Featured in The Built List 2026, which spotlights 100 influential voices driving change and shaping conversations across the built environment. The list recognises campaigners, activists, changemakers and innovators who are turning important conversations into action, shaping policy and public understanding, and building the profile of the construction sector. Selection is based on industry visibility. The 2026 list is organised across five key areas of industry challenge: fire and building safety, digitalisation, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and skills, recruitment and retention.
Dr Saeed Talebi is featured in the Digitalisation category, recognised for his work on translating advanced digital innovation — particularly Digital Twin technology — into deployable solutions that improve how buildings and infrastructure are designed, operated and maintained, and for bridging industry practice and academic research on digital transformation. The Digitalisation category features prominent figures including Mark Enzer (Fellow, Mott Macdonald and former Head of the National Digital Twin Programme), Bernard Marr (global futurist and AI thought leader), Marzia Bolpagni (Head of BIM International, Mace) and Fred Mills (Founder of The B1M, the world's largest construction video channel). He is one of only two academics featured across the entire list, demonstrating his visibility as an academic in industry and being known as a changemaker academic.