Transforming Infrastructure Performance with Mark Coates

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Mar 9, 2026

Mark Coates, VP of Infrastructure Policy Advancement at Bentley Systems and leader of the TIP summit movement, discusses digitisation, decarbonisation and modern delivery. He covers data-as-an-asset, digital twins for lifecycle continuity, pragmatic AI to empower engineers, procurement for outcomes, and global-local lessons for boosting productivity and resilience.

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INSIGHT

The Magic Is In The Work We're Avoiding

The industry avoids standardisation, better briefing, data discipline and hard conversations about incentives in favour of project-level optimisation.
Hidden systemic performance sits between projects and requires focus on interfaces and reuse over one-off optimisation.

INSIGHT

Funding Alone Doesn't Create Delivery Capacity

Capital approvals don't equal delivery capacity: engineering resource limits, planning friction and supply chain issues constrain outcomes even with funding.
Mark Coates frames AI and digital workflows as capacity and productivity levers, not replacements for engineers.

ADVICE

Get Boards To Manage Data Value Not Just Accounts

Boards should recognise data as a value-bearing asset and use it to inform board-level decisions rather than only chasing accounting changes.
Mark Coates notes early examples in vertical sectors and urges focus on where boards and owners make choices.

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In this episode we dive into the infrastructure sector’s journey towards digitisation, decarbonisation and modernisation – a journey which to be honest, seems like one that we have been on for some time.

To do this, my guest is Mark Coates, Vice President of Infrastructure Policy Advancement at software giant Bentley Systems and the guiding mind behind TIP, the Transforming Infrastructure Performance global Summit initiative, the latest iteration of which was held last month in Melbourne.

Full disclosure – from the earliest days TIP back in 2022, I have been working with Mark to deliver the summits – in London, Manchester, Singapore, Toronto, New York and, as I say, most recently Melbourne. And it’s fair to say that, throughout this global journey, we have seen many common failings across the delivery chain but also, thankfully, identified a huge number of positive lessons to be shared.

One thing that is clear is that “business as usual”, the "old way" of delivering projects - siloed data, stagnant productivity, and resource-heavy construction – is broken.

Hence the need for a Transformation of Infrastructure Performance. Born from a UK government initiative and now championed by the National Infrastructure Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) alongside partners like Bentley Systems and the Institution of Civil Engineers, TIP has evolved from a local policy framework into a worldwide movement aimed at repairing this broken model. It’s goal is to help governments around the world to find better ways to deliver the infrastructure needed to support their communities.

So let’s hear more – what does the roadmap look like for a future where infrastructure truly performs for people and the planet?

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