Best In Show: Bentley's 'Oscars of Infrastructure' Is Getting A New Look

Bentley's flagship Year In Infrastructure event kicks off in Singapore on October 6, and Nellie Greely, the Springsteen superfan leading its reinvention, says the best is yet to come.

By Kathleen Moore

Key takeaways:

• Dubbed the “Oscars of Infrastructure,” Bentley's YII awards have honored over 5,500 of the world's most outstanding infrastructure projects since 2004.
• This year's event aims to give attendees a new experience, from the moment they arrive at the Singapore venue.
• Bentley Head of Global Events Nellie Greely says the event celebrates Bentley software users and their projects from the moment they arrive.

It's been a busy few months for Nellie Greely. With just days to go until Bentley Systems hosts its flagship Year In Infrastructure (YII) event in Singapore, today she is picking playlists for walk-on music, corralling speakers, fielding a reporter's call, and making a hard stop to take another meeting. All this before some of us might have had our morning coffee.

Greely, who joined Bentley as head of global events in March, is leading the effort to give YII—often dubbed the Oscars of Infrastructure—a new look this year. It's the kind of high-stakes, high-energy production that the Detroit-native and Bruce Springsteen superfan—she's seen The Boss live more than 120 times—was, dare we say, born to run.

"YII 2026 isn't a reinvention of a beloved Bentley program," Greely says. "It's just a more intentional expression of what has always made that program matter: extraordinary people doing really consequential work, learning from one another, and raising the standards for the entire industry."

Preserving What's Special

Bentley launched the annual awards event in 2004, to celebrate infrastructure professionals and their work. The program recognizes teams that use Bentley engineering software in innovative ways to design, build, and operate infrastructure around the world. Over the last two decades, independent judges have selected and recognized over 5,500 of the world's most outstanding infrastructure projects across 12 categories, from bridges to water systems. (Watch highlights from last year's event in Amsterdam.)

Conscious of the program's heritage and prestige, Greely's starting point was to preserve what makes YII special. Attendees at the Singapore event, which runs October 6-7, will hear from Bentley CEO Nicholas Cumins and other senior executives, such as Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Bradshaw. As before, the event will feature industry panels on subjects ranging from the future global workforce to Singapore's landmark infrastructure project, the Tuas Water Reclamation Plant. There will also be presentations by 36 finalists for the YII Going Digital Awards, including teams hailing from China and the Czech Republic, showing how they used technology, including digital twins and AI, to deliver ground-breaking work.

Prague Main Railway Station is a gateway to the city and its history, and part of daily life for the communities around it. Czech engineering firm SUDOP is creating a clearer picture of what comes next. Image courtesy of SUDOP PRAHA a.s.

From Big Names To Smaller Touches

This year will also bring changes, starting with the moment guests enter the venue at The Fairmont Singapore Hotel. A dedicated arrivals lounge will welcome guests with a coffee or a mimosa, a place to rest, and an engraved name badge.

For the first time, the event will have an external host: futurist and author Chris Luebkeman. He'll kick off the program, host the awards ceremony, and moderate a few panels, including one with some awards jurors—another first. Parag Khanna, the author, global strategy advisor, and founder of geospatial AI company AlphaGeo, will give the primary keynote in a session with a more intimate, conversational feel, Greely says.

The event will also showcase local artisans and hospitality, shining a light on Singapore and its place as a global leader in infrastructure.

Greely says her goal "really wasn't 'How do we make YII new?' but 'How do we make the experience feel as significant as the work we're inviting people to come halfway around the world to celebrate?'"

Greely, center, is a Springsteen superfan. YII is the kind of high-stakes, high-energy production she was, dare we say, born to run.

"It's Not About Us"

Another alteration to past events: YII 2026 won’t be a place for Bentley company announcements, which will instead be released at the Bentley Tech Summit (BTS) in Toronto next April. The change allows YII to focus solely on the projects and awards, along with Cumins' address. YII is about highlighting innovative work, while BTS is about what's next.

"YII is really about showing the community what is possible, and BTS is about creating a much larger environment in which users can learn how to embrace some of those new innovations, work through challenges together, plan for what's next, and take those ideas home," Greely says.

Like YII this year, BTS is also taking on a new format, shifting from an employee-enablement event to one that's focused more on Bentley users. Greely says the two events share a lot of connective tissue: Bentley will feature YII finalists at BTS as well as at the company’s Illuminate series of conferences that happen around the world throughout the year.

She emphasizes that YII is designed not to be a one-and-done event. “We really want it to be this year-round engagement platform for the company."

“BTS is about creating a much larger environment in which users can learn how to embrace some of those new innovations, work through challenges together, plan for what's next, and take those ideas home," Greely says.

Finding her stage

An English and political science graduate with a master's degree in writing, Greely fell into events management when the tech startup where she was working acquired eight other companies. She was tasked with taking on their events programs. To Greely's surprise—she describes herself as deeply introverted—she loved the work, describing it as the most "people-y" of jobs, and now she can't imagine doing anything else.

"Events can be expensive, they're stressful, the timelines are ridiculous," she says. "But when you get to the end of it, and you see the look on someone's face and the impact that you can have on someone and their company and their community through all of that hard work, it just makes it worth it."

Greely's two-decade career has included stints at U.S. software giants ServiceNow and Autodesk, where she steered events involving up to 20,000 people. Greely says YII is one of the most significant.

"The level of work and commitment going into it is a testament to how well respected the program is internally as well as externally, and everyone recognizes that there's a lot riding on this because of its history and its position in the industry."

Find out more about YII 2026 finalists and their projects here and on Bentley’s LinkedIn page.