

Sobha Modular Industries OPC

12.00

Networking Break

12.30

Case Studies: Low-Carbon Materials & Circular Construction in the GCC

These case studies highlight how low-carbon materials and circular construction approaches in the GCC reduce cost and material waste on real projects—improving efficiency, cutting rework, and delivering measurable savings on site.

13.00

Panel: Dubai BIM Is Mandated— What the Industry Needs Next

BIM is mandatory, but value isn’t automatic. It is more than 3D and only works when Employer’s Information Requirements are defined upfront. As BIM expands from design through construction to FM, what must regulators adjust to protect downstream value and avoid BIM becoming a compliance exercise rather than a delivery tool.

 

Dr. Ali Ismail

BIM Expert

Dubai Municipality

13.30

Panel: Building the Golden Thread — Keeping Construction Data Alive Beyond Handover

Building a golden thread of data from project inception through delivery to FM is essential to prevent information loss at handover. Understand why most data dies at project close and what the industry must do to define the right data foundations from the start—and develop them consistently across the project lifecycle—to preserve long-term operational value.

 

Mohamed Ragheb

Senior Vice President

Azizi Developments

 

Omnia A. Abada

Chief Engineer

Road & Transport Authority, Dubai

 

Scott Beaver

Senior Director Digital Design and Delivery

Diriyah Company

BIM Case Study Series: From 3D Models to Project Control: Making 4D/5D BIM Real

BIM becomes a control tool—not just a model—when 4D planning and 5D cost visibility are unlocked. Moving beyond 3D reveals why models fail in isolation and how linking design to time and cost transforms sequencing, approvals, modular delivery and claims avoidance on complex projects.

4D BIM for Mega-Project Sequencing and Change Control | 4D BIM for Authority / Client Approvals and Constructability Sign-Off | 4D/5D BIM for Modular & Off-Site Manufacturing Integration | BIM for Small Contractors

14.00

Case Study 1: From Reality Capture to Cost Certainty: BIM Use Cases in Forecasting and Claims Prevention

 

Mahmoud Adly

Digital Engineering Director

Abu Dhabi City Municipality

14.10

Case Study 2:

 

Mahmoud Ali Salah

Chief Technical Office Engineer ‑ Civil

Hassan Allam Holding

14.20

Case Study 2: 4D BIM for Claims Avoidance Through Visual Evidence

 

Asim Rehmani

BIM Manager

Dubai Holding

14.30

Networking Lunch

15.30

Automation Case Study Series: What Scales and What Doesn’t

Construction automation that delivers value at scale. How automating approvals, scheduling, reporting, progress tracking and compliance to remove friction, outperform early robotics efforts and lay the foundation for meaningful AI adoption.

Process automation (digital workflows) | Planning & scheduling automation | Design & coordination automation | Equipment automation (not full robotics) | Monitoring & reporting automation

 

Moez Gharbi

Director of Digital Delivery & Operations

NEOM

16.00

The Connected Site Case Studies: IoT Sensors, Smart Helmets & Real-Time Tracking

Practical case studies showing how IoT sensors, smart helmets, and real-time tracking improve site safety, visibility, and productivity—focusing on tools that actually get used on site.

16.30

Case Studies: From Unskilled to Digitally Enabled

As digital tools and wearables reach the site, workforce readiness becomes the real bottleneck. This session looks at practical ways to upskill unskilled workers to use digital solutions and wearable devices, improving safety, productivity, and on-site adoption.

17.15

Close of day 2