New nima vice chair Varun Soni talks about stakeholder engagement and change management
Following the recent appointments of new nima vice chairs, this is the third in a series profiling our core team of volunteers.
1 – Who is Varun Soni, nima’s new Vice Chair for Stakeholder Engagement and Change Management?
VS: I’ve spent my career bridging the technical and human aspects of the built environment. I currently own and lead The Property Smart Group Ltd, which is a development and consultancy business that focuses on residential building projects, particularly higher-risk residential schemes where safety, long-term value, and compliance are essential. This includes everything from early-stage design coordination to delivering fully operational residential developments that align with regulatory requirements and real-world user needs.
Earlier in my career, I was a partner at a multidisciplinary professional services firm working across construction, property, and strategic advisory. That gave me broad exposure to complex developments, from remediation and retrofit through to regeneration and asset strategy.
Before all of this, I played professional rugby, which taught me how to thrive in fast-paced, high-pressure environments and to always work as part of a team. These principles still shape how I approach stakeholder relationships today. On a more personal note, I’m also a father to a one-year-old, which brings a whole new perspective to what it means to create safe, sustainable, and resilient places to live.
2 – How and why did you get involved with nima?
VS: It started with alignment, in values, in purpose, and in the kind of impact I want to have. Much of my work centres on building safety, golden thread implementation, and information management throughout the lifecycle of residential buildings. I kept finding myself engaging with nima’s thought leadership, resources, and community, and eventually I began contributing directly to nima networks like BIM4HHousing Associations), BIM4Housing and wider nima initiatives.
What drew me in was the fact that nima isn’t just advocating for digital change, it’s promoting cultural change. And that’s what I’ve always believed is most needed.
3 – What is your brief at nima?
VS: My remit is to lead on stakeholder engagement and change management, two things that are absolutely critical to delivering meaningful outcomes across our industry.
On the stakeholder side, it’s about reaching out across the sector – to asset owners, regulators, designers, contractors, residents – and making sure their needs, concerns, and ambitions are reflected in what nima delivers.
On the change management side, it’s about helping the sector shift not just its tools, but its mindset. That includes supporting behaviour change, aligning incentives, and creating environments where better information management can take root and thrive not just in policy or projects, but in culture.
4 – What do you aim to achieve in your first six months?
VS: There are three priorities I’m focused on straight away:
- Understanding the landscape — mapping key stakeholders and networks, identifying gaps, and listening carefully to where the blockers are.
- Designing engagement that feels real and useful — not just top-down messaging but two-way conversations, especially with those on the front lines of delivery.
- Helping shape a coherent strategy for change — ensuring nima’s work connects with day-to-day practice and that we’re building momentum behind the IMI and related initiatives.
It’s also important to me that we start telling more human stories, connecting the dots between information management and the people it ultimately protects and supports.
5 – How might people help you as a nima Vice Chair?
VS: By sharing their experiences, this includes, the good, the bad, and the difficult. I want to learn from real-world challenges: what’s stopping people from implementing better information practices? What’s working well that we can scale?
I’d also love to hear from anyone interested in collaborating, whether you’re a client, contractor, regulator, or resident group, especially if you’re open to piloting approaches, giving feedback, or contributing to cross-sector dialogue.
This is about building a coalition for change. We’re not going to solve this in isolation and the more diverse voices we bring in, the stronger our outcomes will be.
6 – If you could change one thing about information management in the built and managed environment, what would it be?
VS: I’d change the way we value information. Too often, it’s treated as an administrative by-product, something filed away rather than actively managed. But information is infrastructure. If we design and maintain it properly, it becomes the foundation for better decisions, safer homes, and more sustainable assets.
So the shift I want to see and help drive is one where information is seen not just as compliance, but as care: care for people, for places, and for the future.
