AEC Leadership Summit 2022

Ronen Vengosh is VP AEC and Business Development at Egnyte and is responsible for the company’s technology ecosystem, strategic partners and corporate development. Ronen is a Silicon Valley veteran and has spent many years brokering deals with some of the most successful technology companies in the world. He previously held senior business development and alliances positions at PureWave Networks, Alvarion and Intellinote. Ronen holds a law degree from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

Nathan C. Wood is an innovation influencer across the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. Nathan’s experience with Virtual Design and Construction (VDC), Lean process improvement, and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) has led him to realize how even proven technology solutions can often result in adoption failure and lost ROI.

Marti Smith is aa Senior IT director at Brasfield & Gorrie. She joined the company in 2001 as a project accountant after graduating from Kennesaw State University with a degree in accounting. Since that time, she has held a variety of progressively responsible positions within the company’s accounting, business process improvement, and IT departments. In each role, Marti has exceled in identifying the changes, challenges, and benefits that new technology brings to the company’s end users.

Rob has been working in the South Florida Construction industry since 2001, starting out as a field engineer, APM, and then Project Manager before moving into a BIM, Technology and Operational Excellence role in 2009. After transitioning back to a PM role for a few years, Rob began working at KAST in 2015 as the Director of Technical Services. The KAST Technical Services Department believes in Putting the Project First through training, technology implementation, BIM tools, trade Coordination, Procore, and other services.

Hugh Seaton is General Manager of Crosswalk by CSI, where he interfaces with contractors, software companies and other members of the AEC industry about standards, technology and processes. Hugh is author of The Construction Technology Handbook, and host of the Data in Construction, and Constructed Futures podcasts. Hugh brings decades of technology and management experience working at or for Google, Sony, AOL, Philips and more to his roles.

With more than 15 years of experience in the electrical industry, Mrs. Dauphinais' unique talents allowed her to recognize an evolving need in the industry. Information control and dissemination to the field as well as the project management teams in a rapid and cohesive manner. Developing systems that utilize both standard and mobile platforms, she was able to improve productivity and reduce turnaround time for customer invoices, all while improving cash flow.

Michael has been an industry tech advocate for many years. Starting in a project management role at a trade contractor, he learned how to marry technology and real-world applications for both project management teams and their field employees. After joining the "Dark Side," and crossing over into the tech side of construction, Michael has worked tirelessly to integrate technology across many different trades and verticals with one goal in mind; to make data safer, more accessible, and more actionable

Nick Decker is Sr. Manager for Egnyte’s AEC business line. He is responsible for the growth and support of Egnyte’s existing customer base within the industry. Nick brings experience in the construction technology and innovation space from time at Bluebeam and Dusty Robotics. He originally comes from the construction and engineering industry, having worked for large contractors Kiewit and AECOM Hunt. Nick holds a Civil Engineering degree and MBA from Purdue University

Deniz is a mechanical engineer with heavy involvement in design, technical office, and construction management utilizing BIM tools and practices on his daily works since early stages of his career. He worked for multibillion dollar projects (Airport, Metro, Convention Centre, Museum, High rise building, multi-purpose facilities) in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, St. Petersburg, Istanbul, Kuwait City for a variety of project stages (tender, design, construction, handover).

After having worked as an IT executive for large corporations for 25 years, Müge decided to venture back to her first love of engineering and provided IT consultancy to Design to Production sectors such as automative, defense and appliances. For the last 8 year, with the expansion of software solutions in AEC sector and introduction of cloud based solutions, her tools for trade expanded greatly and she has worked as head IT consultant for capital projects involving multiple stakeholders with different nationalities and requirements.

Ben Townsend is Senior Engineer with WDP Consulting Engineers, where he manages the New York division of the company. Mr. Townsend specializes in the improvement of new and existing building envelopes and structures through forensic investigation, building enclosure commissioning (BECx), design review, construction observation, field performance verification testing, and design of repairs for failed enclosures and structural systems. Mr. Townsend is a licensed PE in New York and Virginia.

At VLK Architects, I’ve been Practice Technology Director since 2019, managing our software accounts, developing standards, and providing architecture software training for BIM (Building Information Modeling), Bluebeam, Revit (for our Houston office), and others. I also serve on the BIM Management Committee. Previously, I worked at architectural firm Page, where I worked on residential, healthcare, commercial, and educational projects throughout the Americas, producing construction documents, while also serving as a BIM manager.

As the IT Manager for Ingleton Wood, my role is to ensure staff have access to the digital tools and technology they need to deliver the best possible service to our clients. My objective is to make technology accessible to those want to embrace it, and invisible to those who don’t. Working with members of the Digital Delivery user group, I facilitate the use and adoption of digital technologies from various venders including AutoDESK, BIM360 and Egnyte.

Dominic Silvia is the Manager of Industry Solution Management for AEC at Egnyte. As part of the Customer Success organization, he partners with AEC customers to help them more effectively secure and manage their data through adoption of Egnyte into their processes, workflows and technology stack. Dominic's professional background is in IT and prior to joining Egnyte he served as the Director of IT for a general contractor, where he was responsible for technology and data strategy, implementation, management and security. He holds a B.S.C in Management Information Systems and an M.B.A.

LA Creative Technologies’ President and Founder Josh Weiss is an IT visionary with more than a decade of experience in the technology and entrepreneurial/startup worlds. His love of technology itself is exceeded only by his passion for delivering IT solutions that empower architects, cultural non-profits and other creative organizations. He thrives as a Virtual CIO to his clients, ensuring strategic and secure technology implementations for today’s hybrid I.T. environments.

Nick Decker is Sr. Manager for Egnyte’s AEC business line. He is responsible for the growth and support of Egnyte’s existing customer base within the industry. Nick brings experience in the construction technology and innovation space from time at Bluebeam and Dusty Robotics. He originally comes from the construction and engineering industry, having worked for large contractors Kiewit and AECOM Hunt. Nick holds a Civil Engineering degree and MBA from Purdue University

An expert in cybersecurity and network infrastructure, Nick Espinosa has consulted with clients ranging from small businesses up to the Fortune 100 level. Nick founded Windy City Networks, Inc in 1998 at age 19 and was acquired in 2013. In 2015 Security Fanatics, a Cybersecurity/Cyberwarfare outfit dedicated to designing custom Cyberdefense strategies for medium to enterprise corporations, was launched.

Rose provides leadership in construction innovation via the implementation of business process ecosystems, technology, unique insurance solutions, and enhanced customer service initiatives across all lines of business. Rose is a thought-leader, ambassador, and spokesperson for AXA XL, presenting at industry events and educational organizations. She has 20+ years of practical experience in engineering, construction, and risk management having worked for Turner Construction Co, and as an expert witness and litigation support consultant with WCD Group, now a Gallagher Bassett company. Ms.

As the leader of Aon’s North American Construction Data & Analytics practice, Chris leverages innovation in the industry to help clients make better decisions. He uses his background in Data Science and knowledge of Construction & Infrastructure risk mitigating technology to uniquely apply an analytical approach to project risk advisory. Chris has been with Aon for over 7 years, runs Aon’s Technology Assessment Panel and sits on the Construction Innovation Committee for the Ontario General Contractors Association.

Chris leads PCL Construction’s Advanced Technology Services team, responsible for Cybersecurity, Networking, and Technology Solutions. In addition to the strategic implementation of information technologies, his teams also support the cybersecurity program, including security operations, risk, and compliance for the PCL family of companies.

Nick Decker is Sr. Manager for Egnyte’s AEC business line. He is responsible for the growth and support of Egnyte’s existing customer base within the industry. Nick brings experience in the construction technology and innovation space from time at Bluebeam and Dusty Robotics. He originally comes from the construction and engineering industry, having worked for large contractors Kiewit and AECOM Hunt. Nick holds a Civil Engineering degree and MBA from Purdue University

Dominic Silvia is the Manager of Industry Solution Management for AEC at Egnyte. As part of the Customer Success organization, he partners with AEC customers to help them more effectively secure and manage their data through adoption of Egnyte into their processes, workflows and technology stack. Dominic's professional background is in IT and prior to joining Egnyte he served as the Director of IT for a general contractor, where he was responsible for technology and data strategy, implementation, management and security. He holds a B.S.C in Management Information Systems and an M.B.A.

Nick has been in the construction industry for nearly ten years, having worked for McCarthy Builders, WeWork and Turner Construction as a lead superintendent and Project Manager in California. Prior to working with Turner, Nick gained experience at Suffolk Construction and S&F Concrete Contractors in Boston, Massachusetts. As a former Raken customer, Nick’s well-rounded knowledge of commercial construction makes him an invaluable member of the Raken team to help companies streamline processes and improve their bottom line.

Short draft bio: Mr. Carlson is a civil engineer and construction manager with Anchor QEA in Seattle, WA. His civil engineering expertise in grading designs, water resources, and site development, while his construction management expertise is focused on heavy civil, habitat restoration, and waterfront improvement projects. Mr. Carlson and his construction management team at Anchor QEA use Egnyte for document control and Raken for daily reporting.

Bryan has been in pre and post sales for almost 20 years. Previous to being a pre-sales manager, he was the Principal Architect for Egnyte for a number of years. Previous to Egnyte, Bryan has a background in performance analytics, data center management, email and Unix administration as well as software training. Partnering with customers and watching them adopt and evolve their business practices is what gets him up in the morning. That and his three kids.