Digital Construction Podcast

Andrea Ciaffi

A podcast about digital technologies for the Construction Industry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 3d ago

    Construction Tech Sales Explained with Gustavo de Bardeci

    In construction tech, selling is really consulting. How BIM software adoption, trust and AI are reshaping construction technology sales. Construction has a complicated relationship with the word "sales." In an industry built around engineers, architects, and BIM managers, the salesperson is often the most misunderstood person in the room and yet adoption, trust, and whether good technology actually reaches the field depend on getting that role right. In this episode, Andrea sits down with Gustave de Bardeci, a sales professional and APAC territory manager at Revizto who has spent his career on the commercial side of construction software, including formative years at Aconex. Gus moved from Argentina to Australia with no job, no network, and a language barrier, and rebuilt himself into a trusted advisor for some of the most technical buyers in the market. Website: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com/ Episodes: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episodes Episode notes: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episode/construction-tech-sales-explained-with-gustavo-de-bardeci Host: Andrea Ciaffi https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ciaffi-548413113 Guest: Gustavo de Bardeci https://www.linkedin.com/in/gusdebardeci/ 00:00 – Intro 02:10 – From Argentina to construction tech 06:30 – Overcoming the language barrier 08:30 – Advice for selling in a second language 10:25 – What a real week in sales looks like 14:00 – Perception vs reality of sales 16:15 – How much technical fluency you actually need 18:25 – Career progression and reputation 20:05 – Incentives that pull reps the wrong way 24:10 – What separates great products from noise 26:10 – Where construction software still gets it wrong 28:55 – How AI is changing sales Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Construction Tech Sales Explained with Gustavo de Bardeci

  2. Aug 4

    Inside buildingSMART - The Future of IFC with Eric Bugeja

    Why open standards and structured data decide whether AI in construction delivers results or scales your mistakes. BIM, IFC and vendor lock-in. AI is only as good as the data it's given, and construction has spent decades producing fragmented, ungoverned information. In this episode, we sit down with Eric Bugeja, Chairperson of buildingSMART Australasia, board member at buildingSMART International, and founder of consulting and training firm Kephron. Eric traces his path from graduate mechanical engineer, to leading multidisciplinary BIM teams and shaping open standards for the global digital construction community. The conversation covers why vendor lock-in is a business risk rather than an IT preference, why most IFC frustration comes from poor information requirements rather than the format itself, and where the next generation of open standards is heading: cloud-based, AI-capable, connected data instead of file transmission. If you work in BIM, digital engineering, or project delivery, this one offers a clear mental model for preparing your data, your software choices, and your leadership for what's coming. The engineers who make the shift, Eric notes, never go back. This episode explains why. Website: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com Episodes: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episodes Episode notes: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episode/inside-buildingsmart-the-future-of-ifc-with-eric-bugeja Host: Andrea Ciaffi https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ciaffi-548413113 Guest: Eric Bugeja https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-bugeja/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Inside buildingSMART - The Future of IFC with Eric Bugeja

  3. Jul 24

    The Most Overhyped Tech in BIM Isn't AI with Dhanjeet Sah

    After 27 years in BIM, why the digital twin flopped while the common data environment quietly reshaped digital construction and AI workflows. Every few years, the construction industry is told a new technology will change everything. Some do. Most don't. The harder skill isn't spotting the hype, it's knowing which shift is actually worth your time. In this episode, Dhanjeet Sah, Studio BIM Manager at FK Architects, draws on 27 years across Nepal, Dubai, Singapore, and Australia to trace the industry's path from CAD to BIM to digital engineering, and now to AI. Having beta-tested Autodesk software since the early 2000s, he has watched these cycles up close. The conversation is less about tools and more about judgment: how to separate durable change from noise. Website: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com Episodes: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episodes Episode notes: https://digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episode/the-most-overhyped-tech-in-bim-isnt-ai-with-dhanjeet-sah Host: Andrea Ciaffi https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ciaffi-548413113 Guest: Dhanjeet Sah https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhanjeet/ 00:00 – Intro 00:01:40 – The best career advice he's received 00:04:05 – From CAD in the '90s to BIM today 00:08:30 – Habits from the CAD era that still matter 00:12:15 – BIM technician vs BIM mentor 00:15:30 – Working across four countries 00:20:05 – Beta testing software with Autodesk 00:26:30 – Overhyped vs underrated: digital twin and CDE 00:31:00 – Where AI really sits in the hype cycle 00:36:15 – What AI replaces and what stays human Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Most Overhyped Tech in BIM Isn't AI with Dhanjeet Sah

  4. Jul 7

    5 Bold Predictions for the Construction Industry with Mirco Bianchini

    Five AI predictions for construction: why the point-solution app store dies, agentic automation takes over, and per-seat pricing ends. Website: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com Episodes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episodes Episode notes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episode/5-bold-predictions-for-the-construction-industry-with-mirco-bianchini Host: Andrea Ciaffi https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ciaffi/ Guest: Mirco Bianchini https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirco-bianchini/ Most conversations about AI in construction stop at "it will make drawings faster." This one starts where the industry usually stops: the workflows, roles, and software models we have quietly accepted for years, and why they are about to be rearranged. In this episode we sit down with Mirco Bianchini, Senior Product Manager at AECOM, an architect turned parametric design specialist who now works at the intersection of product, software, and the built environment. The conversation is structured around five predictions for how agentic AI reshapes digital construction, and most of them push against the industry's defaults. 00:00 – Intro and best career advice 02:30 – Prediction 1: the app store dies 14:25 – Prediction 2: collaboration vs headcount 23:40 – Prediction 3: projects as graphs, not lists 32:25 – Prediction 4: the forward deployed engineer 41:25 – Prediction 5: the architectural flip Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    5 Bold Predictions for the Construction Industry with Mirco Bianchini

  5. Jun 22

    How We Built Gamma AR for the Construction Site with Caner Dolas

    Rework eats 5 to 10 percent of every construction budget. On a 100-million-dollar project, that is 5 to 10 million dollars of waste no one planned for, and most of it is not a modelling failure, it is a translation failure between the BIM model and the people building from it. This conversation looks at what fills that gap. Caner Dolas, CEO and co-founder of Gamma AR, has spent the last six years building the augmented reality layer that sits between the model and the foreman, and his framing of the problem cuts past the usual demo-reel pitch around AR in construction. Website: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com Episodes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episodes Episode notes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episode/hy-ar-sells-itself-the-first-time-you-use-it-on-site-with-caner-dolas Host: Andrea Ciaffi https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ciaffi/ Guest: Caner Dolas https://www.linkedin.com/in/caner-dolas/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    How We Built Gamma AR for the Construction Site with Caner Dolas

  6. May 31

    Inside Australia's First Accredited Digital Engineering Diploma with Bryan Tay From Pivodel

    In this conversation, Bryan Tay, Director at Pivodel, and Dean Sherwell, Manager Commercial Sales and Partnerships at TAFE Queensland, discuss how they spent the last twelve months building Australia's first nationally accredited Advanced Diploma of Digital Engineering. The episode looks at why a recognised pathway has been missing, and what changes when one finally exists. The discussion covers the hidden cost of fragmented learning across projects, the pillars of a competent digital engineer, and why vendor badges fall short of what organisations actually need. Bryan and Dean explain why vocational education sits closer to industry than most engineering graduates assume, and how AI shifts the importance of digital engineering fundamentals rather than reducing them. Website: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com Episodes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episodes Episode notes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episode/inside-australias-first-accredited-digital-engineering-diploma-with-bryan-tay-from-pivodel Host: Andrea Ciaffi https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ciaffi/ Guest: Bryan Tay https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-tay-02097b88/ Guest: Dean Sherwell https://www.linkedin.com/in/deansherwell/ Pivodel Home page https://www.pivodel.com/ Course Page https://www.pivodel.com/pivodel-advanced-diploma-of-digital-engineering Course: Tafe QLD Course Page https://tafeqld.edu.au/course/19/19466/advanced-diploma-of-digital-engineering#ways-to-study-section EOI Page https://tafeqld.edu.au/employers/partnerships/pivodel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Inside Australia's First Accredited Digital Engineering Diploma with Bryan Tay From Pivodel

  7. May 27

    How I Lead a Global Digital Team with Sophie Montenot

    Sophie Montenot, Global Digital Delivery Lead at Surbana Jurong, on BIM coordination, JV harmonisation, and digital engineering on Changi T5. Website: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com Episodes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episodes Episode notes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episode/how-i-lead-a-global-digital-team-at-surbana-jurong-with-sophie-montenot Host: Andrea Ciaffi https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ciaffi/ Guest: Sophie Montenot https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-montenot-0879639/ The hardest problems on a mega-project are rarely the ones the strategy slides anticipated. They show up in the gap between a digital plan and what a hundred engineers actually do at 9am on a Tuesday. Sophie Montenot, Global Digital Delivery Lead at Surbana Jurong (SJ Group), has spent twenty years closing that gap. From the Singapore Sports Hub to Changi Airport Terminal 5, her career maps to the moments when digital construction stopped being theory and started being delivered. This conversation traces what she learned about deploying BIM at scale, harmonising joint ventures, and translating engineering problems into digital solutions that engineers actually use. Sophie also reflects on what changes when you move from project delivery into a global digital role across an acquired group of firms, and on her work mentoring women into aviation and construction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    How I Lead a Global Digital Team with Sophie Montenot

  8. May 11

    35 Years in Digital Construction with John Benstead

    Website: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com Episodes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episodes Episode notes: https://www.digitalconstructionpodcast.com/episode/35-years-in-digital-construction-with-john-benstead Host: Andrea Ciaffi https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-ciaffi/ Guest: John Benstead https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbenstead/ John Benstead is the Digital Engineering Manager at School Infrastructure New South Wales, the government agency responsible for planning, delivering, and maintaining over 2,200 public schools serving more than 800,000 students. With a career spanning toolmaking in the UK, large-scale GIS implementation across nine European countries, BIM leadership on major Australian projects, and now five years on the client side of public infrastructure, John brings a perspective that is rare: someone who has seen digital engineering from every angle. If you work in digital construction, public infrastructure, or are thinking about moving from the private to the public sector, this one is worth your time. 00:00:00 – Intro 00:01:50 – Best career advice: understand the problem first 00:04:45 – Career journey: toolmaking to digital engineering 00:08:35 – What working across 9 countries taught about standards 00:10:55 – The real lesson from the CAD to BIM transition 00:15:55 – School Infrastructure NSW: scale, mission, and complexity 00:24:10 – Public vs private sector: what actually changes 00:32:30 – Innovation agenda: standardisation, automation, integration 00:36:55 – How MMC and DFMA are reshaping school delivery 00:40:40 – AI, digital twins, and the future of digital delivery 00:49:05 – Career advice for professionals entering digital construction Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    35 Years in Digital Construction with John Benstead
See All (38)

About

A podcast about digital technologies for the Construction Industry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information