The 16th Annual SWAN Conference was held in Tampa, Florida from June 2-4, 2026 focused on the theme, “Adapting Your Digital Journey.” Digital transformation in the water sector isn’t a straight road. It evolves over time requiring pivots and continuous learning. This Conference aims to meet utilities where they are at, highlighting how to build and sustain success across people, processes, and technology. View all speaker bios here.
SWAN Members can access all materials when logged in to the website.
Conference Attendees can now access the presentation slides and photos HERE. If you can’t retrieve the password, please contact Maayan Schiller: maayan@swan-forum.com
Facilitator: Andy Smith, Smart Water Systems Senior Manager (Anglian Water Services, UK)
This masterclass reframes “Proof of Concept” as “Proof of Change,” showing how experimentation can drive lasting organizational transformation instead of short-lived pilots. Drawing on the real journey from Anglian Water, it shows how each PoC can build capability across people, processes, data, and governance.
Facilitator: Clay Wise, Digital Water Engineer (HRSD, VA)
This session cuts through the hype with an honest, practitioner-led look at embedding AI into real utility workflows. From hydraulic modeling to field operations, he’ll share the specific tools, rules, and trade-offs his team actually uses. Expect actionable takeaways from live case studies, hands-on practice, and straight talk on where AI fits — and where it doesn’t.
June 2nd – Interactive Workshops
Hosted in partnership Moonshot Missions and Karmous-Edwards Consulting
Hosted by the SWAN Digital Twin Group and AI Community of Practice
Hosted by RiSWP (SWAN Young Professional Group)
June 3rd – Big Picture Strategy
6:30-7:00 AM SWAN Run Club Powered by RiSWP
For all the early birds, join us for a pre-conference group run to get energised for the day. Meet in the JW Marriott Lobby at 6:30.
9:00-9:10 AM Introduction
- Nadia Abboud, President (ENAY Group) & Travis Kennedy, Chief Industry Officer (Water Online)
9:10-9:30 AM Keynote: “Becoming an Adaptive Water Utility: Navigating the Messy Middle of AI Digital Transformation”
- Georges Gonzalez, Water Resources Enterprise Solutions Director (Hillsborough County Water Resources Department, Florida) – View Bio
9:30-10:30 AM Adapting to Thrive: Leading Your Digital Transformation
Moderator: Derek Przybylo, Principal, Climate Change and Sustainability Services (EY)
- Luiz Renato Fraga Rios, Director of Revenue Assurance (Sabesp, Brazil)“Sabesp’s Unprecedented Digital Transformation Framework”
- Joana Araújo, Operations Management Centre Coordinator (Águas e Energia do Porto, Portugal)“From Crisis to Continuity: How to Adapt Your Digital Journey for Resilience”
- Jaime Parson, Principal Management Consultant & Emma Petke, Senior Management Consultant (Arcadis)“The Way Behind the Water: Digital Transformation Beyond Technology at Tampa Bay Water”
10:30-11:00 AM Networking & Refreshments Break
11:00-11:45 AM Closing the Human Gap in Digital Utilities
Moderator: Cristi Bickham, Deputy General Manager for External Affairs (WSSC Water)
- Silvia Amparano, Deputy Director (Tucson Water, Arizona) “Tucson Water IT Modernization and Digital Utility Transformation”
- Nate Adams, Director of Water Resiliency – Customer Service (Santa Margarita Water District, California)“From Bottlenecks to Shared Ownership: Adapting Spatially Driven Customer Communications at a Regional Water Utility”
- Jon Grant, Workforce Ninja (Operational Technical Services)“Hydrotech.AI: A Utility-Built AI Framework Driving Operational Intelligence and Workforce Empowerment”
11:45-12:30 PM When the Data Fails: Adjusting to Uncertainties
Moderator: Kirsten Corcoran, GIS Supervisor, Water Resources (City of St. Petersburg, Florida)
- Jan-Terje Sorlie, CEO/CTO & Caroline Holt, Business Developer AI (Guard Automation)“When the Digital Journey Runs Out of Data – and Why That’s Not the End”
- Ignaz Worm, Industry Principal Water (Timeseer)“Data Validation Solution for Water Saving and Identification of Unreliable Sensors and Incidents”
- Brian Bradley, Hydraulic Engineer (City of Grand Rapids, Michigan)
12:30-1:30 PM Lunch Sponsored by HDR
Join us for a special lunch to learn more about the SWAN Americas Alliance and how to get involved.
1:30-1:50 PM SWAN Updates & Awards
- Dr. Amir Cahn, CEO & Shirley Ben-Dak, Senior Advisor (SWAN Forum)
- Ashwin Dhanasekar, Operations Leader – Digital Solutions (Brown and Caldwell)
1:50-3:00 PM Interactive Roundtable Sessions (SWAN Members can access roundtable recaps)
1. Utility Leaders’ Role in Fostering a Digital Revolution led by Jason Carter, National Technical Manager and Jim Cooper, Global Director, Water (Arcadis)
2. The Blueprint Lab: Shape What’s Next in Data-Driven Water – A collaborative arena for defining future-ready, data-driven solutions led by Caroline Holt, Business Developer AI (Guard Automation)
3. Water First: Tackling NRW to Strengthen Resilience Without Added Financial Burden led by Jack Canfield, Country Director, USA (FIDO Tech)
4. Balancing IT/OT Cybersecurity with Innovation at Water Utilities led by David Brearley, Controls & Cyber Services Director (HDR)
5. Stop Babysitting Pumps: Turning Data into Action led by Ulrik Hojbjerre, Head of Digital Portfolio (Grundfos)
6. Sewer Overflows: The Challenge, Underlying Causes, Traditional and New Solutions led by James Ogden, VP of Business Development (StormHarvester)
7. When Smart Water Management also boosts Energy Efficiency throughout Operations led by Thomas Perianu, Global Business Development Director (SUEZ Digital Solutions)
8. Unlocking Smart Water: The Role and Benefits of Data Model Standardization led by Sergio Lazzarotto, President (DLMS User Association)
9. True North. Why Valid Data is Crucial to Save Water and Money led by Ignaz Worm, Industry Principal Water (Timeseer)
10. Beyond Dashboards: How AI Agents Can Help Water Infrastructure Learn, Adapt, and Optimize in Real Time led by Katie Higgins, Senior Solutions Engineer and Nils Smit, Head of Solutions (RLCore.ai)
11. Finding a New Hope Amid Regulatory Challenges led by Sally Gutierrez, Principal (Sally Gutierrez Water Consulting)
12. (Re)Building Public Trust Via Incentives: We Love Smart Water. So Why Do Others Remain Suspicious? Led by Jamie Workman, Founder & CEO (AquaShares Inc. PBC)
13. What If ROI Is the Wrong Question Entirely? Led by Fabio Marques, CEO (Fabio Marques Company)
14. Identifying Priorities, Barriers, and Opportunities for Research and Industry Partnerships led by Emily Berglund, Civil Engineering Professor (North Carolina State University)
15. Utilities Have More Customer Data Than Ever – Why Fly Blind? Led by Maria Cardenal, Senior Analyst (Bluefield Research)
16. Building the Digital Water Workforce: Attracting and Empowering the Next Generation? Led by the RiSWP Leadership Team
3:00-3:30 PM Networking & Refreshments Break
3:30-4:20 PM Scaling Integrated Asset Management
Moderator: Alex Webb, Business Development Manager (SUEZ North America)
- Hamid Nikvan, Utility Director (City of North Miami Beach, Florida) & Andrew Swirsky, Principal Engineer (Infrasync Technology Services)“From Data Silos to Smart Utility: North Miami Beach’s Journey to Integrated Water & Wastewater Management”
- Tacoma Zach, CEO (MentorAPM) “AI-Enabled Asset Intelligence: Overcoming Foundational Data Gaps to Activate Digital Asset Management”
- Benjamin Resnik, CEO and Developer (BSTS labs d.o.o.) “From 2 Sites/Day to 10× More: How Vodovod System B Consolidated Asset Context and Scaled EU Project Verification”
4:20-5:00 PM Speed Dating/B2B Networking
- Maddy Zimmerman, Americas Manager (SWAN Forum)
5:00-5:20 PM Keynote: “Leading at the Source – Confidence, resilience, and the relationships that carry essential work forward”
- Keri Laine, Founder & CEO (Keri Laine Executive Solutions) – View Bio
5:20-5:30 PM Summary & Conclusion
- Nadia Abboud, President (ENAY Group) & Travis Kennedy, Chief Industry Officer (Water Online)
6:00-8:00 PM Networking Reception Hosted by FIDO
Join us at the Splitsville Tiki Bar (10-minute walk from the venue) for two hours of all-you-can-drink, eat, and play. Enjoy bowling, ping pong, billiards, foosball, darts, shuffleboard, and the most popular game of all – Belgian feather bowling. Don’t miss out!
June 4th – Technical Tracks
Water
9:00-9:10 AM Welcome Remarks
- Travis Kennedy, Chief Industry Officer (Water Online)
9:10-10:00 AM AMI Pivots, Detours, and the Road Less Traveled
Moderator: Anne Mushow, CEO (Subeca)
- Dan Martin, Senior Data Analyst (Tacoma Water, Washington)“When Meters Change but Data Shouldn’t: How Tacoma Water Keeps SmartWater Pressure and Flow Analytics Intact”
- Freddie Guerra, Vice President/Digital Lead – Water (Accenture)“FGUA’s AMI Program: What Worked, What Didn’t, and What’s Next”
- Bharat Khanna, Director – Digital Water Solutions, North America (GHD Digital)“Modernizing Water at Scale: Lessons from Tirta Mayang, Jambi (Indonesia) Practical, Inclusive, Adaptive, and Sustainable AMI Deployment”
10:00-10:45 AM From Leak to Unique Models
Moderator: Mitch Donnelly, CEO (FIDO Tech)
- Sabrina Rodrigues Coelho, Engineer (Sociedade de Abastecimento de Água e Saneamento S/A – Sanasa, Brazil) & Pedro Henrique Kriguer, Sanitation Analyst (Wavin)“A Collaborative Model for AI-Driven Water Loss Reduction in a Municipal Utility”
- Niraj Patel, Director of Public Utilities (City of St. Louis, Missouri) & Ifeanyichukwu Alika, Senior Director, AI Strategy and Solutions (Sand Technologies) “Adapting Burst Detection Under Sparse Telemetry: Best Practices and Lessons from a St Louis Utility Water Implementation”
- Avi Atias, Product Manager (Aquestia) “Listening Before Failing: Adapting Operational Practice to Prevent Failures and Pollution in a Rising Main Network”
Wastewater
Sponsored by UDlive
9:00-9:10 AM Welcome Remarks
- Philip Bennett, Managing Director (UDlive, a Badger Meter brand)
9:10-10:00 AM The Practical Building Blocks of Wastewater Intelligence
Moderator: Elizabeth Aguin, Vice President of Operational Support Services (RJN Group)
- Kody Tompkins, Director of O&M (Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority, California) & Ryan Sanford, Senior Wastewater Process Engineer (DHI)“Crawling Out of the Graveyard: Practical Learnings from Utilities Transitioning from 24/7 Staffing”
- Emily Eichholzer, Project Manager of Collections and Pumping (City of Naperville, Illinois) & Christopher Skehan, Commercial Manager/Product Manager (IDEX Intelligent Water)“From Snapshot to Strategy: How One Utility Reframed Large-Diameter Sewer Risk Using Rapid, Digital Screening”
- Cynthia Chemello, Associate Principal (AECOM) “Strategic Digital Transformation Framework: Advancing Municipal Wastewater”
10:00-10:45 AM Beyond Alarms: Innovating Sewer Systems
Moderator: Yige Gao, Technical Services Section Manager (Gwinnett County, Georgia)
- Peter Simms, Director of Water Distribution & Wastewater Collection Systems (Gainesville Regional Utilities, Florida) & Chase Mendell, Marketing and System Operations Manager (InfoSense)“Separating Out the Crap: How to Innovate in a Changing Industry”
- Adam Sharpe, Vice President/Utility Planning Practice Lead (HDR) “Beyond Pipe Dreams: How Data, AI, and Asset Management Are Reshaping OWASA’s Gravity Sewer Rehabilitation Program”
- Jay Boyd, Market Development Director (Grundfos)“Optimising the digital journey: Eliminating alarm fatigue through advanced analytics”
10:45-11:15 AM Networking & Refreshments Break
11:15-12:00 PM Co-Creating Future-Proof Utilities
Moderator: Kevin Montague, SCADA Systems Manager (Dekalb County Department of Watershed Management, Georgia)
- Ellie White, Water Resources Data Scientist (EKI Environment & Water, Inc.)“Building Trust in Regional Water Planning: An Interactive MCDA Framework for Consensus Building in the Ipswich River Basin”
- Ljiljana Zlatanovic, Senior Digital Water Consultant (Arup)“Co-creating future-proof design criteria for low-flow drinking-water and sewer networks”
- Dave Moody, Process Improvement Manager (Charlotte County Utilities) & Olivia Bergmann, Water/Wastewater Engineer (HDR)”From Planning to Action: How Charlotte County Utilities and HDR Modernized Decision-Making Through Integrated Master Planning”
11:15-12:00 PM Streamlining Wastewater Automation
Moderator: Zonetta E. English, Strategic Initiatives & Project Director (Louisville MSD)
- Robert Juen, Applied Data Analyst (South Platte Renew, Colorado) “Your Most Underused Staff Member is Code: How Data Automation Streamlined Reporting and Reduced Workload at South Platte Renew”
- Eduardo Giancristofaro, Business Developer – EcoStruxure Automation Expert (Schneider Electric)“From Software Defined Vision to Daily Operations: How the City of Conroe Operationalized Automation”
- Jennifer Baldwin, Digital OneWater Director (Jacobs) & Mason Throneburg, CEO (Confluency) “Building the Foundation for Real-Time Control: Lessons from Omaha’s Incremental Digital Transformation”
12:00-1:00 PM Networking Lunch Sponsored by Grundfos
We invite you to meet with the different SWAN Community of Practice groups focused on Smart Metering, Energy Efficiency, Adaptive Data Management, and Start-Ups.
1:00-1:40 PM Waterside Chat: Winning Together Through Smart Watersheds
Facilitator: James Byrne, Director of Strategy and Policy (The Nature Conservancy)
- Kylie Yanchula, Director (Indian River County BOCC)
- Josh Franklin, Head of Infrastructure – America Central (AWS)
- Alex Bedig, Chief Innovation Officer (OptiRTC)
1:40-2:00 PM Keynote: “Harvesting Transparency: What ‘smart water’ can learn from ‘smart fishing boats'”
2:00-2:50 PM Empowering Digital Water Resilience
Moderator: Nonhlakanipho Tau, Water Specialist (SALGA, South Africa)
- Ken Wendtland, Director of Information Technology (Las Vegas Valley Water District / Southern Nevada Water Authority)
- Patrick Williamson, Senior Solution Architect (Badger Meter)“Texas-sized Resilience: How Galveston’s Smart Water Network Endured Hurricane Beryl”
- Neil Patel, Manager (50Liter Home Coalition)
2:50-3:00 PM Summary & Conclusion
- Christopher Atta Amponsah, PhD Student (University of South Florida) & Ammar Riyadh, Water Engineer (Arup)
June 5th – Hillsborough County Study Tours
Site Tour 1: South County Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility
Address: 520 Teco Rd., Ruskin, FL
9:00-9:45 Travel to Facility
9:45-10:15 Welcome & Introduction
10:15-11:15 Tour and Process Control Discussion
11:15-12:00 Debrief & Questions
12:00-12:45 Travel to Conference Hotel
Site Tour 2: Central Drinking Water Treatment Facility
Address: 9460 E. Columbus Dr., Tampa, FL
9:00-9:30 Travel to Facility
9:30-9:45 Welcome & Introduction
9:45-10:45 Tour and Process Control Discussion
10:45-11:00 Debrief & Questions
11:00-11:30 Travel to Conference Hotel
Thank You to Our Sponsors
