What is the sweet spot between digital project delivery and inclusive, diverse collaboration? Digital transformation is a significant player in the field of project delivery improvement and innovation. Sheryl Staub-French, a UBC Civil Engineering professor and 20-year infrastructure and building information modelling veteran, is the perfect spokesperson for its journey. Sheryl joins Evgenia for a conversation that centres change—both technological and cultural—for the betterment of the infrastructure industry. The sector is long (and infamously) plagued by the spectre of over-budget-and-over-time, and Sheryl’s research seeks to uncover innovations that can shift this trend. It all starts, she stresses, at a systems level.  

In their conversation, Evgenia and Sheryl explore Sheryl’s leadership in equity, diversity, and inclusion, including her role as the first Associate Dean of ED&I in UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science and the first female head of her department. Sheryl reflects on the persistent underrepresentation of women and Indigenous students in engineering, the importance of groundbreaking systems and culture change, and why inclusion of all kinds is not separate from project success. 

The discussion also burrows deep into the human and technical sides of infrastructure innovation. Pointing to specific successes in other countries, Sheryl argues that digital tools alone will not transform the industry unless owners, teams, and organizations are ready to change how they work together and implement that change at an organizational, not individual, level. Whether discussing BIM, IPD, AI, or engineering education, Sheryl returns to a core idea: better infrastructure delivery depends on better collaboration, better data, and better systems for bringing all voices and expertise into the work.

Key takeaways

• Why Canada’s lack of a national digital transformation strategy leaves infrastructure delivery behind its fellow G7 countries;
• How equity, diversity, and inclusion connect directly to better engineering education and on-the-ground outcomes;
• What’s possible with a true, human-focused, collaborative IPD approach to infrastructure;
• Why collaboration requires aligned incentives, shared risk, shared reward, and trust—not just new tools;
• How AI could improve the efficiency and completeness of information commissioning and handover practices.

Quote: 

• “If people don’t feel included, if it’s not diverse, if all voices aren’t being heard, it’s not successful.” - Sheryl Staub-French

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Evgenia Jilina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejilina/  
• Follow Sheryl Staub-French: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sstaubfrench/ 

What does it take to bring women into infrastructure—and keep them there? The goal was once simply to get female leaders a seat at the table. Today, this growing demographic in the industry rightfully demands not just an invitation but influence and impact once they’re there. In this episode, Evgenia and Shormila are joined by Marisa Espinosa (AECOM) and Karla Avis-Birch (Arup) for a thoughtful conversation about what it takes not only to enter the sector, but to stay long enough to shape the future of capital projects. 

Both guests bring deep experience in transportation and major programmes, along with distinct paths into the industry. Their conversation explores the leadership qualities required in a sector where technical and human complexity are equally matched. Marisa and Karla discuss the importance of purpose, passion, life experience, and systemized thinking in ensuring teams stay productive and connected. They also reflect on the need for diverse perspectives when building infrastructure that serves real communities.

Opportunity, support, and thoughtful policies all contribute to keeping women coming to and growing within their industry. Both Marisa and Karla play important roles in their local WTS chapters and speak to the need for robust networks both inside and outside the office. They celebrate the relationships that provide both confidence and community, as existing and upcoming generations of infrastructure leaders continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Key Takeaways:

• Why transportation leadership starts with understanding how people actually rely on infrastructure;
• The essential leadership traits for everyone climbing the ranks in major projects;
• What women’s lived experience brings to infrastructure decision-making and project delivery;
• How non-linear careers, caregiving, and confidence gaps affect women’s progression in the industry;
• The role of women-led networks like WTS in building community, credibility, and opportunity.

Quote:

• “What’s your own leadership imprint? Who you are as a leader; how do you want to show up?…That’s important” - Marisa Espinosa

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Toronto chapter of the WTS: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/toronto/about 
• Vancouver chapter of the WTS: https://www.wtsinternational.org/chapters/vancouver/about 
• Follow Shormila Chatterjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shormilac/
• Follow Evgenia Jilina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejilina/  
• Follow Marisa Espinosa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisa-espinosa-a575314/ 
• Follow Karla Avis-Birch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karla-avis-birch-p-eng-a8a8b1152/ 

What can adventures in vibecoding and broadening one’s understanding of AI models reveal about the future of infrastructure? In this episode, the podcast makes a 180 as Lawrence Rowland turns the microphone on Riccardo. What follows is a wide-ranging and deep-delving conversation about modelling, artificial intelligence, systems thinking, and the role these evolving tools might play in major programmes. 

They begin with Riccardo’s development of an International Roughness Index (IRI) prediction model to better understand pavement degradation—an example of using data to challenge linear assumptions and improve infrastructure decision-making. From there, the discussion follows Riccardo’s learning journey through reinforcement learning, coding agents, decision intelligence, reality capture, knowledge graphs, and the future of physical AI. Along the way, Lawrence and Riccardo bring the discussion back to what these tools mean for project leaders: why humans and organizational processes remain the weakest link in adopting new technology, how AI can support—not replace—human decision-making, and why meaningfully connecting the data is the biggest determinant of success.

The episode also explores the softer but no-less-essential side of major programmes, including relationship complexity, stakeholder power, information asymmetry, and the limits of tools like Gantt charts in representing the real dynamics of project delivery. Finally, Riccardo reflects on what his AI experiments and podcast journey have taught him about his own niche. This conversation covers all the bases: curiosity, humility, and the need to keep rethinking how we understand, manage, and learn from complex infrastructure systems.

Key takeaways

• The future of LLMs and physical AI in major projects;
• What old-school video games have to do with building prediction models;
• How decision intelligence can begin to support, but not replace, project leadership;
• The difference between complex and complicated—and why it matters for systems thinking;
• What delving into AI and its possibilities has taught Riccardo about his niche.

Quote

•  “[In today’s LLMs], through brute prompting, you can actually get to the answer you want…but it’s a very convoluted path.” - Riccardo Cosentino

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Riccardo’s spreadsheet “AI Startups in Engineering & Construction”: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TCvfRqqd1NzxgMhVoTMbKeL9bOp_1-mn/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=100654060211988607651&rtpof=true&sd=true
• Riccardo’s LinkedIn Article “AI Startups in AE&C (Architectural, Engineering and Construction)”: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-startups-aec-architectural-engineering-riccardo-cosentino-bvhrc/
• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Follow Lawrence Rowland: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrencerowland/ 

How do you champion an authentic leadership style in a sector that’s slow to adapt to change? Infrastructure Ontario President and CEO Angela Clayton has traversed this career journey by building a robust network while maintaining a deep dedication to continuing education and an iron-clad work ethic. She joins Riccardo and Shormila for a candid conversation about career growth and what it means (and doesn’t mean) to be a woman in leadership in this male-dominated industry. 

Angela has seen the benefits of prioritizing community and collaboration in many facets of her career. She reflects on her history of learning on the job and how employer-supported professional development has transformed her trajectory. She and the hosts dig into the practical realities of leadership in major programmes and the mistaken assumption that great individual contributors naturally become great leaders. She also speaks frankly about being the only woman in the room, and how essential trust in hard-earned champions, while it doesn’t negate impostor syndrome, certainly puts it into perspective.

The discussion also explores IO’s evolution over time, Angela’s approach to her transition to CEO, and her future plans for pursuing more impact-driven work. Discover this successful industry innovator’s take on the shifts leaders must make as they navigate new roles and her thoughtful advice for women aspiring to excel in infrastructure.

Key takeaways:

• How a strong network creates career opportunities, and why getting the job is only the beginning;
• The pitfall of assuming technical excellence translates into project and people leadership;
• How to think about “diversity hires” without tokenism—and what real sponsorship looks like;
• The culture and mandate evolution of Infrastructure Ontario;
• The mental shift required when moving from PM issues management to CEO vision and culture development.

Quote:

• “[Former peers who now report to me are] some of my most trusted advisors. They have the history of the organization, and it’s so valuable to have that institutional knowledge.” - Angela Clayton

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Follow Shormila Chatterjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shormilac/
• Follow Angela Clayton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelafclayton/ 

To what extent is leadership success contingent on specific industry expertise? Marcia Medrano began her career in buildings, not transit. Yet, her experience developing and guiding teams, budgets, and procurement projects is proof that people management is not bound by sector—as long as you’re willing to make the most of the experts around you.

In this episode of Master Builder, Riccardo and Shormila sit down with the Executive Vice President of Capital Projects at Metrolinx to explore what it takes to rise to leadership without pretending you’re an expert in everything. Marcia traces her path from architecture and vertical infrastructure to transit delivery and the core lesson that’s shaped her career: big infrastructure delivery is fundamentally about people—building trust, aligning teams, and getting things done. Marcia doesn’t hesitate to push back against conventions and assumptions. Choosing to leverage her parallel expertise rather than be daunted by a new sector, she often asks, “Why not?” Over and over, she sees the question unlock progress in new and exciting approaches for the infrastructure industry.

The three experts hold a candid discussion about impostor syndrome and women in leadership, the superiority of alliance projects, and the importance of transparency on all sides of a major programme. They call out the danger of blindly following rigid structures and the shifting of the status quo as the Canadian infrastructure industry dives into ever larger and more ambitious projects. Throughout it all, Marcia champions a new understanding of steering the ship, and all the assets that come along with “leading like a woman.”

Key takeaways

• The relationship-building and human connection that underpin infrastructure delivery success;
• How transparency drives success, however varied a team’s expertise and experience; 
• Why incentivizing on-the-ground solutions and cooperation outweighs claims that stall progress at every turn;
• The importance of updated governance and project-wide empowerment on the owner side of collaborative contracts;
• What’s poised to change for women in infrastructure leadership.

Quote

• “Challenging our own biases of the things that we know and the things that we don’t know is part of challenging the status quo.” - Marcia Medrano

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Navigating Major Programmes, Season 2 Episode 6 with Lawrence Rowland: https://navigatingmajorprogrammes.transistor.fm/s2/23 
• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Follow Marcia Medrano: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcia-medrano-34a2962a/ 

How is AI poised to transform our workflows and working relationships in the coming months and years? There’s no question that large language models have had an enormous impact on our lives—and most of us have barely scratches the surface of what is possible with these powerful tools. In this episode, Lawrence Rowland joins Riccardo to unpack all that’s changed since his last appearance on the podcast in 2024. Lawrence is a veteran of project management with a laser focus on AI transformation and strategy. Together, he and Riccardo explore numerous angles of working with these inhuman (but increasingly capable) agents on everything from research to reporting to improving coworker interaction.

The conversation stays grounded in practice: the pair drills down on the massive shifts in AI in merely months, why token budgets matter, and the growing ability of programs to self-prompt and think outside the boxes of our requests. Lawrence shares the fascinating way he uses AI—to synthesize methodologies, generate playbooks, pressure-test thinking, and reveal tacit insights missing from current project narratives.

The two AI buffs also confront the human side of the transition, including where accountability falls when work is partially automated and what “transformative AI” might mean for careers and organizations. Less about hype and more about adaptation, Lawrence and Riccardo’s conversation hones in the theory on constraints. They remove the rose-tinted glasses and speak to redesigning workflows based on a practical, vital question: where is AI genuinely better, and where are humans still essential?

Key Takeaways:

• How agentic AI shifts work from prompting to task-level execution;
• The reasoning capacity of AI tools based on token budgets and model capability;
• The concept of underwriting in retaining human liability in AI-dominated work
• How theory of constraints and bottleneck thinking helps decide what to automate vs keep human;
• How AI can improve communication and project alignment by translating complex work for different audiences.

Quote:

• “Either you’re checking the AI or the AI is checking you, and getting used to that will set you up for the new economy.” - Lawrence Rowland

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Navigating Major Programmes, Season 2 Episode 6 with Lawrence Rowland: https://navigatingmajorprogrammes.transistor.fm/s2/23
• NBER “Economics of Transformative AI Workshop, Fall 2025”: https://www.nber.org/conferences/economics-transformative-ai-workshop-fall-2025
• arXiv “Some Simple Economics of AGI” by Christian Catalini, Xiang Hui, Jane Wu: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.20946
• SSRN PDF “Some Simple Economics of AGI”: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/6298838.pdf?abstractid=6298838&mirid=1
• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Follow Lawrence Rowland: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrencerowland/ 

What can a long career in urban transit reveal about collaboration, contracts, and system integration? In this episode, Evgenia and Shormila guide a wide-ranging conversation with transit veteran Ron Aitken. The discussion ties together his nearly five decades of experience in Canadian and international infrastructure projects.

Ron is an expert in what makes complex urban transit work: clarity of requirements, disciplined change control, and the relationships and experience on both sides of the contract. Examples from Vancouver and abroad illustrate the outcomes of effective collaboration, a concept that existed (and succeeded) long before it was being written into the alliance and collaborative contracts presently in vogue. Risk balance, project definition, and synergy have always impacted major programmes.

The industry is evolving, and this conversation doesn’t shy away from exploring that. Owners are taking back certain systems integration responsibilities and accepting more risk. Interface and requirements management are becoming more essential, and the adoption of new AI tools is transforming scheduling and delivery across the board. Throughout their broad dialogue, Ron reinforces a simple but oft-overlooked fact: delivery models matter, but the culture and the people matter more.

Key Takeaways:

• Why procurement models don’t guarantee success;
• How early automated transit programs forced teams to build delivery capability, not just technology;
• Why trust and respect must be built quickly—and why experience on both sides of the contract is non-negotiable;
• How systems integration drives risk in urban transit—and why “systems first” scheduling and access planning matters
• The approaches that can mitigate and even abolish claims in major projects.

Quote:

• “I recommend to people just starting their career: get yourself a helmet and boots and find your way out onto the site” - Ron Aitken

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Shormila Chatterjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shormilac/
• Follow Evgenia Jilina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejilina/ 
• Follow Ron Aitken: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-aitken-a9275468/ 

What would it take to prioritize major programme outcomes over more familiar factors like price and procedural fairness? This is the question posed by Peter Weltman, the guest host on this Uncharted Conversations episode. Peter notes that Canada’s infrastructure industry is struggling to maintain what it already has, much less build what it needs next. Iterating is likely to fail, so what are the alternatives?

Co-hosts Shormila, David, Melissa, and Riccardo quickly surface the real tension: “outcomes” are often harder to define, measure, and defend than cost—and public procurement systems are deliberately built for political optics and to avoid the perception of discretionary decision-making. Together, the panel explores why technical merit often fails to meaningfully influence selection and why innovation tends to get squeezed out when projects are seen as fixed scope from the beginning.

From there, the conversation widens beyond RFP mechanics into bigger levers: risk appetite for unsolicited proposals, whether Canada needs an “infrastructure venture fund” for ideas, and the value of portfolio thinking. Canada may not be ready to blow up the whole system. However, examples—including new financing entities and development-partner models—both within and beyond infrastructure highlight alternative pathways that are already emerging.

Key Takeaways

• The problem with reducing “value for money” to competitive pricing in major projects;
• The difficulty in defining “outcome-based procurement” beyond cost;
• How better technical discrimination can prevent price from dominating “best value” selections;
• The potential for more rigorous schedule and delivery certainty evaluation through risk analysis;
• How entities might catalyze more innovative deal structures than classic linear procurements.

Quote:

• “How do we create the incentives to build the capacity to do things in a more innovative way, realize more budget, more benefits?” - Peter Weltman

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Follow Shormila Chatterjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shormilac/
• Follow Melissa Di Marco: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-di-marco/
• Follow Peter Weltman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-weltman/

Behind every major programme is a project manager—but how do they get there? For a practical and informative conversation on the current PM job market, Riccardo sits down with Mukhtar Kadiri, whose extensive project management experience has culminated in his work as a Program Director and Career Coach, where he helps project management professionals compete for high-compensation roles in the industry.

Though the hiring environment for PMs today varies by niche and region, competition is heavy across the board, and Mukhtar recommends all job searchers have a strategy—that they approach the search like a project in itself. He and Riccardo explore how candidates can use AI to make the most of their application process and the essential steps to get a foot in the door. Mukhtar has tips for employers and hiring managers, as well.

Job searching is a skill, Mukhtar stresses, and this episode offers actionable ideas of how to approach the work intentionally. Specific and backed by plenty of real-world experience, Muhktar’s perspective is essential listening for employees and employers alike, whether they’re currently on the job hunt or planning to begin searching in the future.

Key Takeaways

• How today’s PM job market is changing competition, screening, and expectations;
• The five-part strategy, from application to highest offer, that hones your job search skills;
• Why you need to pitch differently to recruiters and hiring managers;
• How to utilize AI beyond asking it to write your cover letter for you;
• The traits employers should emphasize to win the best candidate.

Quote

• “Job searching is a skill” - Mukhtar Kadiri

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Follow Mukhtar Kadiri at https://www.linkedin.com/in/m-kadiri/ 

What happens behind the scenes before a project bid is even accepted? The delivery outcome component of major programmes is fascinating, but a lot occurs long before procurement, design, and development get underway. Taking a step back, and behind the curtain, Riccardo, Shormila, and special co-host Evgenia Jilina, Colliers’ Transit Regional Sector Director, dive deep into what happens before the Request for Proposal is published. 

The three infrastructure professionals explore the competitive, resource-intensive work that happens upstream: strategic positioning, RFQs and RFPs, partnership decisions, and the internal calculus of whether a proposal is worth the investment of pursuing at all. They break down why “winning” a project is rarely about a single submission moment. Preparing a proposal can cost millions, pull top talent off active work for months, and take months or even years—a lengthy span of time where assumptions, teams, and even the market can change. 

They make the case that capture planning is so much more than paperwork—it’s the training plan behind the goal: the structure that helps organizations choose which opportunities to chase and show up with the right partners and narrative when it counts. Together, the panel tackles the uncomfortable tension at the heart of public procurement. It’s a system designed to prevent influence, yet meaningful early interactions help clients clarify needs and bidders understand the real problem. In the end, a strategic but authentic engagement approach inevitably weighs into the final decision. Real success is so much more than a lucrative “win”: it’s a mutually beneficial relationship where client, bidder, and the public recipients of the infrastructure all triumph. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Why capture planning is essential to success, not a waste of time and money;
• How organizations decide which pursuits are worth prep that costs millions, months, and their best players;
• What successful early engagement looks like before an RFQ or RFP is issued;
• Why early conversations should be reframed as “engagement” rather than “influencing”;
• How to build bid teams around strengths and gaps instead of searching for a unicorn.

Quote:

• “The stakes are high…you’re expected from day one to start on a project that’s bigger than the GDP of some small countries.” - Shormila Charterjee

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Follow Shormila Chatterjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shormilac/
• Follow Evgenia Jilina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejilina/