12 | WATERLINE April 2026 MARINAS26 There are very few people who can stand before a room of marina operators, engineers, and investors and make them genuinely excited about the decade ahead. Gihan Perera is one of them. A business futurist, AI researcher, and author with more than 30 years of experience working with organisations across Australia and the world, Perera has built a reputation for translating complex, fast-moving technology trends into ideas that feel urgent, navigable, and deeply relevant to the people in the room. At Marinas26, delegates will have the opportunity to hear from him not once, but twice, first as the closing keynote speaker on Day 1, and then as chair of the conference's dedicated AI Practical Applications for Marinas panel session on Day 2. Together, the two appearances live cohesively alongside the Marinas26 theme ‘Future Smart’: from the big picture of where technology is taking the world, to the practical question of what marina businesses should actually do about it right now. Perera's credentials are formidable. He was recognised in 2025 as one of the Top 30 Global Futurists, and Forbes has rated him the number one social media influencer in Australia in his field. He is a Certified Speaking Professional and was named Educator of the Year by Professional Speakers Australia in 2024. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Western Australia, where his thesis, written more than three decades ago, was on artificial intelligence. That early curiosity has never left him. He went on to found one of Australia's first web development companies in 1996, led teams building infrastructure for the early internet, and has spent the years since helping business leaders make sense of the disruption that followed. On the afternoon of Monday 25 May, Perera will close Day 1 of Marinas26 with a keynote titled The AI Future in Marinas & Boatyards. Speaking to a cross-section of 400 to 450 delegates — owners, investors, general managers, and technical staff from across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the Middle East, he will offer a futurist's perspective on the convergence of artificial intelligence, data analytics, automation, and the Internet of Things across the marina sector. Perera will explore how data is becoming the marina industry's most valuable strategic asset, how smart energy systems and connected infrastructure are changing the economics of facility management, and how customer expectations are shifting in ways that marinas can no longer afford to ignore. He will look at what other sectors, aviation, hospitality, logistics, have already learned about AI-led transformation, and what the marina industry can take from those experiences. Crucially, the keynote is not designed to overwhelm. Delegates will leave with a simple framework they can apply to their own business when thinking about AI, data, and automation, as well as the confidence that these changes are manageable and that early movers will hold a genuine competitive advantage. The following morning, Perera returns as chair of the AI: Practical Applications for Marinas session, that deliberately shifts the conversation from the strategic to the operational. Where Day 1 asks delegates to think about where the industry is heading, Day 2 asks: what do we do about it on Monday morning? Four expert practitioners will present real-world case studies and insights. James Roy CMM, Marina Manager at One°15 Marina Sentosa Cove, will examine the data streams flowing through a modern facility and operational improvements that data could bring and what is missing. Tevz Grogl will reveal the AI development roadmap underway at Marina Master, one of the industry's most widely used management platforms. Ben Shand of Inspectahire will show how predictive maintenance technology is already transforming industries such as mining and maritime, and how it can extend asset life and reduce costly failures in the marine environment. And Kristina Augustin of Southern Sky AI will take delegates through the operational changes marina businesses can implement right now, from resource scheduling and workforce productivity to back-office automation. Whether you arrive at Marinas26 already deep into your AI journey or still working out where to begin, there is something in these sessions worth sitting with, and probably more value again in the conversations they spark afterwards. Perera brings a rare combination of global perspective and genuine curiosity about the people in the room, and that tends to make the discussion as useful as the content itself. The industry is changing; that much is certain. What it looks like on the other side is still, to a meaningful extent, up to the people willing to engage seriously with the question. Marinas26 takes place 25–26 May 2026. Session information and registration available at marinas26.com AHEAD OF THE CURVE Global futurist Gihan Perera takes the stage at Marinas26, to challenge the industry to think bigger, move faster, and lead with confidence into an AI-shaped future.
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