BIM SMART Summit Event

Thursday, April 9, 2026, at the Marriott, Hollywood Beach, FL

7:30am check-in.  8:00am to 5:00pm event program. 

Lunch and snacks will be provided 

Sessions still being Finalized.

Opening Session: 8:00am - 8:30am 

BIM, VDC, AI. From Talk to Tangible Outcomes

Why This Matters: Digital delivery often fails not because of technology, but because it was never funded, scoped, or procured correctly.

Speaker: Cindy Baldwin – President VDCO Tech & VDCO Data. Chair, buildingSMART USA Airport Workgroup

Session 1: 8:30am - 9:30am 

Real World AI Use Cases. Massport's (Boston Logan Airport / Port of Boston) Digital Twin Roadmap

Why This Matters: AI is everywhere — but governance, liability, and trust still matter. This session cuts through hype and focuses on deployed use cases.

Speaker: Scott Yates, Chief Data and AI Officer, VDCO Data

Speaker:  Michael Salvato, Managing Partner, InfraRE Partners

Session 2: 9:30am - 10:30am 

Port of Seattle's Pier 69. An Owners Intent and the LeapThought value add. 

Why This Matters: Owners are increasingly digitizing facilities with long-term operational goals in mind. This session explains why Pier 69 was digitized, how an AI pilot was used to validate potential value, and why open, trustworthy data is essential for scaling insight beyond a single building. 

Speaker: Ratnakar Garikipati, LeapThought Group 

Speaker: Jeffrey Avina, LeapThought North America

Speaker: Liliana Martinez, Senior Manager Design Technology, Port of Seattle

Break 10:30am - 10:50am - Sponsored by The Weitz Company

Session 3: 11:00am - 12noon 

Broward County Aligns BIM Standard to NBIMS v4. New BEP and Digital Standards. An Owners Reality

Why This Matters: Owners continue to mandate BIM, but contracts and execution rarely align. This session discusses new requirements and exposes where policy breaks down in practice and what owners are doing about it.

Speaker: Jeff Thompson - Assistant Director, Broward County Construction Management Division

Speaker: Derek Carroll, Vice President Technology and Innovation, VDCO Tech

Networking Lunch 12 noon - 12:45pm - Sponsored by Solibri

Session 4: 12:45pm - 1:45pm 

Digital to Physical: Software Capabilities vs. the Practitioners Reality

Why This Matters: Tools don’t scale. People do. This session highlights the gap between what software platforms can do and how models are actually created, reviewed, and trusted in the field.

Speaker: Jason Reichel, Solibri

Speaker: Autodesk DDS CADD

Session 5: 1:45pm - 2:45pm 

Where BIM / VDC Process Break

Why This Matters: Most BIM and VDC failures are not technical — they are process, contract, and responsibility failures. This session surfaces where workflows break down across design, construction, and operations.

Speaker: Brian Skripac, Director of VDC, Design Build Institute of America

Speaker: Sean Doyle, Director of Integrated Design, BOND Building Construction Inc. 

Break 2:45pm - 3:00pm - Sponsored by The Weitz Company 

Session 6: 3:00pm - 3:45pm 

"What AI Can (and Can't) Automate in BIM Today"

Why This Matters
The industry often assumes AI will replace complex human workflows, but most BIM and VDC tasks fail automation due to ambiguity, judgement and poor inputs. This session explores where AI genuinely adds value today, where it breaks down and what still requires human intelligence.

Speaker:  Keshav Sharma, Co-Founder Augrade

Speaker: Chris Harmon, Digital Director, Transportation and Infrastructure, WSP

Session 7: 3:45pm - 4:45pm 

“The Dimension Dilemma: How an Owner is Breaking Old Habits to Build Trust in BIM”

Why This Matters
BIM fails when owners cannot trust the dimensions and data driving design, fabrication, and construction decisions. This session shares how Mars is moving away from fragmented workflows built on email chains and spreadsheets toward a connected, data-driven approach that improves verification, field alignment, and accountability across architects, consultants, contractors, and trades—laying the groundwork for reliable, lifecycle-ready facility data.

Speaker: Aaron Lepley, VDC & Digital Delivery Technical Lead, Mars

Speaker: Steve Cline, VDC & Digital Delivery Technical Lead, Mars
 

Closing Session: 4:45pm - 5:00pm 

Reality Loop Report - Closing Session

Why This Matters: This closing session synthesizes the day’s lessons and previews how human insight — supported by AI agents — becomes actionable industry guidance.

Speaker: Humans in the Loop & AI Agent Generated

(Speakers may not be presenting in the order that they appear.)