2024 FutureTech Agenda

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Booth Set-Up

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Registration Open

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Welcome Reception held on Flamingo Lawn

The opening night reception is the perfect opportunity to meet and mingle with attendees before the event officially kicks off on Tuesday morning. Pick up your badge, grab a beverage and enjoy some casual face-to-face conversations.

7:30 AM – 8:30 AM

Networking Breakfast
Exhibit Hall Open 7:30 AM - 6:30 PM

8:30 AM – 8:40 AM

Welcome Remarks

8:40 AM – 9:25 AM

Opening Keynote

Deconstructing AI to Improve Construction

AI can benefit construction in many ways, and it doesn't have to come at the expense of people and careers, says Jad Chalhoub, Rosendin Electric. This presentation will get into the hype, versus the reality of AI, with examples from other industries further along in putting it to work to show what's coming next for construction. The speakers will give examples of where and how Rosendin has chosen to employ AI, and where it has decided not to. This presentation takes aim at the evolving issues of implementing AI in construction, to help FutureTech attendees plan their own strategic implementation paths.

9:30 AM – 10:15 AM

Panel

Scaling Up for Construction Tech Innovation

The Bouygues Construction Group designs, builds and renovates buildings and infrastructure in 60 countries. It generated about $30 billion from construction in 2023, but its leaders know that continued success requires a pipeline of site-ready tech innovations. With the goal of speeding technology adoption in the industry, the company's Venture & Technology division has launched what it hopes will be an easier, faster and more effective way to test new solutions in real construction scenarios, without hindering worksites. It is building “ScaleOne,” an industrial-scale tech development and test center outside of Paris to host innovators and give them full-scale workspaces, equipment and construction site simulations to realistically challenge their wares. Bouygues' Aidan Halter, who leads the Ventures & Technology division, says ScaleOne will be a multi-partner facility, open to the entire industry, with the goal of helping innovations mature more rapidly by bringing together all the players involved, including start-ups, academic centers, suppliers and field operators — to raise the tide of construction innovation and lift all boats. Halter will brief us on the progress and then our panelists, Mateo Zimmerman, Investment Manager at Cemex Ventures and Aaron Toppston, Managing Partner, GS Futures, will weigh in on the question of whether construction company-sponsored centers like this ought to be a model to scale up, standardize and proliferate.

10:15 AM – 10:45 AM

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

10:45 AM – 11:15 AM

Keynote

Abolishing the Rule-of-Thumb

Builders have always relied on experience and assumptions to estimate how long construction should take — mainly because the cost of collecting detailed production data has been so high. But that is changing with the integration of schedules, 3D modeling and 360º images captured during jobwalks to track quantities of work put in place, by scope, and AI. After piloting a few projects using a system from Doxel to draw intelligence from the floods of data, DPR has scaled up to track 2 million sq. ft. of active work across healthcare, data centers, life science, and manufacturing facilities in the U.S. "We're able to measure things we've never been able to measure economically," says scheduler Adam Frandson. The data has enhanced DPR's understanding of how fast it builds across various geographies and building types, while creating a data foundation for future application of artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and machine vision to quantify risk and deliver more predictable results. "That's why this is such a breakthrough," Frandson adds. The DPR team will share their experience, lessons learned, and plans for the future.

11:20 AM – 11:40 AM

Presentation

Strengthening Your Digital Backbone

Growth requires composition of the essentials – Easy to say, hard to do. Composability is not a nice to have, and neither is it optional in any business transformation project. When you think of construction companies’ business challenges – low profit margins / productivity / supply chain disruption, lack of skilled labor to name a few. It is little wonder that the appetite for any change, let alone business transformation level change, results in most people running for cover. Construction businesses, like any other business, must adapt in order to grow and flourish whilst at the same time maintaining a level of agility is an essential part of the process.

Chris Knight
Global Industry Director – Construction & Engineering, IFS
Kristin Harkins
Enterprise Accounts-Construction & Engineering, IFS

11:50 AM – 12:30 PM

Breakout Session 1

AI is Changing Risk Mitigation

A construction company's success rides on its ability to secure fair contracts and comply with them — which sounds like it should be a simple task, yet accomplishing it reliably is anything but. Correctly evaluating a construction contract requires a nuanced understanding of the risks that may be hidden in tangles of clauses and phrases spread across voluminous pages. And maintaining compliance often requires the delivery of fast analysis and quick counsel under intense pressure. Our panelists live these challenges every day, and now, they say they have a remarkable AI-solution with a sharp eye for spotting risks hiding in the thickest word jungles imaginable. Join us as Jeff Brannen, Chief Legal Officer at Balfour Beatty and Cutler Knupp, Director of Strategy & Technology Investment at Haskell, sit down with Trent Miskelly, the Chief Operating Officer who is leading the strategy, execution, and growth of Document Crunch —a company which was founded to address this challenge — as they explain and demonstrate how their AI-assisted creation is flagging risks and delivering fast guidance to help resolve to thorny contract questions in real time, anywhere, from the back office to the job site, and providing Brannen and Knupp's project teams with insights they need to make correct decisions throughout lifecycle, from initial negotiations to closeout.

11:50 AM – 12:30 PM

Breakout Session 2

The Revised U.S. National BIM Standard: What, Why, and How to Use It

The recently released U.S. National BIM Standard Version 4 takes an agile and modular approach and has significant updates and features. It is the first version of NBIMS-US to include language that can easily be referenced as individual sections in contracts, with new sections on Project BIM Requirements and defining BIM Uses, as well as updates to the Project BIM Execution Planning section, and an updated release of COBie. It also includes new resources such as guidelines, user templates, and information exchanges to support implementation. The Executive Director of NIBS's U.S. National BIM Program will walk us through the updates and tell us what they will mean to working with BIM.

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

Networking Lunch in Exhibit Hall

1:30 PM – 2:10 PM

Breakout Session 3

Seeking Out Innovative Equipment for Safer Jobsites

Improving safety on the jobsite is sometimes more a matter of securing greater acceptance for new and innovative technologies than developing unusual tech. In this session we'll explore three use cases in lifting, site access and pressure-testing that all seek to reduce the exposure of workers to threats of harm. Some of these technologies are new, others are simply new to the U.S. market, but we'll hear from three contractors who are making their sites safer through sensible applications of technology.

1:30 PM – 2:10 PM

Breakout Session 4

Automating Estimating and the Preconstruction AI Challenge

Preconstruction and estimating are some of the most time-consuming tasks in design and engineering, and an obvious target for AI-supported automation. Togal.AI uses artificial intelligence to automate much of the design detailing and code compliance of bid design documents, while Ediphi offers a cloud-based space to intelligently assess the costs and constructability of preconstruction plans. Our panelists will explore how the early stages of construction are rapidly changing thanks to emerging technologies.

2:20 PM – 3:00 PM

Breakout Session 5

Accelerating Transportation Infrastructure with AI and Big Data

With a massive influx of investment and spending on horizontal infrastructure in the U.S. today, it can be hard to know where to start with these sprawling projects. Getting the right data up front to know existing conditions can be a daunting, time-consuming task, but tech firms are stepping up with AI and data-driven approaches to map existing conditions, locate and flag unknown subsurface conditions, and keep designers and contractors informed about the state of existing infrastructure. 4M Analytics will walk through its use of AI to make accurate guesses on the location of unknown buried utilities, while OnStation offers a distributed data-collection approach for gaining intelligence on the state of transportation infrastructure.

2:20 PM – 3:00 PM

Breakout Session 6

AR Gets Real

BNBuilders has hit on a highly productive technique for using Augmented Reality for layout and construction. It implemented the method on a recent job in Seattle when one of its teams laid out and assembled an intricate ceiling structure for a 700,000 sq ft laboratory complex in a high seismic zone — with all placement guided solely by 3D digital models and AR. They installed thousands of seismic restraint hangers and cables, directed by a "conductor" and laser. The result was a huge time savings, greater accuracy and more efficient use of resources. Jake Boyd, BNBuilders' Innovation Manager, sees the highly successful outcome as a breakthrough and is eagerly casting about for what's next. He will share his ideas and experience.

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

3:30 PM – 4:15 PM

Panel

Building Tomorrow: AI Is Revolutionizing Construction Across the Globe

This panel, which includes a mix of construction, data and AI experts, will not only speak about the construction industry but also other industries using innovative technology across their data-driven journeys into the future as well. Our speakers will delve into the symbiotic relationship between Artificial Intelligence and the construction industry, debunking fears and unveiling the potential for collaboration as they explore real-world applications and futuristic considerations surrounding the integration of AI into construction. It's time to shift the perspective from viewing AI as a threat, to understanding it as an ally, leading the construction sector into a new era of development and global progress.

4:20 PM – 4:50 PM

Demonstration

Reinventing the Ladder: Stepping Up Smartly

Session description: Otto Tech Systems has developed the patented technology to create the world’s first smart ladder system to enhance the safety culture on worksites and provide groundbreaking insights to workers, supervisors and managers. The smart ladder provides real-time risk alerts to workers so they can take immediate action to avoid accidents, and it sends text messages to supervisors of persistent or serious undesired worker behavior to allow for intervention. At the same time, the system collects data from every usage to create insights that let management make actionable decisions in the areas of safety, risk management, claims processing, fraud detection, project management, and more. In this presentation, Otto Tech will demonstrate the full system: the ladder — including the behaviors it classifies and the audible alerts, the mobile app — which provides individual safety information and targeted re-training, and a client portal – which illustrates the various levels of information available to stakeholders. Otto Tech also will present extensive real-world data and insights gathered from numerous field trials on construction sites, including a 20-week pilot completed on 12/1/2023 in New York City in partnership with Structure Tone. The Smart Ladder is poised for commercial launch in early Q3 2024.

4:50 PM – 5:10 PM

Presentation

Digging into the Future: How Augmented Reality is Revolutionizing Underground Utility Avoidance

Tired of buried surprises that turn into costly headaches? Imagine a world where excavation is predictable, safe, and free from accidental utility strikes. Imagine doing this all inside your same field project management solution and NOT having to be a survey expert at all! This isn't a pipe dream – it's the reality with Augmented Reality (AR) revolutionizing underground utility avoidance. Join Jovan Petrovic of Whiting-Turner and Jason Pelkey of Smartapp.com to discover how this innovative technology brings survey-grade accuracy to your fingertips, transforming how you locate and visualize hidden infrastructure.

Jovan Petrovic
Vice President at The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Jason Pelkey
Vice President of Client Solutions & Delivery, Smartapp.com

5:10 PM – 5:15 PM

Closing Remarks

5:15 PM – 6:30 PM

Networking Reception in Exhibit Hall

7:30 AM – 8:30 AM

Networking Breakfast
Exhibit Hall Open 7:30 AM - 1:30 PM

8:30 AM – 8:40 AM

Welcome Remarks

8:45 AM – 9:15 AM

Keynote

AI Becomes a Powerful Disruption Force for Construction Safety

On any given work day, concrete placement contractor Joseph J. Albanese's 550-person workforce is scattered across about 70 jobsites in the San Francisco Bay area. Each crew begins the day by setting up for safety and performance with brief talks to discuss the day's tasks and hazards. About three years ago, John Messing, Executive Safety Director at Albanese, recognized a glaring weakness in that process, which was that what was being said was not always comprehended, and all to often, that led to mistakes, and even injuries. That's when Messing met Barry Nelson, President and CEO of FactorLabs, who was applying research into effective communications and AI to define the differences between talking and being understood. Messing started by having one person in every jobtalk record a cellphone video, which are fed into FactorLab's analysis engine to compare the words spoken, to the day's outcomes. It looks for safety talk approaches that work, vs those that don't, and Messing has started training managers accordingly. Now, two-and-a-half-years and 300,000 recordings later, the insights have proven to be significant and training remedies effective in reducing the rate of high severity incidents. Messing will share how engaging AI solutions over the past three years has improved the daily planning process and empowered crews, resulting in a double digit reduction in the severity of work injury and potentially serious incidents.

9:20 AM – 10:00 AM

Panel

Applying Advanced Design Tech to Solving the Office-to-Residential Conversion Conundrum

Pressure is growing to find a way to rebalance the nation's commercial building stock by repurposing surplus office buildings — which are in vast oversupply — into sorely needed residential facilities, without having to tear down and start over. The problem is that most office buildings are not easily adaptable into residential ones due to hard-wired constraints, such as a general lack of interior access to natural light, and significant plumbing restrictions. Designers and engineers all over the country are approaching the challenge on a building-by-building basis, relying on their individual experiences and creativity to discover new solutions that can economically salvage and repurpose the good bones of yesterday's construction. This might be a perfect challenge for the application of AI, if it can feast on a large enough set of designs and solutions to begin to find the patterns and economical techniques for turning out silk purses from sow's ears. Our panelists will discuss how this is starting to be done.

10:00 AM – 10:30 AM

Networking Break in Exhibit Hall

10:30 AM – 11:00 AM

Keynote

The Dodge Perspective

Dodge Construction Network is a recognized leader in forecasting the construction economy and conducting cutting-edge research on the adoption, value and challenges of technology usage by contractors, owners and designers. Steve Jones, Senior Director of Industry Insights Research for Dodge will share highlights of Dodge’s forecasts for the construction economy and recent research findings on the digital transformation of the industry.

11:05 AM – 11:50 AM

Panel

Different Strokes for Different Folks: Digital Transformation Journeys for Successful Asset Programs

Digital Transformation can mean so many things to so many organizations. There is no clearly defined path to follow in order to successfully manage your capital programs and the assets they produce. You all have different requirements. It starts with a plan. From this panel discussion, moderated by Steve Jones (Dodge Construction Network - Sr Director of Industry Insights Research), you will hear from Rick Niederstadt (Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District - Capital Program Support Manager) as well as technology experts Joe Poskie (Trimble - Director of Connected Workflows) and Nick Caravella (Avicado Construction Technology Services - Director of Thought Leadership). The panel will explore the trials and tribulations that have led their organizations and those they have worked with to successful outcomes, driving down construction costs and overall total cost of ownership of asset portfolios.

11:55 AM – 12:35 PM

Keynote

Just One More Question: AI Agents and the new RFI

Getting the right bit of information when you need it on the jobsite can be a more challenging task than it seems. Trying to avoid new RFIs by finding key details in project documents is a time-consuming process, and Trunk Tools has a new, AI-driven approach to speed things up. Already able to digest massive amounts of text from project documents and respond promptly to natural language questions about a project, the latest iteration of the TrunkText system can now answer questions about complex 2D drawings without additional annotations. Sarah Buchner of Trunk Tools will walk through how this system is changing how key questions get answered quickly on the site.

12:35 PM – 1:30 PM

Networking Lunch in Exhibit Hall

1:30 PM – 2:15 PM

Panel

Partnering with Robotics Startups on Today's Jobsite

Robots and other automated tools are ready to work on construction sites, but the best practices for integrating them into work crews and jobsite processes are still not widely known. Hear from robotics startups and investors behind them on their success stories as well as the hard lessons learned in getting the most out of robots on the jobsite. Brick & Mortar Ventures will explore how robotics startups KEWAZO and Raise Robotics found their footing in construction, while equipment automation startup Built Robotics details how its product has evolved to meet the needs of contractors in the field.

2:20 PM – 3:00 PM

Closing Keynote

Revolutionizing Information Management in AECO: Generative AI and the Creation of Knowledge Twins

In the ever-evolving landscape of Generative AI and large language models (LLMs), the concept of Knowledge Twins has emerged as a groundbreaking approach in information management and retrieval. This talk presents a revolutionary method to replicate, process and utilize vast private and public data pools effectively to drive business outcomes by providing human-like answers. This session will feature a hands-on use-case with Shop Architects about design and construction data from a signature New York City building, together with live demo and analysis of realized business value.