Tech in Construction Today

0:00Welcome back to the Peggy Smedley Show, your voice for our connected world, with your host Peggy Smedley. Hello, listeners and welcome back to the Peggy Smedley Show, as always I'm your host Peggy Smedley. Today we're cutting through the noise to look at where construction technology really stands and what it will take to move the industry forward. From slow adoption to the skilled labor shortage, contractors are facing some real pressure, I think to build smarter, faster, safer, you've heard me talk about this many times before. So technology is becoming central to that shift for ABC member contractors and we're going to dig into what's delivering value now and I think what's coming next. So joining me today is Patrick Scarpatty, who is the director of construction, technology and innovation for the associated builders and contractors, Patrick, thanks for joining

1:03me today. Thanks Peggy, it's great to be here and talk about an ever-evolving topic in the construction industry. Evolving fast, who would have said, being in construction, we'd be talking about the pace of change for technology adoption, it's just a little bit too fast I think for contractors, they're trying to figure it, they were always saying, and I hate to use this term, that we were laggards in adopting technology, but that isn't. So I guess my first question for you today is, how would you describe the state of technology adoption in the construction industry and maybe with that because the word laggard isn't fair anymore. So it's a bad word I think for us, but what are some of the hurdles I think we're facing? So it's a two-pronged question for you to start us out. Yeah, I think part of my answer here is going to play into my background a little bit if I can just entertain you guys. So I actually went through the apprenticeship program with associated builders and contractors, I am a journeyman by trade and was boots on the ground, I was on job sites, and then

2:07eventually got exposure and access to technology. So I think it really plays along with the conversation here on how technology really is evolving. It's accelerating at varying levels of adoption throughout the industry, and it just doesn't mean one company is doing more than others because a lot of the industry is going to be small to medium-sized contractors, and it's going to focus in on what are their needs, what are their problems that they're trying to solve. There is a lot of technology solutions out there today, and they are accessible to pretty much anybody. You don't have to be an E&R top 500 company anymore just to get access to the best tools. Anybody can get their hands on them, fast about hurdles. It's always a fascinating question, and I think one of the ones we think construction is, I'm sure you're well aware, is the fragmentation of what a construction project looks like,

3:10and by that, there are a lot of stakeholders involved on a project. You have an owner, and then you have a general contractor or a construction manager, and then you have trade partners, and then you might have trade partners below those trade partners, and then there are suppliers, and there are so many people at play here, and getting everybody up to speed on the technology, the tools, the processes, that's the thing that can really take time. And ultimately, what's the end goal? It's going to be cutting costs, we're reducing risk. What is the ROI? What are we saving here? Are we saving it in labor, or are we saving in just true cost, true overhead costs? So there's definitely a lot of play here. That's interesting that you talk about what's that play, because in before we would say, what's that ROI, the project risk overall that you described there, I think we have a very younger job pool that's coming in, that laborer that's coming in versus those that are retiring.

4:11The speed to adoption, I think, is changing what's happening, because we are saying do we have to use technology on the job site to make us more efficient, but at the same time, a construction project is a construction project. You can only use so much technology to make it more efficient, whether it's in the office, whether it's actually in the field, and then you just described all those stakeholders. So how can we use technology for that speed to adoption? It opens up a bigger can of worms, I think, when we say who wants to dictate what is the technology that's going to be used, because you just described how many stakeholders there are, because everybody might have their favorite technology that they use, and what's always been the case. They're silos. Integration of technology has never been easy, and it's still not easy. You might say we have a common API, but is it a common API? It's technology sometimes isn't friendly to integrate.

5:14You're speaking my language, you brought up a API integration, that's the next conversation Peggy. How about that, because we could go down a rabbit hole, but construction is deeply rooted within its traditions on understanding what works to get the project done, and those means and methods have been around forever, and they're going to continue to be around. The introduction of technology, technology is all around us, anyway. It's nothing brand new, but the point is we need to figure out a way to integrate it into our existing workflows, and you had integrations on there. We wanted technologies to talk to each other. We wanted to help maybe augment the way we go about our job, on the job site, and back in the office to do a lot of the operational things. One thing at ABC that we do every year is we put out a technology report, and in 2025, this focused on the practical tools that are being used on job sites today.

6:18It wasn't, this is what's coming in five years, this is what's happening today, and anybody can do that. Creating case studies from members of all sizes, building projects, from data centers to multi-family housing, market rate, affordable housing. It's fascinating to see all of these case studies coming together. Another thing that comes into play is going to be the training and the workforce engagement. Are we embedding a lot of these technologies into upskilling or training the future workforce, whether it's continuing education, or apprenticeship programs, or certification programs? How are we just bringing those together so we're not viewing technology as a whole separate lift, and thing I need to learn, it's part of the job, it's part of the workflow. That's an interesting point. From your research, you just indicated some of the tech research that you do, but even

7:20in other research you do as well, is it clear that upskilling, re-skilling, and new skilling that we have to do with some of this? Is technology really going to play a part, or are we just racing to get our projects done, that we don't have enough time to actually train the people that we need to? Because when we talk about the kind of trades that we need in the field, is technology going to be the answer, or do we have to really train those labors, a plumber, an engineer, those different types of roles that are required, are thinking differently. Is tech going to be the one that's going to do that? Valid question. You brought up schedules with jobs. Any job set, yes, you're looking to get it done as quick as possible, as safe as possible, and as profitable, as possible, in the end, for everybody there. But for technology, it's, again, it's not a whole separate weight that needs to be, that

8:25needs to be carried, and it's embedded within our educational systems alone. Yeah, I know I listed quite a few examples there, but as long as we're engaging the workforce in offering these opportunities, asking questions like, what does the future of work look like, in construction? If we look at other industries, there's, yeah, there could be some things to learn, but for anything craft-specific, like the plumber and HVAC mechanic name it, yeah, like I mentioned before, the whole traditions thing, those means and methods have been around and will continue to be around, but with technology, what does the future look like? And how can we prepare for it right now, and really answer those questions, so we can be proactive as opposed to being reactive? Let's go back to you, as a journeyman, with the length of time it takes to do that role, and what the education and to be that skill. So when we say to future work, has that changed, or the amount of training and requirement

9:29and the skills that are necessary, that hasn't changed, and is technology changing that? Is it speeding it up? Is it enhancing that? Those are maybe of what somebody listening says, how do I change that? Is there a job I have to find that's going to help me get improved my skills with that? Yeah, you're looking to increase your professional capital. I can't speak on those specific regulations around hours. I live in Maryland, I got my license in Maryland, so I can only speak to those requirements, but as jobs evolve, as requirements evolve, multi-skilling is becoming a big deal. And it's allowing these craft professionals to become experts in multiple skills and bring those out to the job site, and it can help alleviate some of the schedule points you brought up. But again, technology is going to help augment some of these tasks as well. But that's what technology has to do. So when we think about AI, and we think about all these other things that companies are pushing

10:34on these younger generation as the older generation retirees, we have to look and we have to figure out what technologies do we believe will be fundamental to maybe reshaping how construction firms operate. So we have to think about that. And as the younger generation says, I can make these six figure salaries, they have these ideas and want to be involved. We might say we've got to start teaching K through 12 to be in there, but we've got a gap right now to fill that gap till they're old enough to start working the job sites. We have to encourage those that are unemployed to get into the industry. So we have to think about what technologies right now can help train, educate, reskill, or steal people from other industries. Those are opportunities yet, those will go back to our hurdles question. And we're technology has to come in. Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the education piece because technology is playing a huge role in education on just how it's getting delivered to people now, you have things like

11:38virtual reality, augmented reality, simulators, and then we're just we're gamifying what training looks like. Yes, it's going to be done in a safe and controlled environment, but they're also going to get exposed to the real world and the job sites, but they're going to have this level of familiarity. Thanks to technology, thanks to virtual learning right beforehand and getting ready to take their journeyman's tests or whatever path that they're going to go down. And speaking of AI and we touched on that a little bit and there's probably way more to talk about there, but with AI in the education space, you can almost customize solutions now based on the specific needs of a job or a job description, how the job needs to get done, the trade itself, and you can really lean on AI to bring about these solutions to the workforce. So as we start wrapping up a little bit, what tips would you leave construction companies?

12:39Because I'm a big one and thinking in this new era as we move forward, companies and workers have a responsibility to upskill, re-skill, to do things to motivate their workers to want to constantly stay educated. It's not just going out there and doing the job or we're going to have buildings and infrastructure that maybe isn't safe. And when we look at construction, I think it's a very interesting thing and I talk about this a lot. Construction means lots of things, whether we're talking residential, commercial, there's a whole lot of things when we define the term construction. But we have to do a lot of things in this industry right now to do in this new era of work. So what would those tips be that you would give as ABC to say, look, these are things we need to be thinking about. And we can't just say, look, we have to look to technology, we have, there's many things, but it's got to be a two-pronged approach, both the company and the worker. Technology plays a role similar to other traits of this industry.

13:40It's in plays a big role right now. But ultimately comes down to companies invest, continuing to invest in their people through development, through upscaling, through continuing education, pairing, again, not just viewing technology as a standalone pillar, but pairing the technology with the training or with the people in the field. The ones actually building the building, some thinking of the vertical projects, right? Getting the technology in front of them and helping them upscale realized how this makes sense for their job. And then, secondarily, just things for companies to think about is as we're digitizing this industry and by that going away from the ArchD1 printed 30x42 drawings and job sites, continuing to print our files and all that to iPads, right? You see a lot of job sets that have iPads now. Think about your data, right?

14:41How are we protecting that data? How can we really take advantage of your own company data and lean on that to help you make some insightful and actionable decisions moving forward? I love that you talk about that because as we think about moving from this 40-50 world of sharing from project to project that we never did before, carrying down silos, that's an entirely great conversation that we can have and that's where things we never ever thought because everything was paper driven and it's a whole different way of thinking. So Patrick, Scarpatty, this has been a great conversation, ABC Director of Construction Tech and Innovation. Thank you for your time today. Where can our listeners go to get more information and maybe we'll have another conversation again about many of the other things we haven't gotten through. There's plenty to talk about in this space. Yeah, two resources I would ask your audience to jump on is abc.org. We have an entire technology drop-down tab and then on ABC's YouTube page, there are

15:45some helpful technology-focused videos talking about AI, cybersecurity, drones. All right, Patrick, thank you again. Thank you. Okay, listeners, that is all the time we have for today. Make sure to share and subscribe to our episodes each week. Share your thoughts with me on Exec, Connective World, or follow me on LinkedIn or on YouTube and continue the conversation there. Please check out our website or our newsletter and read our blogs at ConnectiveWorld.com or our click on our show at the PeggySmedleyShow.com. Remember we broadcast live every Tuesday at 12 p.m. Central and you can hear our broadcast live or our podcast on Thursdays. This is the PeggySmedley Show, your voice for our Connective World and remember, with great technology comes great responsibility.