Speaking & Media

Talk Topics

I tailor each presentation to the audience and format. Below are some of my most requested topics.

Why Projects Fail, and How to Fix Them

The planning fallacy, the Iron Law of Megaprojects and the systemic challenges that derail delivery. A challenges-causes-cures framework drawing on the world's largest project database, reference class forecasting and debiasing techniques.

How to Measure Anything in Project Management

Key themes from the bestselling book: why many measurement techniques are flawed and how to measure what really matters in projects.

AI for Project Oversight

The story behind Hong Kong's Project Supervision System, where ML models predict cost overruns across hundreds of capital projects, and how large language models can accelerate public consultations, drawing on experience with the UK Planning Inspectorate.

Net-Zero Projects & the Cost of Carbon

Maintaining capital discipline while decarbonising energy systems. Covers carbon pricing, integrated assessment models, discount rates and equity weighting, and how these parameters shape trillion-dollar policy decisions.

Risk, Noise & Cost Overruns

Monte Carlo simulation, sensitivity analysis and the value of information. Why unbiased estimates still produce systematic cost overruns, how estimation noise and project selection create an optimizer's curse, and how to quantify risk under deep uncertainty.

Biodiversity & Ecosystem Valuation

Contingent valuation, choice experiments and natural capital accounting. How to value environmental impacts and integrate biodiversity into cost-benefit analysis.

Upcoming Events

Aug 2026

Danish Environmental Economics Conference

Talk: "The Price of Biodiversity: Hedonic Valuation of Ecological Quality in Danish Property Markets." The latest results from my PhD research on what Danish homebuyers pay for the ecological quality of nearby nature. See the research and the interactive map. Presented in the conference's biodiversity session, organised by the Danish Economic Councils (De Økonomiske Råd). Kurhotel Skodsborg, Denmark.
More info
Sep 2026

Concept Symposium

Talk: "Measuring What Matters: Reducing Uncertainty Where It Counts." Project appraisal often measures what is already well understood and skips the variables where uncertainty is greatest, such as environmental and social outcomes. Measuring those instead leads to fewer but better projects. Includes an example from PhD research on the economic valuation of biodiversity. Norwegian Ministry of Finance / NTNU Concept Research Programme. Oslo, Norway.
More info
Oct 2026

Megaprojekter og store bygge- og anlægsprojekter

Bygherreforeningen (Danish Association of Construction Clients). Copenhagen, Denmark.
More info
Oct 2026

Projektforum 2026

Talk: "How to Measure Anything in Project Management." New research and practical tools for measuring what matters in projects, including benefits, risks and harder-to-quantify factors such as societal value, biodiversity and innovation. Dansk Projektledelse / Dansk IT. Nyborg, Denmark.
View programme

Selected Past Events

2026

Jun

Folkemødet

"Megaprojekter i Danmark – hvor gode er vi egentlig?" (megaprojects in Denmark: how good are we really?)

Presented Oxford Global Projects' analysis of how Danish megaprojects perform compared with other EU countries, and joined the panel debate with directors from By & Havn, Metroselskabet and Region Sjælland. Hosted by Implement Consulting Group at Denmark's annual democracy festival. Allinge, Denmark. View programme
Jun

Ledelseskonferencen

"Evidensbaseret ledelse: Sådan måler du det, der betyder noget" (evidence-based management: how to measure what matters)

Public-sector leadership conference. Odense, Denmark. View programme
Apr

Fremtidens samarbejde i store bygge- og anlægsprojekter

"Hvorfor går store projekter galt?" (why do large projects fail?)

Seminar on large construction and civil engineering projects, co-hosted by Plesner and COWI. Copenhagen, Denmark.
Mar

Den bæredygtige businesscase og perspektiver på finansiering og risiko

"Datadrevet afsæt for risikoanalyse og usikkerhed ved projekter" (a data-driven basis for project risk and uncertainty)

Bygherreforeningen (Danish Association of Construction Clients) workshop on financing and risk. Copenhagen, Denmark.

2025

Nov

Project Controls Expo

"How to Measure Anything in Project Management"

London, United Kingdom.
Nov

Meet the Authors

"How to Measure Anything in Project Management"

Major Projects Association. Watch recording
Sep

Megaproject Conference

"Økonomien i de store projekter – hvad ved vi?" (the economics of large projects: what do we know?)

Bygherreforeningen (Danish Association of Construction Clients). Copenhagen, Denmark.
Sep

GCIEP AI Learning Session

"AI for project controls"

Panel on AI in sustainable cities and infrastructure. Green Cities, Infrastructure and Energy Programme (UK FCDO). Online.
Aug

Danish Environmental Economics Conference

"Maintaining capital discipline in the rush to net-zero energy systems"

Copenhagen, Denmark. See the findings →
Jun

AACE International Conference

"Why Cost Overruns Persist: Rethinking Project Forecasting Through a Holistic Lens"

Cost engineering and project controls.

2024

Nov

Project Controls Expo

"How to Measure Anything in Project Management: An Early Look at a New Book"

London, United Kingdom.
Nov

Machine Learning Week Europe

"Guarding Public Works Projects with an Early Warning System for the Hong Kong Development Bureau"

Munich, Germany. See the findings →

2023

Nov

Ledelseskonferencen

"Oxford Global Projects om mestring af projekter: Nå i mål til tiden og indenfor budgettet?" (on delivering projects on time and on budget)

Public-sector leadership conference, 500 attendees. Odense, Denmark.
Oct

PyData

"Accelerating Public Consultations with Large Language Models: A Case Study from the UK Planning Inspectorate"

Berlin, Germany.
Sep

British Academy of Management Conference

"Project performance under public and private ownership"

Brighton, United Kingdom.