This October, BuiltWorld’s second annual Infrastructure Conference heads to Arlington, Va., presenting a key opportunity for professionals across transportation, energy, and digital sectors to engage in meaningful conversations that advance the systems shaping the future of infrastructure. Focusing on this year’s theme, “Strengthening the Technology, Innovations, and Assets That Move, Power, and Connect People and Places,” the event will explore how infrastructure leaders can drive resilience, sustainability, and efficiency in the face of rapid change.
This year’s programming features engaging panels, case studies, and small-group discussions, each addressing topics critical to infrastructure construction. Below, we’ve provided a few examples of the pressing challenges being tackled at the 2025 Infrastructure Conference, from addressing workforce shortages and scaling digital infrastructure, to modernizing the grid and upgrading airports nationwide.
Strengthening the Workforce Behind Infrastructure Growth
With $1.2 trillion in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act fueling projects nationwide, the industry faces both tremendous opportunity and daunting workforce shortages. By 2025, construction will need to attract more than half a million additional workers to keep pace with demand, all while navigating an aging workforce and fewer young entrants into the trades. Conference attendees can join the breakout session “Maximizing the Construction Workforce in the Public and Private Sectors” to hear from industry leaders Allie Perez (Research Fellow), Kelly Hutchinson (New Jersey DoT), and Abel Esquivel Luna (Zachry Construction) as they discuss how organizations can leverage technology, inclusion, and upskilling to help close critical labor gaps.
Scaling Data Centers
The rise of AI, cloud computing, and digital services is creating unprecedented demand for new data centers with capacity needs projected to grow by 33% annually through 2030. But this growth comes with high energy use, carbon emissions, and immense water consumption–especially for AI applications. The panel “Empowering the Next Generation of Digital Infrastructure: Scaling Reliable and Sustainable Data Centers” brings together John Moynier (Garney Construction), Jason Hopper (Mortenson), Jonson Berman (Suffolk Technologies), and Ameya Soparkar (Arup) to explore how innovative materials, advanced design, and sustainable practices can balance rapid expansion with environmental responsibility.
Powering a Reliable Future
As electrification surges and extreme weather stresses infrastructure across the United States and beyond, grid reliability has become a defining national priority. Increases in severe storms and heat waves have doubled power outages in recent years, now accounting for 80% of all major U.S. outages. Experts estimate trillions in investment are needed globally to reach net-zero goals, with the U.S. facing significant shortfalls in modernizing transmission and distribution. In the session “Constructing Resilient and Reliable Grid and Energy Systems”, panelists Nicholas Ryan (DOE), Bill Lese (Braemar Energy), and Andy Israelson (Adelie Concepts) will share real-world insights on how to best navigate the industry’s regulatory and permitting challenges, while exploring the impacts of policy and investment trends on the integration of energy innovations into large-scale projects.
Upgrading the Nation's Airports
Air travel demand is climbing, but U.S. airports face a $43 billion backlog in needed upgrades. With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law directing $25 billion toward modernization, tools like BIM and digital twins are unlocking smarter planning and lifecycle management. Conference attendees will join Andrew Ndolo (Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority), Jalpesh Patel (Bluebeam), and Brian Gettinger (Glydways) for a breakout session titled “Elevating Airport Rebuilds: Integrating Design, Planning, and Multimodal Connectivity,” exploring how digital planning tools and multimodal integration are transforming airport and transportation infrastructure, while drawing actionable lessons from major projects like Dulles International’s 2.8 million-square-foot expansion.
Exploring Innovative Solutions and Technologies
The 2025 Infrastructure Conference will include BuiltWorlds’ signature Demo Day Competition, highlighting innovative startups developing solutions for the infrastructure industry. Entrepreneurs will pitch to a panel of judges, made up of venture leaders specializing in the built environment. Conference attendees are invited to attend the Demo Day competition. This year, we’ll be hearing pitches from the following startups:
Skye (Yixuan) Zhou, Co-Founder of Runopt
- Runopt is an AI solution for optimizing civil site design aiming to reduce design time and construction costs.
Mehdi Benhamed, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer of ConstructX
- ConstructX uses AI to automate and streamline core management procedures, starting with procurement, with the goal of creating an all-in-one platform for the industry.
Aisha Bigstaff, Founder & CEO of ThriveTech AI
- ThriveTech AI is an integrated suite of AI-powered tools seeking to modernize the way cities, contractors, and people connect through automated estimating and procurement, real-time forecasting, and portfolio analysis.
Cam Raufi, CEO of Prezerv AI
- Preserv AI,a data and analytics platform, delivers 3D mapping and inspection solutions to a wide range of public and private sector entities that design, build, operate, and/or manage infrastructure.
JP Spence, CEO of CloudRig
- CloudRig is a user-friendly product suite that provides a field app and real-time monitoring tools to help superintendents, project managers, and executives improve production, safety, and quality while streamlining financial and operational tasks.
Andrew Lindsay, CEO of TruckIT
- TruckIT, a product suite that automates trucking and material management operations, aims to help haulers, contractors, and producers improve performance and accelerate growth.
Arber Ruci, CEO of neARabl Inc.
- NeARabl is a computer vision AI company redefining how the built world is captured, understood, and managed, deploying next generation mobile-based 4D visualization and 4D reconstruction for the infrastructure industry.
With a broad range of programming encompassing nearly every sector of the infrastructure industry, BuiltWorlds' 2025 Infrastructure Conference will tackle the most critical issues shaping how we move, power, and connect communities. By bringing together a multifaceted array of voices from across the industry, government, and technology sectors, the event offers a unique forum for collaboration and forward-looking solutions applicable to all infrastructure professionals.
Don’t miss out on the 2025 Infrastructure Conference! Register today to join in the conversation. Students and prospective attendees from the public sector are eligible for discounted tickets.
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