Chapter Calendar

PMI Sydney x Construction Event overview

AI: Building Smarter Projects 

- Integrating AI in construction Tasks and Project Controls.

Discussion on how Artificial Intelligence is transforming construction project delivery. This session will explore how AI is being integrated into projects and project controls to improve planning, scheduling, cost management, risk identification and project performance. 

Through practical examples and industry insights, we'll examine how project professionals can leverage AI to make better decisions, enhance productivity, and deliver smarter, more successful infrastructure and built environment projects. 

Whether you're a project manager, planner, project controls specialist, engineer, or construction professional, this event will provide valuable insights into the future of AI-enabled project delivery and the skills needed to stay ahead in an evolving industry. 

AI is changing the way construction, and infrastructure projects are delivered from planning and scheduling to cost management, risk identification and project performance.

Panel Discussion - Panel Speakers

Sydney Mudau (Panel Moderator)

Sydney Mudau is a project management leader with 20+ years of international experience delivering major infrastructure and capital projects across the transport, mining, utilities, water and infrastructure sectors. He is the Past President and Board Chair of the PMI Sydney Chapter, a PMI Construction Ambassador, and an advocate for advancing the project management profession through collaboration, innovation and knowledge sharing.

Sydney has led multidisciplinary teams, advised senior stakeholders, and delivered complex projects from strategy and planning through to construction and operations. He is passionate about connecting industry professionals and has championed initiatives such as PMI Construction Circle+. 

Ish Ahuja

Ish Ahuja is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over two decades of construction experience. He has led large, diverse, and highly complex teams across some of Australia’s and overseas’ most challenging infrastructure programs. As the NSW Chair of the Australian Cost Engineering Society (ACES), he brings deep expertise in planning, project controls, risk management, cost engineering, project leadership, and multidisciplinary delivery.

His career spans major sectors including roads, rail, water, renewables, mixed-use developments, marine ports, and integrated station precincts, where he has consistently delivered exceptional outcomes on complex, high-risk projects.

His leadership is defined by technical excellence, strategic clarity, and an ability to guide teams through the complexities of modern infrastructure delivery.

Christian Pallaria 

Christian Pallaria is the Founder and CEO of WisyPlan, an agentic AI operating system for construction project delivery. A project professional with 15+ years’ experience across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Australia, he has led digital engineering on major TfNSW programs including the Great Western Highway Upgrade and Western Harbour Tunnel.

Previously AECOM’s Global Computational Design Manager, he standardised BIM and computational design across six regions, improving design efficiency by 40%. Christian holds an Executive MBA from POLIMI (110/110 cum laude), won the Microsoft for Startups AI Hackathon in San Francisco (2024), and speaks internationally on AI in construction and project delivery.

Maisara Al Rais

Maisara Al Rais is a digital transformation leader working across project, construction, and design management at the enterprise and portfolio level. Having led digital delivery on major programs such as Sydney Metro and within organisations like Lendlease, he is now Digital Manager at BESIX Watpac.

He is passionate about helping organisations translate digital strategy into practical delivery, with a focus on governance, coordination, information flow, and decision-making across the asset lifecycle. An architect by training who later added a Master of Construction Management and a Graduate Diploma in Data Science, he sees AI as the next step in that trajectory rather than a departure from it: the projects best placed to use it are the ones that have already done the work on their information.

What You’ll Explore and Take Away

What attendees will learn:

• Practical application of using AI in planning and project controls 
• How to improve productivity by having an integrated approach, use of AI and expert validation 
• How to understand governance around AI 

Who should attend
Project professionals, construction professionals, business analysts, change practitioners and delivery leaders who want to understand and apply AI in a practical and structured way.