Post by BuiltWorlds

The 2026 Chicago Global Summit closed with a celebration of this year's BuiltWorlds Mavericks! 🏆 The Mavericks Awards, determined by an external nominations process and vetting conducted by our research team, go back nearly a decade and began with a simple idea: to recognize the people pushing technology and innovation forward in AEC. The challenge, early on, was that many of the most impactful innovations weren't actually coming from within the industry. So we looked outward highlighting leaders from adjacent sectors, from tech, from outside perspectives—because that’s where new ideas were emerging. But over the past eight years, something important has shifted. The innovation ecosystem within AEC has grown up and it's gone global. Today, the people rethinking how we design, build, and operate the built world aren’t just borrowing ideas or leading change from a single hub like Silicon Valley. They’re industry insiders grounded in real project experience and deep domain expertise developing, investing in, and implementing new solutions all over the world. This year’s Mavericks represent 19 countries. It's a truly global reflection of how far our industry has come, and how global exchanges, like the Chicago Global Summit, are the only way to get an accurate, big-picture understanding of where we are headed. It was a highlight of the Summit to celebrate with and present awards to 15 of our 2026 Mavericks in person: 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬 Hassan Albalawi, PhD, CEO of WakeCap Josh Levy, co-founder & CEO of Document Crunch Ken Sobel, CEO of Hyperframe 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 Will Cavendish, global digital services leader at Arup Ann Esbeck, chief innovation officer at Bechtel Corporation Mark Hemphill, VP of innovation at USG Chris Masse, general superintendent at EllisDon German W. Aparicio Jr., program manager of early development & partner development at Trimble Inc. 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Dr. David Gerber, professor of practice and program director at the University of Southern California Ivan Mutis, associate professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 Sang Yoon Choi, director at GS Futures Kaushal Diwan, corporate director of strategic investments & partnerships at DPR Construction Silvia Mota, CEO of MEXT: Mota-Engil Next 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 Paul Reynolds, CEO of CALMFLOOR Congratulations, once again, to all of the 2026 BuiltWorlds Mavericks! Learn more about each of these incredible industry players at the link in the comments ⬇️