CM Trends Webinar 2026 Speakers

DAY ONE SPEAKERS: NOON - 2:00PM EDT

KEYNOTE: "Configuration Management - From Asset Control to AI Enablement" by A. Larry Gurule, i-Infusion Inc and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: Organizations deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) face a risk that is easy to underestimate: They often cannot prove what their AI systems are doing, why they are doing it, or whether those systems still perform within the boundaries originally certified. Popular discourse frames this as a technology problem. It is not. The risk faced by organizations deploying AI is a governance problem, and Configuration Management (CM) has been solving exactly this class of problem for decades.

This presentation makes the case that CM is not an administrative overhead function. CM is the strategic foundation upon which trustworthy, auditable, and explainable AI depends. This presentation traces CM through three distinct eras of increasing organizational importance and uses a single pointed challenge question to show why every answer leads back to SAE EIA649C CM principles.

The practical message is direct: the organizations that will extract the most value from AI are not necessarily those with the largest models. They will be the organizations that know what information they have, where it lives, who owns it, if it is trustworthy, whether it is current, and how it relates to everything else. That is fundamentally a CM problem.

Speaker Bio: Larry Gurule is the President of CMPIC LLC, lead instructor, and author of CMPIC’s course material. He has decades of experience in configuration management, including consulting, assessing, and teaching on the subject matter to a wide variety of organizations across the globe. Larry is an active member in the CM community and is Chairperson of the SAE G-33 committee.

Larry has decades of Configuration Management experience on hundreds of government and commercial projects including the DoD, tier 1 and sub tier aerospace/defense suppliers, electronic developers/manufactures, medical developers/manufactures, automotive developers/manufactures, and industrial equipment developers/manufactures, as well as numerous service/process industry technology implementations. He is an experienced consultant and CM instructor specializing in the methodical investigation, analysis, review and documentation of all or part of a business in terms of business functions and processes, the information used and the data on which the information is based. For use in process and knowledge driven environments, including acquisition, product development, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, retail, distribution, and sustainment.

Larry has a BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, CMPIC Certification, CMSME, CMII Certification, CM Lead Assessor Certification, and CM Professional Certification. He is an active leader and member of American Society for Quality (ASQ) and SAE International. He has specialized training including Project Management, Configuration Management Professional Certification, Systems Engineering, Lean Six Sigma, Lean Enterprise, Lean Bill of Materials, Balanced Score Card and Activity Based Costing methodologies.

"AI & CM: Beyond all the Hype" by Peter A. Bilello, President & CEO, CIMdata, Inc.

Presentation Overview: Let there be no doubt, configuration management (CM) is a critical process that must be at the core of any organization’s product lifecycle management (PLM) strategy if it intents on being effective, efficient, and innovative. When implemented and supported correctly, CM’s practices, policies, and procedures ensure that the appropriate resources, processes, and tools are used to establish and maintain consistency between the product requirements, the resulting product, and associated product configuration information. The hype around Artificial intelligence (AI) has increased exponentially over the last few years. While it has been present in the PLM market for years, the impact of newer generative AI and CM knowledgeable agents remain unclear. While practical benefits exist, companies are still working to understand, integrate, and optimize AI in the context of lifecycle enablement.

CIMdata expects AI to bring both challenges and opportunities, with potential for significant and disruptive gains if managed well. However, like most emerging technologies, AI is often hyped before its real value is proven. The task for CM professionals and its lifecycle management application is to turn AI’s disruptive power into enterprise value. So, where are we at today when we consider AI’s support of CM? Has AI’s enablement of CM reached its tipping point? What is available and what is potentially next? The emergence of these topics in the context of CM and lifecycle management enablement will be presented.

Speaker Bio: Peter Bilello, President & CEO of the strategic management consulting and research firm CIMdata—an internationally recognized authority on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)—has more than 35 years of experience in the development of business-enabling information technology (IT) solutions for research, engineering, and manufacturing organizations worldwide. He has participated in PLM analysis, selection, implementation, and training; CAD/CAM/CAE/CIM implementation and management; synchronous and lean manufacturing consulting; software engineering; and general data management strategy development and support. He has authored numerous papers and research reports on PLM and related topics, and his articles, commentaries, and perspectives have appeared in publications throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Mr. Bilello has been directly involved with consultation on the selection, integration, and implementation of large-scale PLM solutions. He has spoken on a number of different PLM-related topics in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Mr. Bilello holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with a minor in Physics from the California State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Science in Engineering degree, in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, from The University of Michigan.

DAY ONE SPEAKERS: 2:00PM - 4:00PM EDT

"Configuration Management for Controlled Technical Data: Integrating Information Governance and Export Control Compliance" by José Ricardo Faria, Product Development Engineer, Embraer / São José dos Campos

Presentation Overview: The increasing regulatory requirements related to export control have intensified the need for effective mechanisms to manage export controlled data. In this context, Configuration Management plays a fundamental role in ensuring the proper identification, control, traceability, and integrity of technical information throughout its entire lifecycle. This presentation examines the relationship between the five Configuration Management Functions defined by SAE EIA-649 Rev C—Configuration Management Planning and Management, Configuration Identification, Configuration Change Management, Configuration Status Accounting, and Configuration Verification and Audit—and Export Control requirements. It demonstrates how the application of these functions contributes to regulatory compliance, information traceability, and the mitigation of risks associated with the transfer and sharing of controlled technology. Based on concepts widely applied within the aerospace industry and on my professional experience in Configuration Management and Export Control, the presentation highlights the benefits of a robust Configuration Management process and presents best practices for managing controlled technical data. The presentation concludes that Configuration Management not only supports compliance with regulatory requirements but also serves as an important mechanism for information governance, protection of strategic knowledge, and demonstration of compliance in highly regulated environments.

Speaker Bio: José Ricardo is a Control and Automation Engineer with experience in the aerospace industry since 2006, working in the field of Configuration Management. In 2009, he began working on aerospace programs related to the Defense sector, later expanding his activities to include Export Control processes. His professional background includes participation in highly complex aerospace programs, with a focus on technical data management, configuration change control, information traceability, and the improvement of processes related to technical governance. He currently works at Embraer, a global aerospace company founded in 1969 and internationally recognized for the development, manufacturing, certification, and support of aircraft in the Commercial Aviation, Executive Aviation, Defense & Security, and Services & Support segments. Operating in a global and technologically complex environment, the company relies on robust processes for the management, protection, and control of strategic technical information.

"AI and Engineering Change Management" by Mike Treadwell, CM Advocates LLC and CMPIC Instructor

Presentation Overview: This presentation will discuss AI and Engineering Change Management in PLM/ECM. Opportunities, challenges, successful integration and future impact on engineering processes will be addressed.AI is not simply adding new tools to engineering; it is changing the entire process of how systems are created and supported. Its greatest value lies in speeding up design, improving precision, and enabling smarter operations, but human engineering judgment will remain essential for safety and accountability. The future of engineering will likely be a partnership between human expertise and AI-driven systems.

Speaker Bio: Mr. Treadwell is a CMPIC Associate Instructor and president of the Association for Configuration and Data Management (ACDM). He has served as CM assessor and consultant on business/management improvements, training others in the configuration management practices in accordance with the latest standards.

Mike has decades of configuration management experience in the Aerospace and Defense marketplace as both an acquirer (U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command and U.S. Postal Service) but also a supplier (Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, ILC Dover, Motorola, Lockheed Martin).

Mike holds Configuration Management certification from National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), IPX, and CMPIC, including designation as a Configuration Management Subject Matter Expert (CMSME)

"649CM Acquisition Speed and Agility" by Larry Gurule, i-Infusion Inc and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: This presentation makes the case that speed without CM isn't agility, it's just unrecorded risk moving faster.

Agile/DevSecOps culture in AAF runs counter to many currently defined processes and culture specifically because those processes were built for long timelines and costly changes; the fix industry needs isn't less configuration discipline, it's tailorable, continuous configuration discipline that can keep pace with sprint-speed realization and change.

649C CM:
• through tiered control, baselines as stable reference points rather than bottlenecks, and continuous rather than periodic verification
• is what lets a program go fast and still answer, at any later point, what was approved, when, by whom, and whether what's running now still matches it.

THE CHALLENGE QUESTION
If an AI system gives a recommendation that affects a customer, mission, product, or regulatory obligation; How do we know the information it relied upon was current, approved, and authoritative?

"AI in Government Contracting" by Leisa Lemaster, CMPIC Instructor and Lisa Fenwick, CMstat and CMPIC Instructor

Presentation Overview: Developing clear, complete, and compliant contractual documents is fundamental to successful government acquisitions. From defining mission needs through contract award and execution, acquisition professionals must produce a wide range of interrelated documents—including Statements of Work (SOWs), Performance Work Statements (PWSs), Statements of Objectives (SOOs), specifications, Contract Data Requirements Lists (CDRLs), Data Item Descriptions (DIDs), Work Breakdown Structures (WBSs), Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs), and Configuration Management requirements—that establish the technical, contractual, and programmatic foundation for a successful program.

This presentation explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can improve the development of contractual documents by accelerating document creation, improving consistency, enhancing traceability, and reducing errors. Attendees will learn how AI can transform mission requirements into structured acquisition artifacts while maintaining alignment with federal acquisition regulations, agency policies, and engineering best practices.

Speaker Bio: Ms. Lemaster is a CMPIC Associate Instructor, CMSME configuration management (CM) subject matter expert (SME) with 40 years of experience in Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition development, production, and sustainment programs, possessing unique qualifications, insights and understanding of CM, data management and data digital transformation. Experienced in both US Air Force (USAF) and foreign military sales (FMS) programs to include F-16, F-15, Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP), Global Hawk, MQ-1 and MQ-9. Principal author of MIL-HDBK-61B, Configuration Management Guidance, and major contributor to the creation and maintenance of industry standards governing CM—providing up-to-date solutions to current CM challenges. Active instructor for SAE industry standards to include SAE-649C, Configuration Management, and SAE-649-1A, Configuration Management for DoD Contracts. NH-03, Department of the Air Force (DAF) (Retired)

Speaker Bio: Ms.Fenwick serves as VP of Product Development at CMstat and is a CMPIC Associate Instructor with more than 30 years of experience in CM and Data Management. A certified CMPIC SME and CM Assessor, she has led CM/DM implementations and consulting engagements across government and industry, helping organizations strengthen product data integrity and governance.

For over 20 years, Lisa has contributed to the SAE G‑33 Committee, shaping foundational standards such as EIA‑649C, GEIA‑HB‑649B, EIA‑836, and GEIA‑859, and she supports the IEEE‑828 review team.

Lisa’s current focus is the intersection of CM/DM and artificial intelligence including how AI can support CM, DM, and contracting activities—from developing clearer SOWs and CDRLs to improving WBS alignment, requirements traceability, and documentation quality. Her work helps teams implement CM and DM in today’s environments responsibly while preserving rigor, compliance, and engineering discipline.

DAY TWO SPEAKERS: NOON - 2:00PM EDT

"Digital Thread is the Nervous System" by Larry Gurule, i-Infusion Inc and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: Enterprise Leadership, CM and Cyber Security practitioners and professionals, every AI system, every acquisition program, every enterprise transformation now runs on a digital thread, a continuous flow of data connecting requirements to design to test to operations.

But a nervous system with no spine has nowhere to route its signals.

That's the part most organizations skip. They invest in the thread, the sensors, APIs, dashboards, models consuming and generating data, and quietly assume connectivity is the same thing as trust. It isn't. A signal traveling fast is not the same as a signal traveling somewhere authoritative.

SAE EIA649C Configuration Management is the spine.

Not a convenient metaphor, a literal structural dependency.

Remove any one vertebra and the thread still carries data. It just stops being trustworthy. i.e., a fast nervous system wired to nothing solid underneath it.

This is the case we keep making to program offices, CM practitioners, and AI governance teams: the digital thread isn't a replacement for configuration management. It's the reason CM discipline matters more than it ever has. The AI era didn't retire CM, it gave CM a nervous system to run.

If your organization is investing in the thread without investing in the spine, you have connectivity. You don't have TRUST, yet.

This presentation makes the case that 649C CM doesn't throttle every item down uniformly; it applies control proportional to risk, which is exactly what "speed and agility" requires, speed where risk is low, discipline where it isn't. Speed without 649CM isn't agility, it's just unrecorded risk moving faster.

"Is AI Going To Take My Job?" by Dave Allen, CMPIC Instructor, CMstat Consultant, CM/DM Coach

Presentation Overview: The presentation explores automation anxiety, the real impact of AI on jobs, and the specific implications for Configuration Management (CM) roles.

Speaker Bio: Mr. Allen is a CMPIC instructor. He retired from Raytheon as the Director of CM and DM and started JDA Consulting LLC. Dave is an Associate Technical Fellow for TechAmerica (now SAE), a NDIA certified CM DM Manager, and a member of the G33 committee for CM.

DAY TWO SPEAKERS: 2:00PM - 4:00PM EDT

"How AI Can Be Used To Strengthen CM" by Rita Dufresne, Configuration Management Manager, Kratos Training Solutions

Presentation Overview: A discussion about some of the myths that surround CM and AI, including different ways AI can be used to strengthen CM, rules of engagement around how to use AI safely, helpful links into the kinds of AI CM can use, and common industry AI tools.

Speaker Bio: Rita has over 15 years working for leaders in the defense industry with an SME certification in Configuration Management, training in Lean Six Sigma black belt, and an MBA from the University of Central Florida. Along with her subject matter expertise in configuration and data management, she has a deep dedication for process improvement and metrics-based performance and productivity enhancement.

Rita has used this knowledge and passion to increase the efficiency and performance of many high visibility projects while fostering a culture of optimism and inclusiveness that increases employee satisfaction and engagement. Through her career she has also served as a corporate ambassador and held leadership roles on many employee resource groups such as a women’s success network , a working parents alliance, and Able and Allies, an employee support network for employees who have or care for those with a disability as well as serving as a coach, mentor, and instructor to employees both new and seasoned.

"Beyond Identification - Why Configuration Management Must Prove Identity in the Post-Quantum Era" by Jeff Heisler, i-Infusion Inc and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: For decades, Configuration Management has relied on administrative identifiers—part numbers, document numbers, version identifiers, serial numbers, and metadata—to establish the identity of Configuration Items (CIs). These identifiers have been essential for controlling change, establishing baselines, and enabling traceability throughout a product's lifecycle. However, they were never designed to answer a fundamental question: Can you prove this digital artifact is authentic?

Executive Order 14412 signals a significant shift in how the federal government—and ultimately industry—will establish trust in digital artifacts. As post-quantum cryptography becomes a contractual requirement across the federal acquisition landscape, Configuration Management professionals must expand the traditional concept of identity beyond human-readable identifiers to include cryptographically verifiable identity.

This session introduces the concept of Cryptographic Identity: The set of cryptographic evidence bound to a Configuration Item that enables independent verification of its authenticity, integrity, provenance, and lifecycle state throughout its operational existence.

Rather than presenting post-quantum cryptography as another cybersecurity topic, this presentation examines it through the lens of Configuration Management principles. We'll explore how post-quantum digital signatures, cryptographic provenance, and immutable evidence transform the way digital artifacts are identified, transferred, stored, audited, and trusted across the software and systems lifecycle.

Attendees will learn why the emerging "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" threat extends beyond protecting communications to protecting the integrity and long-term trustworthiness of every digital artifact managed throughout its lifecycle. More importantly, they will gain practical insight into how Executive Order 14412 and the evolving NIST post-quantum standards influence future Configuration Management practices, acquisition requirements, and industry standards. Configuration Management has always assigned identity. Post-Quantum Configuration Management must also prove identity.

Speaker Bio: Jeff Heisler is retired USAF, and currently the software developer of Orpheus, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform designed to facilitate and enable Process Lifecycle Modeling and Management. He is also a CMPIC instructor for Course 8, Software Configuration Management and the Platform Manager for TikTok’s learning platform..

He has spent the last 20 years developing software for the PDM/CM industry, and 15 years before that writing software for DOD’s Logistics Agency.

Jeff is also an actor and joins his wife on stage regularly at their family owned Heisler Theater.

"Introduction to Aviation Cybersecurity Mitigation Techniques: Configuration Management Workshop" by Larry Gurule, i-Infusion Inc and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: As we look at Aviation Cybersecurity Mitigation Techniques, I would like to discuss the foundational role SAE EIA649 Configuration Management and Meta-Governance play in this equation. That leads to a shift in how systems are managed, from focusing on activity to focusing on understanding, and from assuming correctness to being able to demonstrate it when needed. In the end, this comes down to responsibility.

Many of the sessions in this event point toward building more capable systems, digital threads, digital twins, AI-enabled workflows. This presentation makes the case that those systems remain understandable as they evolve. SAE EIA 649 Configuration Management provides the foundation for that, the approach, and the discipline to help sustain it. Without this foundation, we rely on interpretation and luck. With it, we have a clearer, more dependable understanding of what the system is actually doing. We have Meta-Governance. A cohesive understanding of what the system is actually doing. This requires more CM, especially 649CM, not less. And better CM integrated into our processes, threads, pipelines, and platforms across our enterprise, and its supply base.