2027 AEC HR Summit Agenda
Wednesday, March 31, 2027
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Pre-Summit Workshops
**Separate from general registration.
Register Here
Pre-Summit Workshop A
HR Unplugged: 15 HR Case Studies from the Trenches – Now with AI in the Mix
Bob Kelleher – Author/Speaker/Founder | AEC Workplace Solutions
Meaghan Anderson – Program Director | AEC Workplace Solutions
Step into the role of HR decision-maker as you work through 15 real-world workplace case studies covering employee relations, hiring, compensation, performance management, and more. In this highly interactive workshop, Bob Kelleher and Meg Anderson will guide participants through complex scenarios before comparing group recommendations with responses generated by AI tools like ChatGPT. Explore where AI adds value, where human judgment still matters most, and leave with practical case studies, AI prompts, and decision-making frameworks you can immediately apply in your organization.
Pre-Summit Workshop B
Managing Your Managers to Manage Within the Law
Mike Cohen – Partner | Duane Morris Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group
Great managers don’t happen by accident. This interactive workshop focuses on the practical skills, legal awareness, and coaching strategies managers need to lead effectively while reducing organizational risk. Bob Kelleher will explore today’s evolving employment landscape and provide actionable guidance HR professionals can use to better prepare managers for real-world leadership challenges. Participants will leave with practical tools and strategies to develop stronger leaders, improve management practices, and create a more legally compliant workplace.
6:00 PM
Dine Around
Sign up for a group dinner at one of several nearby restaurants. It’s a great chance to connect and unwind. (Please note: meals are self-paid.)
*Sign-up sheets are at the registration table.
Thursday, April 1, 2027
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
Registration and Networking Breakfast
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Welcome and Introductions
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Opening Keynote Presentation
State of the AEC Industry 2027: The Trends, Disruptions, and Opportunities Shaping Our Future
John Doehring – Author, Speaker
In this thought-provoking State of the AEC Industry presentation, industry expert John Doehring connects the dots between the economy, emerging industry trends, the changing business of AEC firms, and the evolving world of work. Drawing on industry insights and forward-looking perspectives, John will explore both the challenges and opportunities ahead, and what distinguishes firms and leaders who anticipate change from those who simply react to it.
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Networking Break
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
AEC Connections Cafe
This participant-driven session relies on the passion of attendees for the topics discussed. You will have the opportunity to attend multiple topic groups to discuss what’s important to you and your organization right now.
11:30 AM – 11:45 PM
Networking Break
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM
Lunch
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM
Keynote Presentation
Merging More Than Companies – How Sanbell is Bringing People, Purpose, and Culture Together
Michael Sanderson – CEO, Sanbell
How do you grow an organization without losing the entrepreneurial spirit that made it successful? Through Sanbell’s journey from several smaller firms to one unified organization, this keynote explores the opportunities and challenges of building a larger, purpose-driven firm. Attendees will hear best practices on navigating growth and change, creating alignment across teams, preserving culture, intentionally building one firm around a shared purpose, and lessons learned along the way.
1:45 PM – 2:15 PM
Networking Break
2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
Concurrent Breakout Sessions 1:
Session 1A
Beyond the Hype: Using AI to Increase Retention, Optimize Executive Decisions, and Manage Compliance
Lisa Ponder – CHRO, Spheros Environmental
Explore how AI can help scale individualized development planning, transform workforce data into executive and board ready insights, uncover trends and gaps, and synthesize complex wage and hour leave, and classification requirements across multiple states. We’ll also examine where AI falls short and how to build the right guardrails, human judgment, and oversight into each process.
Session 1B
Built to Grow During Rapid Change
April Kozubal – CHRO, Verdantas
Coming Soon…
Session 1C
Coming Soon…
3:15 PM – 3:30 PM
Networking Break
3:30 PM – 4:45 PM
Concurrent Breakout Sessions 2:
Session 2A
911 – The CEO is Asking for a 10-Year Organizational Plan
Gary Irvine – AVP Talent, Kokosing Construction
A request for a 10-year organizational plan can feel unrealistic in a world where priorities change every quarter and technology evolves every month. Yet the most important organizational questions, leadership capacity, workforce capability, culture, and AI adoption, require a much longer view. This session shares the real-world story of responding to a CEO’s challenge to build a practical roadmap for the next decade. Learn how we balanced vision with execution, avoided common planning pitfalls, and created tools valuable to executives, boards, HR leaders, and business partners.
Session 2B
The Courage to Open the Black Box: Redesigning Compensation, Bonuses, and Career Paths at H2M
Anne Davis – Director of Human Resources, H2M Architects + Engineers
Angele Welch – Senior Compensation Specialist, H2M Architects + Engineers
In 2026, H2M Architects + Engineers undertook a complete compensation transformation: rebuilding our job architecture, market-based salary bands built from industry-specific and nationally recognized surveys, a redesigned bonus structure, and a pivot to performance-based and impact-recognizing pay. We started with a listening tour with our Discipline Directors, built decision tools leaders would actually use, and designed a communications cascade from the executive team down to every employee. Attendees will leave with a roadmap for leading comp transformation at a mid-sized AEC firm. This is a session about the courage to make pay make sense, and say it out loud.
Session 2C
Coming Soon…
4:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Closing Comments
Join us as we walk through the logistics of the evening and close the first day.
5:00 PM
Adjourn
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Cocktail Reception
Unwind after the day with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and great conversation. Connect with fellow attendees, speakers, and sponsors in a relaxed setting before heading out for the evening.
7:30 PM
Chicago Tavern Tour
Renew old acquaintances and make new ones – an always popular event!
*OR Choose a dine-around option
7:30 PM
Dine Around
Sign up for a group dinner at one of several nearby restaurants. It’s a great chance to connect and unwind. (Please note: meals are self-paid.)
*Sign-up sheets are at the registration table outside the main ballroom.
Friday, April 2, 2027
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM
Networking Breakfast
8:00 AM – 8:45 AM
Opening Comments and Live Summit Poll with Bob Kelleher
8:45 AM – 10:00 AM
Keynote Presentation
The Caitlin Clark Effect: What HR Can Learn from a Generational Talent
Bob Kelleher – Author/Speaker/Founder of AEC Workplace Solutions
What happens when one extraordinary individual changes the trajectory of an entire organization? Caitlin Clark didn’t simply join the WNBA, her arrival changed attendance, visibility, expectations, economics, and the conversation surrounding women’s basketball. But extraordinary talent also creates extraordinary challenges. How do you celebrate a superstar without diminishing the team or losing sight of the culture? In this fast-paced, multimedia keynote, Bob Kelleher uses the Caitlin Clark phenomenon as a case study for today’s HR leaders. Through the Do’s and Don’ts of managing exceptional talent, attendees will explore lessons in leadership, engagement, coaching, resilience, and team dynamics. Every organization will eventually encounter a game-changing employee with the power to elevate the organization while challenging the dynamics around them. The question for HR is: Are you prepared when they arrive?
10:00 AM – 10:15 AM
Networking Break
10:15 AM – 11:15 AM
Concurrent Breakout Sessions 3:
Session 3A
You’re Not an Instructional Designer. Now What? Practical Ways to Design Better Learning with Instructional Design Principles and AI
Elizabeth Crawley – Instructional Designer, American Structurepoint
Great training doesn’t start with slides—it starts with the right questions. Yet in many AEC firms, “We need training” quickly becomes a recycled deck, a handful of videos, or a content-heavy download from a subject matter expert. This interactive session breaks that cycle. AEC HR and learning professionals will learn to apply adult-learning principles, identify knowledge and skill gaps, assess learning, and choose the right approach for their objectives. You’ll apply these tools to a current organizational need and explore how AI can support the design process—while recognizing that human insight remains essential to effective learning.
Session 3B
What Could Possibly Go Wrong? An HR Leader’s Guide to Self-Funding
Stacey Micka – Principal | Director of Human Resources, Acentech Incorporated
Thinking about leaving the fully insured world behind? I’ll share what I wish I’d known before moving our health plan to a partially self-funded model. We’ll talk about why we made the change, what surprised us, what worked, what didn’t, and what I’d do differently. You’ll leave with a practical, first-hand look at the risks, rewards, and realities of self-funding to help you decide if it might be right for your organization.
Session 3C
Coming Soon…
11:15 AM – 11:30 AM
Networking Break
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM
Lunch
12:15 PM – 1:30 PM
Closing Keynote Presentation
The Bravery Effect: The Science of Conquering Fear, Achieving More, and Living Life to the Fullest
Jill Schulman – USMC Veteran, Bravery Expert, Bestselling Author
You have the experience. You have the ideas. What would become possible if you acted on them more boldly? In this energizing keynote, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and bestselling author Jill Schulman brings the Science of Bravery™ to the moments that matter. Through her BeBrave™ framework, HR and business leaders will discover practical ways to move through fear, expand their influence, and take action in their leadership, careers, and lives.
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Closing Comments and Adjourn
3:30 PM
A Surprise Social Activity!
Attendees of the AEC HR Summit are able to earn both HRCI and SHRM professional development credits. The AEC HR Summit is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CPSM or SHRM-SCPSM. The use of the HRCI seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit.
