Episode

Four companies. One acquisition. One $852 billion valuation. Forty-five minutes turned into four days. This is the biggest episode we’ve ever recorded. Document Crunch just got acquired by Trimble. Josh told us live, before most of the industry knew. In this episode of Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, Owen, Patric, and Dustin cover the biggest week in construction tech in years. Trimble acquires Document Crunch — Josh and Mark join live to break it down OpenAI hits $852B — and Dustin explains why NVIDIA should be worth $10 trillion Dustin’s $275M Building Connected exit story — the grind nobody talks about Coral’s $7.5M raise — guaranteeing heat pump rebates to the cent in under 60 seconds Neuron Factory — taking tender processes from 4 days to 45 minutes with AI “You can’t vibe code trust. That’s earned.” — Josh, Document Crunch Go and watch the full episode on the Bricks & Bytes YouTube Channel now 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 BuildVision –   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.io Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:09 Introduction and Excitement for the Episode  03:46 OpenAI’s Valuation and Market Comparisons 06:30 Understanding Notional Value and Market Capitalization 09:36 Foundamental University Launch and Insights from Industry Leaders  12:18 Dustin Devan’s Journey with Building Connected  18:19 Challenges and Resilience in Startups  20:22 Trimble and Document Crunch Acquisition Announcement  22:08 The Journey to Acquisition  25:19 Trimble’s Perspective on the Partnership  28:10 Future Strategies and Innovations  29:44 Celebrating Milestones and Achievements  30:47 The Importance of Culture and Alignment  34:52 Building Trust in the Industry  37:37 Navigating the Competitive Landscape  41:33 The Role of Trust and Data in Construction  49:24 Vision for a Dispute-Free Industry  51:01 Industry Responsibility and Improvement  51:42 Innovations in Heat Pump Technology  54:35 Understanding the US Heat Pump Market  57:24 Future Opportunities in Energy Efficiency  1:00:35 Funding and Growth Strategies for Startups  1:03:18 The Role of Knowledge Graphs in Construction  1:08:25 Enhancing Project Management with AI  1:12:29 Challenges and Opportunities in AI Integration

Josh Levy built Document Crunch for 5 years. Trimble has 32 million projects on their platform. Tens of millions of documents. And they looked at the entire market and picked Document Crunch. That’s not a small bet. We got both of them live on Bricks & Bytes this week. Josh broke down exactly how this happened, the moment the deal became a no brainer, and where he’s taking this next. Mark didn’t hold back either. If you’re building in construction tech, investing in it, or just trying to understand where this industry is heading, this one is worth your full attention. Full video on the B&B YouTube now. Go watch it. Link in the comments below. #construction #constructiontech #bricksbucksandbytes #aec #bricksandbytes

12 years. $53M raised. One acquisition. Zach Scheel is talking about all of it. Zach Scheel, co-founder of Rhubmix, sat down with Owen the day after Autodesk officially closed its acquisition of the 12-year-old construction labor tracking platform. He didn’t hold back. Tune in to find out about: ✅ Why Autodesk acquired Rhubmix — and what gap in their product suite it fills ✅ The financial metrics (110% NRR, 94% GRR) that made the deal happen ✅ What a term sheet getting pulled post-signing actually feels like — and how they survived it ✅ Why 10 years is probably a realistic median exit timeline for construction tech founders and investors Watch now on Spotify and YouTube🎧 #aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #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 BuildVision –   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.io Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:30 Introduction and Acquisition Announcement  04:32 Understanding Rumbix and Its Functionality  07:32 The Journey to Acquisition  10:17 Negotiating with Autodesk  13:13 Metrics and Performance Indicators  16:12 Challenges of M&A Process  18:59 Future of Rumbix Under Autodesk  21:58 Lessons Learned and Final Thoughts

“The biggest mistake a construction exec can make right now? Assuming the existing business model is going to stay the same.” In today’s episode of Bricks and Bytes, we had Carl McFarland from Big D Construction and we got to learn about why the industry is sitting in a Blockbuster moment, how Apple generates the entire annual net income of a $30 billion construction firm in under 48 hours, and why the executives paying the most attention to technology might still be focused on completely the wrong thing… and many more! Tune in to find out about: ✅ Why the construction firms performing best right now are actually the ones most exposed to disruption – and what the Blockbuster comparison really means in 2025 ✅ What most construction CEOs are getting wrong about AI adoption – it’s not about the tools they’re picking, it’s about the question they’re not asking ✅ Why Carl believes no single firm, no matter how large, has the capital or intellectual firepower to navigate this transformation alone – and what he thinks the answer actually looks like ✅ The AI agent Big D built for project risk review that’s delivering 10x the return of standard efficiency tools – a real use case, not a pitch Watch now on Spotify and YouTube 🎧  #aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #ai Our Sponsors: 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 BuildVision –   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.io BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. breadcrumb.co Chapters 00;00 Intro 01:59 AI’s Impact on Business Operations 06:08 The Blockbuster Moment in Construction 11:50 Fragmentation and Innovation in Construction 15:50 Rethinking Business Models for Profitability 20:09 Acquisition vs. Internal Innovation 26:06 Technology Focus in Construction Leadership 30:21 Collaboration for Industry Transformation 32:40 Leveraging Supplier Relationships for Capital Investment 41:14 Transitioning from Builders to Business Leaders 51:42 The Importance of Operations in Sales 01:03:39 AI as a Tool for Efficiency and Risk Mitigation

The world’s largest asset manager just wrote a $100M cheque to train electricians. Google put up $50M. Microsoft named electrical talent as the single biggest challenge to building data centres. The firms selling the AI dream just discovered they can’t deliver it without construction workers. This week on the Executive Briefing: Why data centre companies are paying $150K starting salaries for skilled trades, and what that means for every contractor drawing from the same labour pool. The real numbers on construction robotics — $1.36B in venture funding, 125% up year on year — and the four workflows where robots are actually working, not just demoing. The Iran oil shock is a second front, not the first. US construction input prices were already running at 12.6% annualised before a single missile was launched. Aaron Anderson’s analysis shows 130,000 fewer permits being filed. We break down which sectors are pulling back and which are ploughing ahead regardless. The AI question nobody is asking: the difference between deterministic and probabilistic, why every AI tool you’re being sold is fundamentally a guess, and how to know which of your workflows can tolerate that and which ones can’t. Plus Anna Berger from Trayd on why 99.7% accuracy still isn’t good enough for construction payroll. Quick hits: NEOM’s Line is effectively dead, the UK government is abolishing retention payments, and a US jury just ruled social media platforms were deliberately engineered to be addictive. Join the debate:

Your construction back office admin hasn’t taken a vacation in ten years. And it’s your software’s fault. In this episode of Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, Owen, Patric, Martin, and Dustin break down what four AI CEOs said at NVIDIA GTC and what it means for construction. Then Anna Berger joins fresh off raising $10M in three weeks to expose the chaos inside every specialty contractor’s back office. AI token costs collapsed 99% — here’s what that unlocks The data center boom is creating a trades crisis — electricians are now the hottest hire in America Why AI will never run construction payroll How Anna closed $10M with 40+ investor meetings in her first week “I just took my first vacation in ten years — thank you.” That’s the kind of message Anna Berger is getting from her customers. Watch the full episode now! Our Sponsors: 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 BuildVision –   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.io Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:00 Introduction to NVIDIA GTC and AI CEOs  03:38 The Impact of AI on Cost and Accessibility  05:34 Specialization vs. Commoditization in AI Models  07:44 The Role of AI in Engineering and Construction  10:33 Deterministic Outcomes and Governance in AI  13:32 The Future of AI in Enterprises and Job Market Dynamics  23:59 The Role of Accuracy in Construction Projects  28:06 AI vs Human Judgment in Project Estimation  30:52 Evaluating AI Accuracy in Professional Contexts  33:45 The Future of Skilled Trades and Workforce Training  40:24 Economic Predictions and Market Interests  44:59 Quarterly Recap: Trends and Insights in Construction Tech  47:01 Real-Life Lessons from the Industry  51:43 Celebrating Success: Anna’s Fundraising Journey  53:53 Understanding Trade: A Deep Dive into Construction Back Office Solutions  56:46 Future Plans: Scaling and Product Development  1:00:46 The Importance of Compliance in Payroll Management  1:03:28 Y Combinator’s Role in Construction Tech

The cost of intelligence is heading to zero. Construction still hasn’t figured out what to do with that. In today’s episode of Bricks and Bytes, we had Matt Gough and we got to learn about why AI adoption in construction is solving the wrong problem, what a genuine industry moonshot could actually look like, and why the contracting model itself is blocking real transformation… and many more! Tune in to find out about: ✅ Why 50 senior AEC leaders are all bullish on AI – but almost none of them are using it to change how the industry actually works ✅ The “virtual vertical integration” argument – and whether AI makes what Katerra attempted possible this time ✅ How misaligned incentives across the construction supply chain kill innovation before it gets started ✅ What the Empire State Building can still teach us about project delivery in an AI-enabled world 🎧 Listen now on Spotify and YouTube. #aec #bricksandbytes #construction #constructiontech #ai Our Sponsors: 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 BuildVision –   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.io Chapters 00:00 Intro 03:00 Introduction and context of AI in construction 05:29 The current state of AI adoption 08:10 Challenges in optimizing construction processes 11:17 The role of AI in redefining construction value chains 14:05 Identifying the moonshot for construction 17:07 The importance of collaboration in achieving goals 20:09 The future of AI and construction integration 29:02 Navigating the rapid pace of change 30:22 The moonshot vision for transformation 31:36 Insights from AI in the AEC industry 33:35 Embracing AI: the gym analogy 34:41 Governance and innovation in AI tools 37:22 Shifting from risk transfer to collaborative production 42:50 Overcoming barriers to innovation 47:49 Immediate actions for industry transformation 47:57 Lessons from Neom: ambition and technology

“The number one cause of contractor bankruptcy is taking on work outside your niche.” In today’s episode of Bricks and Bytes, we had Matt Stevens Senior Lecturer at Western Sydney University and we got to learn about the financial patterns behind contractor failure, the metrics most firms never track, and why the construction industry is far more innovative than people give it credit for… and many more! Tune in to find out about: ✅ The risk-reward sweet spot – where most contractors are positioned vs where they should be ✅ Why 144 out of 150 contractors calculated their project ROI completely wrong ✅ The five numbers every contracting business should be tracking (most track zero of them) ✅ How top quartile contractors run 3 to 11 times more profitably than the rest Listen on Spotify and YouTube now. Link in the comments! #construction #bricksandbytes #aec #constructiontech Our Sponsors: 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 BuildVision –   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.io Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:46 Introduction to Construction Firm Success 04:37 Understanding Risk Reward Management 06:07 The Importance of Speed in Construction 12:49 Best Practices for Construction Efficiency 22:53 Navigating the Risk Reward Curve 26:54 Navigating Geopolitical Risks in Construction 30:15 The Importance of Small Projects 33:45 Understanding Contractor Bankruptcy Causes 35:04 Key Metrics for Contracting Success 42:52 Succession Planning and Knowledge Transfer 48:59 Best Practices for Effective Meetings 53:25 The Role of Accountability in Project Management 55:59 Characteristics of High-Performing Contractors 01:00:43 Niches of High-Profitability in Construction 01:00:59 Innovation in the Construction Industry 01:06:34 AI’s Impact on Construction and Employee Evaluation

50 senior AEC leaders were interviewed about their AI strategies. Every one was bullish. Every one was optimising the same broken system. Not one was rethinking the operating model. That finding sat at the centre of everything that happened this week. This week on the Executive Briefing: Why “don’t automate the past” is the most important phrase in construction AI right now, and why the Rule of Five might be the simplest AI policy you’ve never heard of. Why construction doesn’t have a moonshot, why productivity isn’t inspiring enough to rally the industry, and what that means for your AI strategy. The Great Split goes transatlantic. $25.2B in US data center starts in a single month. UK industrial construction up 19%. Residential still flat. The UK’s largest AI data centre just got approved at £10B. Balfour Beatty hits 3.5% margin on nuclear and defence. And the government is fast-tracking data centres onto the same grid that’s supposed to deliver 1.5 million homes. World models: a billion dollar bet on AI that understands physics. Who Yann LeCun is, what AMI Labs is building, and why construction should care even though you can’t buy it yet. Three things to do this week. Several questions that are going to split the room. Best LinkedIn comment gets read out next week. Join the debate:

“Within six months, every company will call themselves a world model company just to raise money.” That’s the prediction coming out of AMI Labs — Yann LeCun’s $1 billion AI research fund. We spoke about what world models actually are, why they matter for construction, and why the hype cycle is already loading. We also had Lena-Marie Pätzmann from Sitegeist on the show — a TU Munich spin-out building robots for concrete renovation. The use case: high pressure water lancing, deployed as a subcontractor, starting with parking garages. Their robot fits in a van. Their margins are strong. And the customers came to them. Tune in to find out about: ✅ What world models are and why they’re different from LLMs ✅ How to evaluate construction software without getting burned by legacy tech stacks ✅ Why Volkswagen just cut 50,000 jobs and what European energy costs have to do with it ✅ How Sitegeist is building robotic concrete renovation from a university lab into a real construction business 🎧 Watch now on Spotify & YouTube #aec #bricksbucksandbytes #constructiontech #ai #construction #bricksbytes #vc #robotics Our Sponsors: 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 BuildVision –   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.ioChapters 00:00 Intro 01:00 Introduction to World Models and AI Trends  02:03 Industry News: Funding Rounds in AI and Construction Tech  03:10 Personal Updates and Industry Challenges  05:07 The Complexity of CRM Implementation in Construction  07:13 The Role of Venture Capital in Software Development  09:54 Diving into World Models: What Are They?  13:00 Funding and Research in AI: Yann LeCun’s Billion-Dollar Round  16:36 The Hype Around World Models and Their Promise  24:24 Understanding World Models: Beyond Chatbots  27:09 Implications of World Models for Construction Industry  44:10 Summary and Closing Remarks

“We built entire cities using PDFs and drawings. That’s not a failure — that’s a miracle. Now imagine what we build with the right tools.” In today’s episode of Bricks and Bytes, we had Alain Waha, CTO at BuroHappold Engineering, discussing AI transformation, the future of physical AI, and why 2026 already feels like three years have passed in nine weeks. Tune in to find out about: ✅ Why construction being the least digitized industry is actually its biggest opportunity right now  ✅ How AI is finally solving the Tower of Babel problem that’s plagued AEC for decades  ✅ Why firms need to choose — compete on cost or build a value brand — before it’s too late  ✅ Why foundational AI models for the physical world don’t exist yet, and what it’ll take to get there Catch the full episode on Spotify and YouTube 🎙️ #aec #bricksandbytes #construction #constructiontech #ai Our Sponsors: 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 BuildVision –   streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform – http://www.buildvision.io Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:10 Introduction and Context of Rapid Change  06:38 Industry Size and Structure  12:29 Historical Perspective on Technology in AEC  17:56 The Tower of Babel Problem in AEC  23:33 Navigating the Future of Work  28:12 Value Creation in a Changing Landscape  32:37 Enhancing the Built Environment with Technology  37:18 The Future of Construction: A Digital Transformation  43:02 Cultural Shifts in Engineering and Technology Adoption  51:46 Knowledge Transfer and the Future of AI in Construction

A war in Iran is threatening global supply chains. A CTO at a 3,500-person engineering firm says construction just accidentally solved its oldest problem. And the knowledge crisis is actually two problems, not one. This week on the Executive Briefing: Why Noble Francis is telling construction CEOs to stop optimising for cost and start optimising for security of supply, and why one of our co-hosts thinks that advice will price you out of the market. Alain Waha, CTO at Buro Happold, on why large language models are construction’s Google Translate moment, why cost-plus pricing is about to get squeezed, and why AI is not GPS (and what that means for the next generation of engineers). The difference between firms whose institutional knowledge compounds and firms whose knowledge evaporates every time someone retires. Plus why capturing knowledge is only half the problem. Quick hits: Turner’s $29.2B year, Tutor Perini’s best year in 130 years, Autodesk AECO up 22%, and Palantir’s construction page going straight to a 404. Three things you can do this week. One question that’s going to split the room. Best LinkedIn comment gets read out next week. Join the debate: ⁠