Explore the Agenda
7:30 am Check-In & Networking
8:30 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Scheduling in the Age of AI
8:40 am Leadership Forum: Rethinking the Role of the Scheduler as AI Transforms Schedule Development, Analysis & Execution
- Exploring how AI is beginning to change schedule creation, optimization, monitoring, and reporting
- Understanding where AI can augment scheduler judgement without replacing construction knowledge
- Preparing schedulers to upskill and adapt as scheduling technology evolves rapidly
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a clearer view of where AI is genuinely changing the scheduling function, what remains dependent on human judgement, and how their role needs to evolve
9:20 am AI Use Case Exchange: Applying Agentic AI to Reduce Reporting Burden, Identify Risk & Improve Scheduling Efficiency
- Building better scheduling prompts to interrogate updates, meeting notes, reports, and schedule data
- Using AI agents to simplify complex information, support analysis, and surface relevant actions faster
- Identifying practical use cases for reducing manual reporting, spotting schedule impacts, and improving risk visibility
Practical Takeaway: Attendees will leave with practical insight into how peers are experimenting with prompts, AI agents, and automation in real scheduling workflows, giving them ideas they can take back to their own firms to save time, surface risk earlier, and improve schedule decision-making.
10:00 am Morning Refreshments & Speed Networking
Strategic Scheduling & Risk Control
Modernizing Schedule Intelligence
11:00 am Panel: Navigating the Shift from Legacy Scheduling Systems to Integrated Platforms Without Losing Control
- Assessing what teams need from new platforms beyond cost, including usability, data access, and CPM capability
- Managing system transitions without creating duplicated workflows, disconnected data, or extra reporting burden
- Aligning all stakeholders around implementation, governance, and adoption
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a checklist for evaluating and transitioning scheduling systems without compromising schedule quality, visibility, or team adoption
11:40 am Driving the Right Level of Detail on Mega Project Schedules to Improve Accountability, Update Accuracy & Execution Control
- Defining the appropriate level of schedule detail for large, complex projects instead of relying on broad activities that leave coordination to the field
- Challenging industry norms around monthly updates by showing how shorter progress windows improve accuracy, field input, and decision-making
- Maintaining schedule quality under increasing complexity by updating more frequently, measuring against the plan, and addressing recovery needs before issues compound
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a clearer approach for building and maintaining mega project schedules that are detailed enough to support execution, frequent enough to stay accurate, and structured enough to hold teams accountabl
Field Execution & Delivery Alignment
Strengthening Field Alignment
11:00 am Securing Superintendent Buy-In to Turn the Schedule into a Shared Planning & Accountability Tool
- Exploring how schedulers are shifting superintendents from passive input to active ownership of the schedule
- Sharing real project examples of what built trust, what created resistance, and how teams worked through it
- Understanding how superintendent buy-in strengthens team alignment, trade accountability, and schedule reliability
Practical Takeaway: Leave with practical lessons from schedulers and superintendents on how to build genuine field ownership of the schedule, rather than relying on updates that teams do not fully trust or use
11:40 am Panel: Improving Field Communication to Build Trust & Increase Schedule Accuracy
- Building trust project teams by moving beyond oneway updates and creating more collaborative schedule conversations
- Translating schedule information into clearer, more visual, and more usable formats that field teams are more likely to engage with
- Improving update cadence, site presence, and communication workflows to capture more accurate field input and reduce disconnects
Practical Takeaway: Leave with practical ways to make schedule communication more useful for field teams, improving trust, update quality, and alignment between what is planned and what is happening on site
12:10 pm Lunch Break
Strategic Scheduling & Risk Control
From Pre-Con to Closeout
1:10 pm Building More Realistic Pre-Construction Schedules to Improve Early Planning
- Developing pre-construction schedules that move beyond assumptions by incorporating clearer logic and checks earlier
- Engaging superintendents, project teams, and trade partners before mobilization to strengthen buy-in and improve schedule accuracy
- Evolving early pre-con schedules into construction-ready plans with fewer major changes once work begins on site
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a clearer approach for turning early drawing information and project assumptions into a more realistic, team-informed pre-construction schedule before mobilization
1:40 pm Audience Discussion: Aligning with Project Controls to Assist with Project Execution, Cost & Strategic Decision Making
- Connecting schedule with controls data to create a clearer view of project and program performance
- Aligning project-level schedules with program-level objectives to bridge bottom-up execution and top-down strategy
- Clarifying where scheduling sits within project controls
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a clearer understanding of how scheduling can sit within a broader project controls function, whether their organization has a mature controls team or is still defining what project controls should look like
2:10 pm Building Commissioning into the Schedule to Protect Handover, Reduce Failed Tests & Avoid Last-Minute Recovery
- Planning realistic commissioning durations that account for testing, failures, rework, and recovery time
- Protecting commissioning from unrealistic acceleration when teams are under pressure to hit handover dates
- Comparing how teams manage commissioning schedules across dashboards, spreadsheets, and field-facing tools
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a clearer approach for scheduling commissioning as a controlled delivery phase, rather than a compressed final step that creates avoidable risk at handover
Field Execution & Delivery Alignment
From Schedule Logic to Field Action
1:10 pm Managing the Multi-Schedule Dilemma to Preserve One Source of Truth Across Multiple Stakeholders
- Balancing owner, designer, contractor, and trade requirements without creating disconnected versions of the schedule
- Structuring contingency, float, and internal planning needs while maintaining one defensible source of truth
- Navigating shared master schedules where multiple stakeholders control different inputs, workflows, and priorities
Practical Takeaway: Leave with practical approaches for managing multiple schedule pressures without losing alignment, credibility, or control of the master schedule
1:40 pm Case Study: Managing Multiple Scheduling Platforms to Preserve Schedule Quality, Flexibility & Client Clarity
- Comparing how using multiple tools can each support different project teams, scheduling needs, and client communication requirements
- Maintaining schedule quality and governance across multiple platforms by using validation processes to prevent inconsistent logic, poor data quality, or disconnected workflows
- Connecting schedule execution, contract requirements, and client-facing visualization to ensure technology choices improve clarity without compromising control
Practical Takeaway: Attendees will leave with practical lessons on how a general contractor can use multiple scheduling platforms effectively, giving teams flexibility while maintaining schedule quality, client visibility, and confidence in project execution.
2:10 pm Panel: Utilizing the Schedule as a Field Decision Tool to Improve Analysis, Risk Visibility & Execution Efficiency
- Optimizing how schedules are used in the field to connect activities, risks, and constraints to real execution decisions
- Analyzing schedule data more effectively to identify risk, explain impacts, and provide clearer insight to project teams and owners
- Adapting the scheduler’s role as technology reduces manual updates and creates more time for problem-solving and field support
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a clearer view of how schedulers can use the schedule more efficiently in the field, shifting from update management to stronger analysis, risk insight, and execution support
2:40 pm Afternoon Refreshments
Planning Philosophy to Proactive Recovery
3:30 pm Methodology Debate: Comparing CPM, Takt & Lean Scheduling to Challenge Assumptions & Improve Planning Methodology
- Questioning whether current scheduling approaches are keeping pace with project complexity, delivery speed, and field execution needs
- Exploring how different planning philosophies can help teams think differently about sequence, flow, reliability, and control
- Discussing how schedulers can choose the right approach for the project rather than relying on one default way of planning
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a clearer understanding of how different scheduling philosophies can be applied, challenged, or combined to improve planning decisions across different project environments
4:10 pm Leveraging the Schedule as a Decision-Making Tool to Improve Risk Visibility, Forecasting & Project Performance
- Turning schedule data into timely analytics that help teams identify risk and make faster decisions
- Improving data quality and reliability so schedule outputs reflect what is happening across projects
- Using historical data, predictive analytics, and lessons learned to strengthen forecasting and future planning
Practical Takeaway: Leave with a clearer workflow for moving from schedule updates to actionable insight, helping teams use the schedule as a forward-looking decision tool rather than a backward-looking report