Robert Vale

Senior Director, Gleeds LLP

Rob is a Senior Director at Gleeds, leading the global Programme Advisory business and supporting major capital programmes worldwide.

He also heads Gleeds’ AI Task Force for Infrastructure, focusing on practical, value driven uses of AI that help teams work smarter and improve delivery outcomes.

Session:  Closing the gap - A practical framework for implementing Data Analytics in the project environment' session.

Most enterprise AI pilots fail to deliver measurable return. MIT's recent research shows that approximately 95% of GenAI investments never make it from experiment to production. Yet at Gleeds, we've built an AI capability that's delivering 140+ hours saved per project, transforming delivery timelines from days to minutes, and embedding AI into the daily workflows of over 1,200 construction professionals.

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.

You'll learn:

• Why the AI hype cycle softened and what MIT's research reveals about the implementation trap
• How to apply Ashby's Law and Gall's Law to avoid the extremes that kill AI programmes
• Our lean scaling model: hub-and-spoke champions, use-case matrix (complexity vs value), and workflow embedding
• The 8 target behaviours that differentiate superficial tool usage from genuine capability integration (auditability, safety, verification, adaptability, collaboration, reusability, decision-support, real-world application)
• Real case studies from education, infrastructure, and project management showing 7-140 hour time savings and better decision quality
• The transformation cycle that takes AI from workshop probes to embedded standard operating procedures
• Before/after scenarios showing how AI-ready delivery transforms Monday to Friday workflows - from service execution plans and risk workshops to change orders and monthly reporting

This isn't theory. We'll show you the compounding efficiency gains across real PM workflows, the upskilling approach that bridges surface understanding to deep operational mastery, and how we aligned with the RICS Global Standard (effective March 2026) and APM Body of Knowledge 8th Edition requirements for responsible AI use.

Whether you're early in your AI journey or struggling to move pilots into production, this session offers a practical blueprint for escaping the 95% failure rate and joining the 5% club that actually delivers measurable value.