Episodes
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SpaceX just paid $60 billion for Cursor.
On this week's Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, Patric wasn't buying the logic:
"Why in the world would you buy an independent gas station chain and think that makes you more competitive with your bigger oil producing rival?"
His take: Cursor is a reseller of tokens. Owning it doesn't make you a better model company — just a bigger, more exposed gas station.
We also dug into Autodesk's $3.6B MaintainX deal, why Palantir won't win construction, and the $8 trillion data center buildout.
Full episode out now. 🎧
#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction #constructiontech #ai #vc
00:00 Intro
01:31 How LinkedIn Is Changing Professional Communication
04:58 Why Construction Industry Data Can Be Misleading
08:48 Using Social Media for Professional Networking
12:44 Latest Construction Technology Developments
16:34 SpaceX Acquires Cursor: Industry Reaction
20:29 The Future of Tech Acquisitions and M&A
24:25 Residential Construction Software Explained
28:09 Construction Market Trends and Outlook
29:47 How the Global Economy Impacts Construction
33:00 Data Center Construction and Local Regulations
40:36 The Future of Construction Design Software
48:56 Corporate Skilled Trades Training Programs
51:56 IPOs, 401(k)s, and Investment Risk
52:47 Rethinking Retirement and Midlife
55:10 The Future of AI in Construction
56:44 Market Dynamics and Financial Deregulation
59:29 Tech Valuations and Market Sentiment
1:02:50 Construction Trade Technology Innovations
1:05:27 AI in Structural Engineering and Quality Assurance
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The most overhyped term in construction tech right now? "AI-native startup."
That's the take from Geoff Lewis, SVP of Product Management at Procore
and co-founder of Honest Buildings (acquired by Procore), who joined
us on Bricks & Bytes to talk about how an incumbent fights back in the
AI era.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ Why Procore says it has already neutralised the speed advantage of AI-native startups
✅ The submittal-checking agent that collapsed weeks of review into hours
✅ Geoff's five-year bet on autonomous agents running RFIs end to end
✅ Inside Procore's new capital planning and portfolio suite built for owners
🎧 Watch now on Spotify and YouTube. Link in the comments below!
#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction #constructiontech #ai #vc
Our Sponsors:
BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co
Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Chapters
00:00 Teaser
01:16 Introduction and Quickfire Questions
04:05 AI in Construction: Adoption and Challenges
12:18 Procore's Product Strategy and Customer Focus
16:57 AI Implementation and Future Prospects
23:38 Sponsors
25:39 AI Implementation and Future Prospects (cont.)
26:44 The Rise of AI Native Startups
29:28 AI Tools for Contractors
32:11 The Future of AI in Construction
34:15 Palantir vs. Procore: A Comparative Analysis
43:03 Procore's New Offerings for Owners
50:12 Lessons from Product Management Failures
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Missing episodes?
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"Every GC is one poorly managed incident away from wiping out the entire
profit for the project."
That line from Simon Elliott, CEO of Breadcrumb, set the tone for one of
the sharpest conversations we've had on construction safety tech.
We sat down with Simon to dig into why most safety tools miss the point,
and why the real unlock isn't compliance, it's productivity.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ Why "safety third" is the uncomfortable reality on many US job sites
✅ The hidden cost of the superintendent turning up at 3am just to clear paperwork
✅ What actually changes on site from day one to six months after going digital
✅ Why trusted field data is becoming the foundation for AI in construction
▶️ Watch on YouTube and Spotify.
Our free Construction Safety Report. Download your copy here: https://bricks-bytes.com/downloads/construction-safety/
#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction #constructiontech #ai #vc
00:00 Teaser
01:05 Introduction to Safety Technology in Construction
06:07 The Importance of Safety and Compliance
10:50 Technology's Role in Enhancing Safety
16:06 From Compliance to Productivity
21:02 Implementing Breadcrumb: A Case Study
30:58 The Future of Safety Technology
32:05 Integrating Technology in Construction
38:14 The Importance of Data in Safety Technology
42:04 Target Customers and Market Dynamics
51:01 Navigating the Competitive Landscape
56:57 The Future of Safety Technology in Construction
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Spotify Description
This week's briefing covers three shifts every construction leader should be watching.
Workplace incidents in construction eat four to six percent of project cost. The average contractor makes two to three percent margin. That single comparison changes how you should think about safety technology, and this week the Bricks and Bytes State of Construction Safety Tech report goes live to prove it.
Owen breaks down what touches your P&L: why your safety records are turning into a financial asset insurers will price off, why your next major client may force this tech on you before any regulator does, and which part of the hype to ignore for now.
Then: the AI price war. Anthropic just released the most expensive model on the market the same week the Wall Street Journal reported OpenAI is weighing drastic price cuts. What that contradiction means for your software bills, and the two moves to make before your next renewal.
And a trip to Paris, inside Vinci, a 300,000 person company built from 4,000 separate businesses, to answer one question: how does anything new actually survive at that scale?
The answer connects straight back to why safety platforms live or die.
Free Safety report below:
https://bricks-bytes.com/downloads/construction-safety/Join the argument in the comments of this week's LinkedIn post.
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A VC fell asleep for 30+ minutes during a founder's pitch.
The round stillclosed.
This week on Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, we traded the VC horror stories founders never forget, debated whether the hottest AI startups are just "reselling tokens," and brought on three founders fresh off funding rounds: Guy Saxelby (Earlytrade, $25M total raised), Adrian Rhaese (EnvioTech, €1M pre-seed) and Ben Waters (LightTable, $22M Series A).
Tune in to find out about:
✅ Why Patrick calls Lovable, Cursor and Vercel "resellers of tokens" and what that means for their valuations
✅ How Earlytrade automates construction payments, with 10% of revenue already running with zero humans
✅ The streetlight startup saving cities 80% on energy while mapping how a whole city moves
✅ Dustin's no-mercy pushback on what it actually takes to be a "platform for pre-construction"
Listen now on Spotify and YouTube.
#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction#constructiontech #ai #vcChapters00:00 Intro
01:10 VC Horror Stories Founders Never Share
07:05 The Weirdest VC Behaviour We've Seen
13:01 Why AI Costs Are Eating Your Margins
19:15 Will AI Companies Ever IPO?
25:49 How to Find Early Product-Market Fit
33:24 Expanding Internationally: What Actually Works
40:09 Where Construction Tech Innovation Happens
45:48 The Growth Playbook for the Next 5 Years
56:56 The Hardest Lessons of Entrepreneurship
58:11 Why Timing Beats Everything in Business
58:19 How Perception Shapes Professional Success
59:10 Why Being Eccentric Is a Branding Advantage
01:02:07 Where Tech Meets Construction
01:04:09 AI That Actually Manages Construction Projects
01:10:10 Why Pre-Construction Is Where the Money Is
01:16:16 Mastering the Critical Path
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"We have 2,000 agents going through your document, checking every single item in detail."
This week we sat down with Brandon Smith and Raymond Zhao, co-founders of Structured AI, fresh off a $4.2M seed round they closed in just five days.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ How Brandon went from training an AI fighter jet at 17 to building construction AI after a single Reddit message
✅ Why agentic AI finally cracks drawing review when traditional machine learning never could
✅ The deterministic, no-confidence-score system with a full audit trail your team can sign off on
✅ Where this goes next - an AI coworker that fixes errors straight back into your Revit model
🎧 Watch now on YouTube and Spotify.
#aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #ai #vc
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"I currently haven't found a use case in which I haven't been able to build."
That was Brett Adams on what Palantir Foundry can do in construction.
This week on Bricks & Bytes we sat down with Dan Julien (Chief Revenue Officer) and Brett Adams (Forward Deployed Engineer and Head of Construction) of ForgeSight, the i4C born team implementing Palantir Foundry across the AEC industry, to cut through the rumours about what Palantir is actually doing in construction.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ Whether Palantir Foundry can really replace your ERP
✅ What "forward deployed engineering" actually means on a job site
✅ Whether Procore, Autodesk and Trimble survive a Palantir world
✅ How a contractor rebuilt its entire operation on Foundry in roughly a year
🎧 Watch now on Spotify and YouTube
#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction #constructiontech #ai #vc
Our Sponsors:
BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co
Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Chapters
00:00 Teaser
00:18 What Is Palantir & Why Construction?
02:36 Palantir Foundry Explained
05:16 Who You Need to Implement It
08:35 Do You Actually Need Palantir?
11:01 Real Use Cases in Construction
13:19 How to Implement Foundry & Integrate Data
22:00 Sponsor
25:01 Getting Your Data Into Foundry
28:40 How Long Does Implementation Take?
30:31 Solving Software Integration Challenges
33:06 Can Foundry Replace Your ERP?
36:22 The Future of ERP vs Palantir (SAP, Oracle)
39:31 Palantir for Non-Technical Teams
42:58 Case Study: How Kavanaugh Uses Foundry
46:02 How Much Does Palantir Cost?
48:03 Who Foundry Is Actually For
49:41 Use Cases for On-Site Workers
56:12 Solving Common Operational Headaches
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Seven men carrying one 140kg steel bar, on the biggest infrastructure project in Britain. The founder of Laing O'Rourke saw it and concluded that in fifty years, nothing had changed.
This week's Executive Briefing is about the man he hired to fix it. Chetan Kotur designed cars at Volvo, launched Polestar globally, then spent three and a half years looking at construction with outsider's eyes. At our private fireside in London this week, he shared his diagnosis on the record for the first time.
In this briefing:
The industry that innovates daily or dies, versus the industry that fears innovation might kill itWhy nobody in construction checks what competitors are doing (and what Polestar did instead)56% of construction injuries are musculoskeletal. No other industry still accepts thisHinkley Point C: how a precision rebar factory turned a month of work into a single shiftThe pattern across Europe: Laing O'Rourke's lab, Bouygues' Scale One, Vinci's hired field, and why testing grounds are multiplying as construction's innovation wave goes physicalFrom a Paris stage: investor Patric (Foundamental) on why tech aimed at 2% of construction's cost base was always going to disappointThe two questions that expose a weak tech vendor in five minutesA first look at our State of Construction Safety Tech report, landing next week: incidents consume 4 to 6% of project cost in an industry running 2 to 3% margins -
A venture capitalist walks into a bar.
"I'll have what everyone else is having."
Patrick told that joke about his own profession on this week's Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, and it set up the sharpest exchange of the episode: venture stopped backing hard problems and started buying momentum.
We're joined by Alain Waha, CTO of Buro Happold, and Richard Fifita, CEO of Veyor, fresh off a $7.5M Series A, alongside Dustin DeVan.
What we get into:
→ Autodesk's $3.6 billion all cash acquisition of MaintainX, and why Dustin, who watched this strategy take shape from inside Autodesk, says it all leads back to the digital twin
→ "Knowledge arbitrage": Alain's framework for what stays defensible when knowledge becomes computable
→ Why construction robotics needs systems integrators more than it needs humanoids
→ How Veyor went from backed up concrete trucks to managing deliveries at JFK, SFO and major data center projects
Full episode is live now on YouTube and Spotify.
#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction #constructiontech #ai #vc
Our Sponsors:
BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co
Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:30 Introduction and Technical Challenges
03:21 Live Streaming and Event Experiences
06:13 Autodesk's Acquisition of MaintainX
11:50 Data Ownership and Predictability in Construction
16:23 Knowledge Arbitrage in Engineering and Robotics
20:00 Exploring Knowledge Arbitrage in Robotics
22:06 The Role of Systems Integration in Construction Robotics
22:54 Challenges in Robotics for Construction Trades
24:16 Collaborative Robots: The Future of Construction
25:59 The Disconnect Between Innovation and AI in Construction
27:30 Testing Software vs. Materials in Construction
27:45 The Reluctance to Experiment in Construction Tech
29:52 Capital Efficiency and Technology Adoption in Construction
32:49 The Venture Capital Landscape and Its Challenges
36:33 The Future of Venture Capital in Technology
44:46 Innovative Event Planning in Construction Technology
47:26 Branding and Customer Perception in Construction
48:11 Disruption in Construction: Insights from Automotive Industry
51:09 Bouygues' Innovation Lab: A New Era for Construction
51:53 Introducing Richard: Veyor's Journey and Innovations
56:59 Streamlining Material Management in Construction
01:01:58 Challenges in Construction Scheduling and Delivery
01:05:36 The Aussie Tech Scene in Austin, Texas
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"AI won't help you if you're still using clunky software with a six-month learning curve." – Anita Venkiteswaran, E3 Tech
In today's episode of Bricks and Bytes, we sat down with Anita, the driving force behind E3 Tech's AI-powered M&A strategy in construction, alongside two of her platform companies: Rob Metz (Sylvan) and Chris Weaver (Egan).
Tune in to hear about:
✓ Why 25,000+ specialty contractors represent a massive M&A opportunity
✓ How AI is finally solving construction's 40-year productivity decline
✓ What jobsite credibility really means for founders building construction tech
✓ Why unified AI systems beat fragmented "point solutions" every time
Available now on Spotify and YouTube.
#aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #ai #vc
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:39 Introduction to E3's Model and AI in M&A
07:41 Identifying Ideal Acquisition Targets
10:34 The Role of Technology in Modern Construction
13:45 The Entrepreneur in Residence Model
16:35 The Impact of AI on Construction Efficiency
19:52 Building Relationships with AI Startups
22:29 The Future of AI in Construction
31:59 Leveraging AI for Contract Management
32:42 The Evolution of VDC and BIM in Construction
34:14 Enhancing Processes with Robotics and AI
35:38 Attracting Talent through Technology
36:38 AI Amplifying Human Expertise
38:35 Transitioning Businesses and Succession Planning
40:12 Navigating Business Ownership Transitions
42:42 The Necessity of Adapting to Change
46:41 Lessons Learned from Technological Implementation
48:18 The Future of AI in Construction
53:44 The Importance of Unified AI Solutions
55:31 Integrating AI with Emerging Technologies
58:27 Opportunities for Collaboration in the Industry
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"$75M in 13 months. a16z just led their Series A."
We sat down with Niklas Lindgren, Co-Founder & CEO of Endra, fresh off their $50M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, taking total funding to $75M in 13 months.
Endra is building the purpose-built workspace for MEP engineering, already partnering with AtkinsRéalis, Buro Happold, WSP, Hoare Lea, Ramboll and AFRY.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ Why a16z led at Series A instead of waiting for later traction
✅ The Stripe vs PayPal analogy behind Endra's category play (and why they're not replacing Revit)
✅ The honest answer to the billable-hours paradox
✅ What this means for the next generation of MEP graduates
Watch now on Spotify and YouTube 🎧
#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction #constructiontech #ai #vc
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"You could get 60 reviews of a pizza in six seconds, but finding a new contractor takes 12 months and spreadsheets."
That's how Riggs Kubiak described the construction industry in 2011 when he started Honest Buildings as a marketplace to connect owners with contractors.
It didn't work.
The pivot? A project management platform that became so valuable, Procore acquired it.
We sat down with Riggs to talk about what killed the original idea, what saved the company, and why the phase of entrepreneurship nobody prepares for is what comes after the acquisition.
His new book "Earned" launches June 2nd. Buy it here.
The real conversation:
✓ Why dominating a small category beats chasing everyone's problems
✓ The execution hell of building two-sided marketplaces
✓ What nobody tells you about life post-exit
✓ The founder moments that don't make it into LinkedIn posts
Watch the full episode now on YouTube and Spotify.
#bricksandbytes #constructiontech #entrepreneurship #founders #aec
Our Sponsors:
BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co
Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:28 Introduction and Journey to Honest Buildings
04:49 The Evolution of Honest Buildings
11:10 Navigating the Pivot: Lessons Learned
13:41 Sales Cycle Challenges in Construction Tech
13:42 Sponsors
16:44 Sales Cycle Challenges in Construction Tech
28:45 Reflections on Key Mistakes and Difficult Times
30:57 Acquisition by Procore: The Journey Ahead
34:02 Closing the Gap in Construction Management
35:38 The Importance of Negotiation in Acquisitions
39:34 Navigating Post-Acquisition Roles
42:00 The Entrepreneurial Residence Experience
46:39 Founders Forum: Building Community
48:45 Understanding Acquisition Motivations
53:20 Reflections on the Integration Process
56:13 The Journey of Entrepreneurship
1:02:33 Life After Acquisition: The Next Chapter
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Missed an episode of the Executive Briefing last month? This is your ten-minute catch-up.
Four stories from the last four weeks, what each one means for your business, and which are worth going back to in full.
Inside:
The new kind of buyer circling construction, and why they want your firm, not your techThe market split the banks have started to price inThe contractor who killed his ERP, his dispatch system and his time cards, and rebuilt on one platformWhy AI got 280 times cheaper while everyone's bills went upNo longer form this week (I have been busy in France!! - more on that soon). Just the month that mattered, in plain English, for people who run construction businesses.
Which of the four hit hardest? Tell us in the comments on the LinkedIn post.
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"80% of the decks landing on her desk had AI on slide one."
This week on Bricks & Bytes we sat down with Jennifer Davis, who recently joined Suffolk Technologies after five years as Managing Director of Techstars Boston, where she reviewed thousands of applications and ran 65+ companies through the program.
She brought the kind of pattern recognition you only get from saying no a few thousand times.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ Why the bar has risen across pre-seed, seed, and Series A — and what VCs now want to see before they write a check
✅ The co-founder mistake that kills more startups than bad ideas (and why 50/50 equity splits are a red flag)
✅ Why "not all money is created equally" — and how founder-unfriendly terms signed early can derail an exit years later
✅ What Jennifer is looking for as she takes the reins on Suffolk's Boost accelerator, and the founder profile she'd most want to back in 2027
Listen on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube 🎧
#aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #ai #vc
Our Sponsors:
BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co
Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:00 Introduction to Jennifer Davis and Transition to Suffolk Tech
04:09 Insights from Techstars Boston
07:01 Key Traits of Successful Founders
10:06 Challenges in the Startup Ecosystem
12:57 The Importance of Problem-Solution Fit
15:57 The Role of AI in Startups
18:51 Generalist vs. Vertical VCs
21:57 Navigating the Built World Space
25:08 The Future of Construction Technology
27:53 Suffolk Tech's Boost Program
31:03 Advice for Founders in the Current Landscape
33:54 Conclusion and Future Outlook
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This week in construction: the official verdict on HS2 landed, and it's worse than most people realise. Cost to complete is now £87.7-102.7bn. First services delayed to 2036. Britain is paying 15-20x the European rate per kilometre for high-speed rail.
But the more interesting stories happened underneath it.
Owen breaks down what every construction executive needs to know about three things colliding this week.
One. The AI cost paradox. Per-token prices have dropped 280x in two years. So why are enterprise AI bills exploding? OpenAI just doubled its flagship rate card. Anthropic raised prices without touching the rate card at all. The pricing page is no longer telling you what your bill will look like. And Jean-Marc Shimizu, who runs open innovation at one of Japan's top five contractors, says the subsidy era is ending.
Two. The construction robotics story almost nobody outside venture capital is reading. After sixty years as the last unautomated sector, the robots are finally shipping. Bedrock raised $270m in February. Crewline took $7m as a four-person team with a $26m order book waiting. Rebar tying robots are running at 4-6x human speed. Solar piling, reality capture, and a new category of self-verifying installation robots are all generating real revenue. Plus the corrective on humanoids that most executives haven't heard yet.
Three. HS2 and what it actually means. Three reviews, twelve months, same five conclusions. And the uncomfortable question every leader needs to sit with: is your business built like HS2, or like the alternative?
If you run a construction business, this is the briefing that will reshape how you read the next twelve months.
Plus details on the in-person fireside conversation with Chetan Kotur, the ex-Polestar designer now leading the team rebuilding Laing O'Rourke from the inside. London, 3rd June, evening of Digital Construction Week. Senior exec spaces already filling.
Show notes, references, and the link to sign up for the full newsletter and our Physical AI 2026 research are below:
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1. Event: Re-Engineering The Main Contractor · Luma2. Physical AI and Robotics Report: https://bricks-bytes.com/downloads/physical-ai-robotics-2026/
3. Newsletter: https://bricks-bytes.beehiiv.com/
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"Mandating how many AI tokens your engineers burn isn't a productivity metric. It has nothing to do with outcomes."
That's Dustin Devan, CEO of Ediphi and it's one of the sharpest takes on the AI spend debate we've had on the show
This week on Bricks, Bucks and Bytes we're joined by Cameron Page of ClearStory, processing $3.5B in change orders every month, and Sophia Millar of Sonnaball Instruments, catching weld defects in real time before they ever reach inspection.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ Why enterprise AI bills keep rising even as token costs fall
✅ How ClearStory is replacing email-and-spreadsheet change order chaos for 7,500 companies
✅ Why 1.3 million categorised change orders might be construction's most underrated dataset
✅ How acoustic weld detection is transforming prefab quality control
🎧 Listen now on Spotify and YouTube
#bricksandbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #construction #constructiontech #ai
Our Sponsors:
BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co
Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:56 Reunion and Introduction
01:57 AI Tokens and Their Costs
07:57 Managing AI Token Usage
11:21 Balancing Speed and Customer Needs
15:13 Efficiency in AI Usage
20:21 Waymo's Customer Service Incident
21:57 Discussion on Expensive Rail Projects
22:01 The Cost of High-Speed Rail in the UK
26:03 Comparing Costs: What Could $100 Billion Buy?
27:44 Debating Income Tax and Jeff Bezos' Proposal
30:18 The Rise of Trillionaires: Elon Musk's Potential
32:07 Data Centers in Space: A Feasible Future?
35:09 ClearStory: Revolutionizing Change Order Management
42:00 Streamlining Change Order Management
45:36 ClearStory's Market Position and Growth
47:09 Leveraging Change Order Data for Insights
50:01 Innovations in Welding Defect Detection
56:32 The Role of AI in Welding Quality Control
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"If you're not tinkering with AI today, it's going to be a problem for you in the future."
This week on Bricks & Bytes we sat down with David Niewiadomski from Zero RFI — KP Reddy's new venture backed by General Catalyst that's rolling up owner reps, advisory, and building data firms under one roof.
Tune in to find out:
✅ Why standalone construction tech software is dying as a business model
✅ What General Catalyst saw in Zero RFI and why services beat SaaS for industry impact
✅ Why owners should never pay a subscription to access their own building data
✅ Why owner rep firms under 50 people are the sweet spot for acquisition
Watch now on Spotify and Youtube. 🎧
#aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #ai #vc
Our Sponsors:
BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co
Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Chapters
00:00 Teaser
00:47 Introduction to Zero RFI and Its Founders
03:22 The Role of AI in Construction Tech
06:27 Understanding Zero RFI's Unique Approach
09:21 The Importance of Data Integration
11:10 Sponsors
14:12 Acquisitions and Their Impact on Zero RFI
17:34 General Catalyst's Investment and Vision
20:24 Building Works and Its Evolution
23:26 The Future of Construction Technology
25:33 The Evolution of AI in Software Development
26:30 Leveraging Historical Data for Current Projects
29:15 Acquisition Strategies and Scaling Opportunities
32:27 The Future of Construction Firms in a Tech-Driven World
34:53 The Role of Owners in Project Management
36:41 Targeting the Orchestration Layer in Construction
38:51 Differentiating Zero RFI from Other Tech Players
40:29 Envisioning the Future of Zero RFI
41:18 Call to Action for Industry Professionals
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"Pre-construction has become less efficient than construction itself."
That is the claim Dustin Devan made on this week's Bricks, Bucks & Bytes after returning from Advancing Pre-Con. Martin, Patric Hellermann and Dustin also dug into the proposed California wealth tax, Bentley's Q1 earnings, and why VCs keep funding the 51st AI takeoff company.
Tune in to find out about:
✅ Why 80% of project cost is locked in before design is even 30% done
✅ How the California wealth tax proposal would actually value private companies
✅ Patric's case for indexing into "directionally right" early-stage bets
✅ Why takeoff is a feature, not a company
Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
#aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #ai #vc
Our Sponsors:
BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co
Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:35 Introduction and Overview of Topics
02:15 US Construction Spending Trends
09:52 California Wealth Tax Proposal
26:29 Advancing Pre-Construction Insights
34:38 Building Cost Infrastructure and Pricing Engines
40:30 The Role of Design in Construction Projects
45:39 The Importance of Feasibility in Design
50:46 The Impact of AI on Construction Estimation
53:25 Navigating the Takeoff Tool Landscape
57:02 Innovations in Construction Robotics
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A 350-person Canadian contractor just did what most of the industry would call insane. They put their entire business inside the same software platform that powers the CIA. They've killed their paper time cards, their dispatch system, their safety software — and now they're killing their ERP.
This week, Owen unpacks the Cavanagh playbook with their head of digital strategy and asks the harder question: is this the future of construction software, or just an expensive bet on the wrong vendor? Plus: Procore just spent $11M acquiring an AI company in January. Are we watching the start of a platform war that ends with one operating system per contractor?
Then: the 2026 recovery story just died. US inflation hit 3.8%. Construction input prices rose at a 12.6% annualised rate. Every fixed-price bid in the market is a bet on Middle East de-escalation. And data centres aren't saving construction — they're hiding how weak the rest of the market really is.
Key resources
Cavanagh Construction and Palantir partnership case study Procore Technologies acquires Datagrid for agentic AI capabilities US April CPI releaseConstruction input price data, Q1 2026 Hill County, Texas data centre moratorium Gallup poll on data centre vs nuclear reactor opposition IEA report on AI data centre power demand growth US construction spending and nonresidential contraction data -
"Companies are bought, not sold."That single line from Yves Frinault reframed the entire conversation on our first-ever Exited Founder Acquisition Roundtable.We sat down with four construction tech founders who collectively sold their companies for hundreds of millions:✅ Yves Frinault (Fieldwire → Hilti) ✅ Dustin DeVan (BuildingConnected → Autodesk, $275M cash + $40M stock) ✅ Mo Akbari Hochberg (HoloBuilder → FARO, ~$36M) ✅ Zach Scheel (Rhumbix → Autodesk, fresh off the deal)Tune in to find out:✅ Why Hilti told Fieldwire "we'll never acquire you" four years before acquiring them ✅ The one negotiation tactic Dustin says every founder should use against corp dev teams ✅ Why an acquisition is a "one-way door" once you walk in, and how to know you're ready ✅ The QSBS detail that decides how much of the exit you actually keepFull episode on Spotify and YouTube now.#aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #ai #vct Our Sponsors:BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.coAphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.coArchdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.comChapters00:00 Intro00:46 Introduction to the Acquisition Round Table03:25 Founders' Experiences and Lessons Learned 06:31 Understanding the Role Post-Acquisition 09:40 The Importance of Timing in Acquisitions 09:56 Sponsors 12:57 Fundamentals for Being an Attractive Acquisition Target 31:06 The Exit Journey: Building Value Before Acquisition 33:14 Business Fundamentals: Attracting Strategic Acquirers 36:04 Diligence and Documentation: Preparing for Acquisition 38:56 Revenue and Customer Love: Key Acquisition Drivers 41:13 Understanding ARR: Acquisition Thresholds and Market Dynamics 48:53 Negotiation Strategies: Preparing for the Table 54:46 Lessons from Exits: Growth as a Founder 01:00:45 Defining Success Beyond Numbers 01:02:42 Mindfulness in Leadership During Transitions 01:04:22 The Importance of a Strong Executive Team 01:05:20 The Shift in Perspective Post-Acquisition 01:06:11 Reflections on Founding and Structuring Companies 01:08:37 Creating Value Over Tax Strategy 01:11:21 The Reality of Startup Success Rates 01:11:54 Choosing the Right Company to Join 01:14:48 The Value of Collaboration and Shared Experiences 📩 Subscribe to the Bricks & Bytes Newsletter: https://bricks-bytes.beehiiv.com/🌐 Visit our website: http://bricks-bytes.com/📲 Follow us: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bricks-bytes/ Twitter: https://x.com/bricksbytespod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bricksbytes/Enjoying the insights? Hit that Subscribe button to stay ahead in construction tech, AI, and the future of how we build.
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