AI and Data Analytics Interest Network Conference

🕐 08:00-09:15

Registration and networking

🕐 09:15-09:30

Welcome address

🞇 Mark Barnett, Head of Project Management, Weston College

🕐 09:30-10:15

Opening keynote

🞇 Mark Enzer OBE FREng, Strategic Advisor, Mott MacDonald

🕐 10:15-10:45

Are you ready for the Government Programme and Project Data Standard? 

🞇 Nina Ciuffardi, Programme Manager, Government Project Delivery, National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority
🞇 Ben Salisbury, Lead Business Analyst, National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority 

🕐 10:45-11:15

Refreshment break

🕐 11:15-12:00

Stream 1
Panel Session: Will AI take my job?

🞇 Irene Maposa, Senior IT Project Manager  🞇 Helen Argent, Senior Consultant, PA Consulting
🞇 Max Rice, Trainee Project Manager, Turner and Townsend  🞇 Diana Varvariha, Trainee Project Manager, Turner and Townsend

AI is changing the rules of work fast. So the real question isn’t whether your job is at risk. It’s whether you’re ready to evolve.

This session brings together project professionals of different levels of experience for an honest conversation about what AI really means for your career.

You’ll hear what employers want now, and why human skills still matter more than ever. We’ll cut through the noise, ditch the fear, and we'll focus on opportunity: how to work smarter with AI, build future-proof skills, and stay in control of your career. No hype. No scare stories. Just clarity, confidence, and practical insight for the next generation of work.

Stream 2
AI in action

🞇 Nermeen Latif, Technical Director - Project Controls and Digital Solutions Team, WSP UK Ltd
🞇 Dan Scott, Chief Data Scientist & AI Lead (UK&I), WSP UK Ltd

Adapting, Automating, and Advancing Project Delivery is about moving from awareness to capability and stepping forward with the skills, confidence and judgement required to lead in a rapidly evolving profession. Adopting AI in project management - prompt engineering.

🕐 12:00-12:45

Stream 1
Reimagining PMO services through intelligent automation

🞇 Martin Paver, CEO/Founder, Projecting Success

This session examines how PMO services can be reimagined through intelligent automation and AI-enabled tooling. Drawing on real-world use cases and hackathon examples, it showcases how modern PMOs can shift from administrative oversight to strategic insight, driving better outcomes and organisational agility.

Stream 2
Leading change in the age of AI

🞇 Donna Unitt, Lead, APM Enabling Change Interest Network  🞇 Mark Vincent, Director, Applied Change Ltd

AI isn’t just another tech upgrade it’s reshaping how we work and how we lead change. This fast-paced session dives into what truly sets AI disruption apart and how today’s leaders can ride the wave instead of being swept away by it.

We’ll explore how AI is redefining roles, reimagining workflows, and flipping business models on their head, and why the old playbook for change simply won’t cut it anymore.

Expect bold ideas, real-world examples, and practical takeaways for shifting mindsets, empowering teams, and transforming uncertainty into opportunity.

🕐 12:45-13:45

Lunch

🕐 13:45-14:30

Stream 1
Beyond the Hype: The 5 Data Skills Every Modern Project Leader Needs

🞇 Gareth Parkes, Head of Data & Analytics, Sir Robert McAlpine

We are told AI will change everything, but tools are only as good as the people using them. In an era of 'near real-time' data, why are so many projects still steered by guesswork and anecdote?

Gareth Parkes moves beyond the hype to introduce the APM Data Literacy Skills Framework - a practical toolkit for the modern project professional. In this interactive session, you will benchmark your own skills in real-time and witness the power of data-driven insight as we analyse the collective capability of the room.

Learn how to bridge the capability gap, move from information management to data-driven decisions, and lead the data revolution.

Stream 2
Data driven change - using analytics to drive adoption

🞇 Muriel Barre, Founder and Director, Nexgen Innovation Consulting Ltd  🞇 Donna Unitt, Lead, APM Enabling Change Interest Network

Successful change today is powered by insight. In this session we’ll explore how data and analytics can reveal who’s adopting, who’s struggling, and who is resisting and  what interventions will have the biggest impact.

You’ll discover how to turn dashboards into decisions, support your people, and take adoption from gut feel guesswork to predictable success.

🕐 14:30-15:15

Stream 1
Closing the gap - A practical framework for implementing Data Analytics in the project environment

 🞇 Robert Vale, Senior Director, Gleeds LLP  🞇 Yoshi Soornack, Associate Director, AI & Data, Gleeds LLP

This session reveals why most implementations fail and how we succeeded by navigating the goldilocks zone between oversimplification (shelfware that gets ignored) and overcomplication (governance committees that never ship). We'll share the hard-won lessons from scaling AI across a complex, multi-disciplinary construction consultancy—from cost management and project planning to risk assessment and commercial strategy. Read more about this session.

Stream 2
Own the interface or lose the project: Taking control of human-AI collaboration

🞇 Donnie MacNicol, Director, Team Animation Ltd  🞇 Peter Allen, Director, Prosilience Ltd

Are you using AI to accelerate your projects or is AI quietly reshaping how you think, decide, and lead? Based on pre-event survey insights from your fellow project managers, Peter and Donnie will reveal the hidden patterns in how PMs are actually using AI, where judgement is drifting, and what's at stake for you, your projects, and your organisation.

You'll leave with three critical questions to ask before your next AI-assisted decision and practical strategies to stay in control of what matters most. 

🕐 15:15-15:45

Refreshment break

🕐 15:45-16:30

Governance: Responsible AI. 
A Project Flux Live panel session

Moderators: 🞇 James Garner, Head of AI and Data, Gleeds LLP  🞇 Yoshi Soornack, Associate Director, AI & Data, Gleeds LLP

Panel: 🞇 Promise Akwaowo, Process Automation Analyst, Royal Mail Group  🞇 Dr Gloria Oliomogbe, Senior Lecturer, Coventry University
🞇 Isabela Parisio, Postdoctoral Research Associate, King's College London, Responsible AI UK  🞇 Guy Beaumont, Director, Digital Lead, Turner and Townsend

An exploration of how organisations can balance AI-driven automation with human judgment and accountability. This topic focuses on responsible AI governance, ensuring transparency, trust, and ethical decision-making while using automation to enhance rather than replace human intelligence in project and programme delivery.

🕐 16:30-16:45

Closing remarks

🞇 Irene Maposa, Senior IT Project Manager

🕐 16:45-17:15

Open networking