PANEL: Beyond the Proposal: Strategic Growth, Influence, and Client Experience in AEC

In today’s competitive AEC landscape, winning work takes more than strong relationships and polished proposals. Firm leaders are increasingly combining strategic pursuit planning, thought leadership, brand visibility, market intelligence, and AI-driven tools to position their firms for growth. This panel will explore how firms are building influence before opportunities even emerge, how client expectations are evolving across the Chicago market, and how teams are balancing relationship-based business development with data, digital strategy, and real-world lessons learned. Panelists will share insights on what’s actually driving differentiation today — from executive visibility and differentiated storytelling to smarter pursuit strategies and AI-enabled workflows.