KA Connect 2025 Speakers

At LS3P, knowledge management started with a single project: building a data manager program to improve the quality of project information. But over time, that initiative sparked a larger strategy—one that now connects marketing, KM, and AI into a unified system for learning, communication, and practice improvement.

In this talk, Chief Marketing Officer Katie Robinson shares how LS3P is connecting the dots across disciplines to make better use of its people and content. She’ll begin with the firm’s data manager program, which ensures consistent data collection from project start to closeout—and feeds everything from analytics dashboards to survey responses. She’ll then walk through LS3P’s AI-powered marketing assistant, which helps team members find better proposal content faster, reducing the time spent hunting through old documents and increasing the time available for strategic customization. Finally, she’ll spotlight “Expert Hours,” a casual but powerful mentorship series that surfaces critical knowledge from senior staff—and fuels both search and marketing insights in the process.

The result is a culture where knowledge flows in multiple directions—captured, reused, and recombined to support both business development and professional growth.

Katie Robinson is the Principal and Chief Marketing Officer at LS3P, where she has significantly enhanced the firm's marketing, knowledge management, and business strategies. Under her leadership, the marketing department transformed into a dynamic creative agency, excelling in communications and brand management. She also spearheaded the establishment of LS3P's Data Manager Program, solidifying her leadership in the AEC industry by bridging the gap between data-driven insights and exceptional design.

What do you do when your firm grows by 70 people in two years—and your senior staff is stretched thin trying to bring new team members up to speed? At BWBR, that challenge became a strategic focus for knowledge management and AI. Rather than trying to do everything, Kari Shornblom and her team concentrated on one high-impact goal: helping emerging professionals learn faster, feel more confident, and contribute sooner—without relying solely on overburdened mentors.

In this talk, Kari shares how BWBR is building an integrated system to support this next generation of talent. From documenting the firm’s project lifecycle in clear, role-based guides, to capturing deep expertise from Communities of Practice through structured knowledge mapping, to transforming their long-running Landmark Learning program into modular, AI-searchable resources—every initiative is designed to make knowledge more accessible, reusable, and aligned with how people work. AI supports both the creation and discovery of content, helping junior staff ask smarter questions and get relevant answers when they need them most.

Kari Shonblom is a knowledge manager at BWBR, a firm specializing in commercial architecture, interior design, planning, and research, where she balances big-picture strategy with the fine details of execution. A systems thinker, she loves data and process improvement, connecting people to the resources they need to do their work better, faster, and smarter.

What if your knowledge management team included not just people, but AI? That’s the experiment Boulder Associates Principal Todd Henderson is running as he tackles a fast-moving L&D challenge: helping experienced architects—new to healthcare design—quickly get up to speed on the complexity of hospitals, user group meetings, and planning workflows.

Without a formal L&D team to lean on, Todd is taking a focused, pragmatic approach. He’s zeroed in on a single business problem, then tapped AI as a thought partner, content co-creator, and even a potential simulator to help accelerate learning. Along the way, he’s using expert interviews, real user feedback, and rapid iteration to drive results while stretching what a KM “team” can be.

This session offers a timely case study in building AI-augmented KM teams to solve targeted, high-impact problems. If you’re wondering how to operationalize AI within your own KM or learning function, or how to go farther, faster without boiling the ocean, this story offers a compelling glimpse into what’s possible.

Todd Henderson is a principal at Boulder Associates Architects, where he serves as Director of Practice Improvement. After two decades designing healthcare environments, Todd shifted his focus to the operational backbone of practice—leading initiatives in knowledge management, onboarding, quality assurance, and firmwide change management. He rebuilt the firm’s corporate university and led the revamp of its intranet to support better learning and collaboration. A longtime process nerd, Todd applies systems thinking with lean and agile methods to untangle complex problems and drive lasting change.

Knowledge Management is entering a new era—KM 3.0—where AI-powered tools are transforming how firms capture, share, and activate their expertise. But this transformation doesn’t just happen. It asks something of us. 

In this talk, Knowledge Architecture Founder and CEO Christopher Parsons explores what KM 3.0 wants from AEC firms, leaders, knowledge managers, users, technology partners, and the broader KA community. Drawing on real-world patterns from early adopters of Synthesis AI Search, he’ll outline the behaviors, systems, and cultural shifts that enable firms to realize the full value of this new generation of knowledge tools. 

You’ll leave with a clear understanding of what it takes to participate in—and accelerate—the evolution of AI-powered knowledge in your firm.

As Founder and CEO of Knowledge Architecture, Christopher is responsible for product development, marketing, and organizational health. He is also the executive producer of KA Connect, our annual knowledge management conference for the AEC Industry. Christopher has been a technology leader in the AEC industry since 2002, including serving as the Chief Information Officer for Steinberg Architects and the Information Technology Director for SMWM (now Perkins+Will).

In this spirited back-and-forth between Snøhetta’s Director of Knowledge, Kate Grimes, and their Design Technology Lead, Chad Carpenter, two longtime collaborators explore the promise and pitfalls of AI in architecture practice. One brings a cautious, human-centered perspective; the other sees potential for creative acceleration—and together they wrestle with the real implications of AI in the studio today.

Grounded in active projects and tool testing—from AI Search to emerging design technologies—this session unpacks how AI is reshaping how professionals access knowledge, learn new skills, and collaborate across disciplines. What happens to information architecture when AI can pull answers from anywhere? Should we still train for broad knowledge, or shift to just-in-time learning in the flow of work? And how do we balance trust in automation with the responsibility to stay sharp and informed?

Kate and Chad will share real-world use cases, tough trade-offs, and evolving insights from inside their practice. If you’ve ever wondered how to bring AI into your firm without losing what makes your people great, this conversation is for you.

Kate Grimes is an imaginative, conceptual thinker with a background in art and design as well as extensive experience in project management and leadership. As Snøhetta’s Director of Knowledge, Kate leads Information Technology, Knowledge Management, and Office Operations for the U.S. studio. She excels at managing complex projects, fostering collaborative partnerships with colleagues, and creative problem-solving.

Chad Carpenter is interested in the intersection of culture, technology, and the built environment, focusing on digital and material craft. He holds a Master's in Architecture from the California College of the Arts and a Bachelor of Philosophy from Miami University. His work ranges from furniture and product design to pavilions and train stations. In addition, his artwork has been published by the Harvard Design Magazine and shown in San Francisco, New York, and London. With a background in mechanical engineering and the history of technology, Chad finds inspiration in the rich potential of interdisciplinary design and material innovation.

At Shepley Bulfinch, videos surprised everyone by being one of the firm’s most powerful knowledge management tools once AI Search came into the picture. From town halls and training clips to design discussions and their Birdfeeder learning and development series, video plays a central role in how the firm shares knowledge, preserves expertise, and supports learning across the practice. But it didn’t totally happen by accident.

In this session, Jess Purcell will share how Shepley turned video into a KM superpower—starting with the foundational work of centralizing archives, cleaning up transcripts, adding chapters, and making hundreds of videos searchable via AI. But more importantly, she’ll show how that foundation unlocked a new mindset. Armed with the knowledge that video could drive real value, Shepley is exploring new ways to capture critical conversations, formalize content around knowledge transfer, and even create new training materials with video at the core.

Jess will also share how AI search isn’t just helping people find the right video—it’s now being used to summarize and distill video content into new pages, insights, and documentation, making video a vital part of their content creation pipeline. If you’re looking to get more value from the videos you already have, or curious about how AI can amplify your future recordings, this session will offer practical ideas and fresh inspiration.

As the Design Technology Manager at Shepley Bulfinch, Jess leads the strategic integration of cutting-edge technologies and workflows. Her primary focus lies in enhancing design, delivery, and collaboration processes. Jess oversees a select team of Design Technology Specialists, leveraging her expertise in VR, data analytics, process automation, and knowledge management. She holds a Masters of Architecture from Arizona State University.

At many firms, the challenge of launching a learning platform starts with creating content. At RIOS, it was the opposite—the challenge was figuring out what to do with all the content they already had. Years of specialist-led trainings, recorded presentations, detailed Revit tutorials, and in-house manuals meant there was no shortage of material. The real question was: Where do we start?

In this talk, Project Operations Director Gillian Hutchison shares how RIOS is preparing for Synthesis LMS by shifting from content creation to content strategy. Her team began by cataloging their existing learning resources in a centralized planning system, surfacing redundancies, identifying gaps, and collaborating across disciplines to define what mattered most for launch. They’re now developing role-specific learning paths that reflect how people actually grow at RIOS—whether stepping into a new role, learning a new tool, or expanding into project management.

Rather than trying to do everything at once, RIOS is focusing on what will have the biggest impact first. It’s a thoughtful, scalable approach to building a learning program—one grounded not in starting from scratch, but in turning a rich base of internal knowledge into meaningful and flexible learning experiences.

As a certified PMP and licensed Landscape Architect, Gillian uses her project experience to drive RIOS' global project workflow and integration strategies. While Gillian oversees KM, L+D, and project operations, efficiency is at the center with the goal of giving teams more time and space for the 'fun stuff'.

At RDG, Ron Heims is building custom low-code, AI-powered apps that solve real, specific problems inside his firm—starting with project data capture. His latest app makes it easy for senior project leaders to quickly review and update key project metrics—like construction cost, square footage, schedule, scope, and client goals—by pulling in existing data from systems like Deltek and prompting them to confirm or revise.

But the app goes deeper: it also enables leaders to speak freely about the story behind the project—design ideas, key challenges, and owner objectives—with AI transcribing and structuring those insights automatically. By combining structured data review with freeform voice capture, RDG is closing the gap between hard numbers and the narrative context that’s often lost.

Ron will share how he approaches app-building as a technically fluent non-developer, how he partners with internal teams to target high-impact workflow gaps, and why these lightweight, firm-specific tools are proving more effective than one-size-fits-all software.

Ron Heims is a Principal and the Director of Practice Innovation at RDG Planning & Design, a multi-disciplinary design firm. With over 30 years of experience leading technology initiatives, Ron has been instrumental in shaping the firm’s forward-thinking approach to integrated design and digital transformation. His leadership bridges the gap between practice and technological advancement, driving strategies that elevate collaboration, efficiency, and innovation across disciplines. Ron’s passion lies in leveraging emerging technologies to enhance design outcomes and future-proof the firm’s operations in an ever-evolving industry.

Register for KA Connect 2025