AEC Trailblazers: The Founders Files

e-verse
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Semiweekly

Building the Future of Construction, One Story at a Time. Join us on AEC Trailblazers: The Founders Files, where we delve into the minds of the brightest stars in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) startup world. Through intimate interviews, we go beyond the elevator pitch to uncover the raw, personal stories behind these innovative disruptors. Forget dry industry jargon. This is where passion meets innovation. Hear directly from the founders who are shattering traditional mindsets and reimagining the built environment. Join our community of passionate builders. Find more content on e-verse.com, aecworks.e-verse.com everse.substack.com

  1. 7h ago

    Eshan Jayamanne of Krane: Fixing the Gaps in Construction Procurement

    Construction supply chains rarely fail because of one major mistake. More often, risk builds in the handoffs: between design and procurement, procurement and vendors, submittals and fabrication, delivery and installation, commissioning and owner turnover. In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, Valentin Noves sits down with Eshan Jayamanne, Founder and CEO of Krane, to unpack why those handoffs are so difficult to manage and why traditional procurement software often struggles with the realities of construction. Eshan’s perspective comes straight from the field. A third-generation builder and licensed Professional Engineer, he grew up around job sites before moving into civil and structural engineering. That experience exposed him to a recurring disconnect between the people designing projects and the teams responsible for building them, especially when information has to move from engineering decisions into field execution. That gap became one of the central themes of the conversation. Valentin and Eshan explore what makes construction supply chains fundamentally different from more standardized industries. Every project can introduce a different mix of equipment, vendors, specifications, compliance requirements, warranties, lead times, and custom materials. For complex systems such as switchgear, generators, chillers, and air handling units, procurement begins long before equipment reaches the job site. Teams must evaluate availability, lead times, performance, compliance, warranties, and whether vendor bids actually meet project requirements. Then come submittals, product data approvals, fabrication tracking, delivery, installation, commissioning, owner handoff, and ongoing operational information. The material moves through one chain. The approvals and project data move through another. Keeping those two aligned is where things get tricky. Eshan explains why risk tends to accumulate between these stages and why so much critical information still lives across spreadsheets and disconnected systems. That fragmentation makes it harder to maintain visibility from specification through installation and identify problems early enough to protect the schedule. The conversation also examines why off-the-shelf ERP and procurement platforms often fall short. Construction workflows are highly project-specific, spec-driven, and dependent on coordination across multiple stakeholders, making them difficult to fit into generic software models. That is also the problem behind Krane. Drawing on experience across engineering, construction, and major-project material coordination, Eshan is building an AI-native approach to procurement and material management focused on earlier risk detection, better visibility, and a more predictable path from spec to install. For anyone working in construction technology, procurement, engineering, or project delivery, this episode is a sharp look at the messy middle of how projects actually get built. Listen to the full episode of AEC Trailblazers. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com

    Eshan Jayamanne of Krane: Fixing the Gaps in Construction Procurement

  2. Mar 9

    Design Misbehaves: Programming Architecture for High-Performance Cities

    Architecture is often framed as a discipline of icons and authorship. But what if the real story of architecture is not about individuals—but about systems, collaboration, and the tools that shape how we build? In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, host Valentin Noves, CEO of e-verse, sits down with Alexander Josephson, co-founder of the globally recognized architecture studio PARTISANS, to explore how architects navigate creativity, technology, and professional identity in a rapidly evolving industry. Josephson’s path into architecture began long before university. As he recalls in the episode, the spark came from a childhood moment—drawing a castle for his first crush when he was six or seven years old. He describes himself as a visual thinker from the beginning, someone who connected with making things by hand rather than excelling in traditional academic settings. That early instinct toward building and visual expression ultimately shaped his career. From that starting point, the conversation expands into a deeper reflection on the profession itself. Josephson challenges the idea of the “starchitect”—the notion that architecture is driven by singular genius. In his view, the world created that narrative, not architects themselves. Today, the reality is far more collective: teams of designers, engineers, technologists, and collaborators working together to shape complex projects. That complexity also exposes tensions within the profession. Josephson describes architecture today as facing something of an identity crisis. On one hand, the profession maintains strict requirements and long educational paths before someone can legally call themselves an architect. On the other hand, the industry often struggles to clearly define or protect the role architects play in broader project ecosystems. Technology becomes another central theme of the conversation. Rather than viewing it as just a tool for efficiency, Josephson shares how technology can fundamentally reshape the value architects bring to their clients. Early in his career, he recognized this opportunity during a major project where teams were still working entirely in 2D CAD. His team proposed something different: delivering the work in BIM with a small group of young architects who could model the project and reveal potential issues before construction. That technological approach didn’t just improve production—it positioned them strategically and ultimately secured them the design mandate. For Josephson, that moment revealed an important insight: technology can be a competitive advantage for architects when it helps them solve problems earlier, faster, and more intelligently than others in the field. Throughout the episode, the conversation moves between personal story, professional philosophy, and broader industry shifts. From architectural authorship to the role of technology in design, Josephson offers a candid perspective on what it means to practice architecture in a world that is increasingly complex, collaborative, and technologically driven. For architects, technologists, and AEC professionals navigating similar questions, this episode offers both reflection and provocation: how should architects redefine their role in the decades ahead? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com

  3. Feb 23

    Building Before Disaster: AI, Risk, and the Future of AEC with Ben Gilliland, Chairman of Future Proof

    What happens when 37 million homes are projected to be at extreme climate risk over the next 20 years? In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, Valentin Noves, CEO of e-verse, sits down with Ben Gilliland — Founder and Chairman of Future Proof Property Intelligence — to unpack one of the most urgent challenges facing the built environment today: how to proactively retrofit and finance resilience at scale before disaster strikes. Ben brings more than five decades of experience across construction engineering, software, structured finance, and venture capital to a conversation that reframes climate risk as a design and systems problem — not just an insurance issue. The numbers are staggering. Roughly 37 million U.S. homes are expected to face extreme exposure over the next two decades. That translates to nearly 100 million people directly affected. And much of the existing housing stock was built using technologies and standards that are 60 to 75 years old — long before current climate volatility was imaginable. Rather than waiting for insurance markets to collapse or premiums to skyrocket, Future Proof is building an AI-driven platform that combines: * Multi-peril extreme weather analytics * Address-level historical weather data dating back to 1950 * Long-range climate forecasting through 2100 * Engineering-based remediation planning Through partnerships with IBM Climate Intelligence and The Weather Company, Ben’s team integrates predictive modeling with granular property data to create actionable remediation strategies — not theoretical risk scores. This episode explores why remediation — essentially large-scale, engineered retrofitting — may be the only viable response to systemic climate exposure. Ben explains why floods in Asheville, North Carolina, and expanding wildfire zones in states like Colorado are signals of a broader structural shift in risk geography. More importantly, he challenges the AEC industry to act. If resilience becomes a measurable, financeable input into the building lifecycle, contractors, architects, engineers, insurers, and policymakers must collaborate differently. This is no longer about reactive rebuilding. It’s about proactive upgrading. For professionals in AEC, construction tech, proptech, and climate intelligence, this episode offers a grounded look at how AI, engineering, and capital markets intersect in the next phase of the built environment. Because the future of AEC may not be about building new — it may be about fixing what already exists. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com

    Building Before Disaster: AI, Risk, and the Future of AEC with Ben Gilliland, Chairman of Future Proof

  4. Jan 26

    Beyond BIM: How Track3D’s AI Is Reprogramming Job-Site Reality.

    In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, Valentin Noves sits down with Chaitanya N K—widely known as NK, Co-Founder and CEO of Track3D—to explore how AI, robotics, and reality capture are reshaping construction from the ground up. NK’s journey into construction technology didn’t start on a job site. It began at the intersection of robotics, computer vision, and virtual environments, where he worked on systems that translated real-world behavior into digital simulations. That early experience shaped a core belief that still guides his work today: if you can accurately scan reality and translate it into a virtual world, you unlock entirely new ways to understand, measure, and improve complex systems. Throughout the conversation, NK challenges a common misconception in the AEC industry—that construction is slow to adopt technology. Based on his experience working with large contractors, the problem isn’t resistance or lack of effort. Many firms have already experimented with hundreds of tools, from advanced robotics to augmented reality. The real issue, he argues, is that most technologies fail to scale because they are not simple, fast, accurate, or cost-effective enough to be deployed across thousands of projects. This insight became a foundational design principle for Track3D. Rather than building technology for showcase projects or logos on a website, NK focused on scalability. His goal was to create systems that work just as well for repetitive residential renovations as they do for large-scale infrastructure—independent of geography, project size, or organizational complexity. If the value is clear and the friction is low, adoption follows naturally. The episode also dives into how visual data—captured from drones, smartphones, 360° cameras, and LiDAR—can be transformed into actionable intelligence. Instead of relying on manual reporting or fragmented tools, NK explains how AI-driven reality capture enables continuous, automated progress tracking and decision-ready insights. This shift moves construction monitoring from macro-level visibility to precise, scalable operational intelligence. Looking ahead, NK shares his perspective on what’s next for the industry. While AI software is already changing workflows, he believes the next major leap will come from autonomous robots operating directly on job sites. As sensing, mobility, and intelligence converge, robotics will play a central role in closing the gap between the physical and digital worlds of construction. This episode is a deep dive into scalability, reality intelligence, and why the future of construction will be shaped by technologies that work everywhere—not just where it’s easiest. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com

    Beyond BIM: How Track3D’s AI Is Reprogramming Job-Site Reality.

  5. Jan 5

    From Carbon-Negative Materials to Media Impact: Building the Playbook for Scalable Climate Solutions with Josh Dorfman

    In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, Valentin Noves sits down with Josh Dorfman, a climate entrepreneur and storyteller whose career spans sustainable manufacturing, media, e-commerce, and real-world climate innovation. Known for his sharp blend of humor, practicality, and vision, Josh brings a candid perspective on what it really means to build a low-carbon future—without losing your sanity in the process. Josh shares a formative moment early in his career, when he realized that the U.S. consumer economy is one of the most powerful forces shaping planetary outcomes. As he recalls, “We live in America in a consumer economy. 70% of what drives this economy is what consumers spend.” He cared deeply about the planet and sustainability, but found himself suffocating in the political and academic angles of his PhD program. In his own words, “I can’t stay in this PhD and learn about environment and political side one second longer, because I’m gonna blow my brains out. I’m just going to go try to help consumers make better choices.” That pivot set the tone for the career that followed—one rooted in action, honest communication, and solutions that meet people where they are. Throughout the episode, Josh and Valentin explore the pressure of being “green green green” all the time and how sustainability work can feel overwhelming. Josh argues that real progress comes from finding the balance between idealism and practicality, and from building solutions that reduce friction instead of adding more complexity. His travels, including time spent in China, broadened his perspective on materials, manufacturing, and the global systems that shape climate innovation. Those experiences directly influenced his decision to found Plantd, a carbon-negative building materials company focused on replacing conventional wood-based structural boards with high-performance alternatives made from ultra-fast-growing perennial grass. Josh breaks down the moment he realized the material supply chain needed reinvention. He was using high-grade FSC-certified plywood—sourced from Oregon—and watched quality go down while prices went up. The inconsistency pushed him to think: How are we still cutting down forests to justify sustainability claims? That question led to Plantd’s core innovation: engineering structural panels from compressed grass fibers. In Josh’s words, “We take a grass that has some real structural integrity in it and we slice it way thinner than you can slice a tree… you’re just getting way more structural fiber compressed together.” The result is a board with the same strength as oriented strand board, but with no orientation, meaning it’s equally strong in every direction. For builders, that translates directly into performance consistency and a dramatically lower carbon footprint. The conversation also touches on operational efficiency and energy usage in buildings—a critical theme for the AEC industry. As Josh explains, running a building as low-carbon as possible isn’t just achievable; it’s profitable. He notes, “Certainly to operate a building as low carbon as possible is easy and saves money and goes right to the bottom line.” Cutting-edge tools in energy management, like those used by large REITs and multi-tenant operators, are becoming essential. In fact, Josh argues that failing to use available technology is “a vast disservice to your investors and your stakeholders,” given how quickly the landscape is evolving. Despite the technical depth, the episode stays fun, accessible, and full of personality—from sustainability storytelling to travel anecdotes to the famous moment when Josh rode a bicycle onto The Martha Stewart Show for Earth Day. Josh describes himself as “a startup person,” and his energy reflects exactly that: scrappy, curious, relentless, and optimistic about the ability of innovation to unlock a better built environment. Whether you work in construction, materials, sustainability, or building operations, this episode offers a refreshing, insightful look at where climate innovation meets the real world—and how the AEC industry can help lead the way. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com

  6. 12/15/2025

    From Jobsite to Cloud: Inside RedTeam Go’s Approach to Digital Transformation

    In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, Valentin Noves (CEO) sits down with Traci VanDalsem, a fourth-generation contractor who grew up immersed in the construction world long before technology reshaped the industry. Traci opens the discussion with a simple but powerful idea: everything in construction is a process. Teams in the AEC industry naturally operate through workflows, routines, and repeatable methods. Yet, as she explains, technology often disrupts those processes—not by replacing them, but by reshaping how they function. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes it forces teams to rethink tasks they’ve done the same way for decades. But that friction is where transformation begins. She also emphasizes one of the most overlooked realities in construction tech: ROI isn’t always immediate. You may invest in a platform or workflow change and not see measurable impact for a year. A major theme in the episode is the importance of buy-in. The people who approve a technology purchase—often C-suite or financial leadership—are not always the ones who will use it every day. They focus on cost, efficiency, and risk reduction. But the true test of adoption happens at the project-level, where PMs, superintendents, and office administrators interact with the tool constantly. For them, technology must make their lives easier. It has to reduce friction, not add steps. As Traci puts it, “the best tool is the one your team will actually use.” She illustrates that idea through the work she does at RedTeam, a cloud-based construction management software purpose-built for General Contractors and Project Managers. In her own words: “RedTeam is a construction management software platform that takes a construction project all the way from bidding and estimating all the way through closeout. We manage all the document control in between. We have the ability to issue contracts, subcontract agreements, do change management, create owner bills where we of course can put together an owner pay application and send it over to the owner.” RedTeam is designed to manage every phase of the project lifecycle in one place—an approach that aligns perfectly with Traci’s belief that teams need tools they adopt fully, not partially. This is an episode for anyone navigating the intersection between construction and technology: GCs seeking smoother workflows, PMs looking for better tools, and leaders working to drive meaningful change across their organizations. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com

  7. 12/01/2025

    From Digital Twins to Data‑Driven Cities: Urban Simulation with Federico Fernandez

    Urbanly founder Federico Fernandez breaks down how geospatial visualization engines evolved into decision systems for planners. We trace his path from Synthesity/UrbanSim to Autodesk (and the work that won an Autodesk CEO Award), then into Urbanly’s platform that fuses multi-source data with scenario generation and KPIs. We discuss productizing scripts, modeling organic city growth, and why generative AI must be calibrated against empirical data—not treated as ground truth. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com

  8. 11/17/2025

    Scaling Architecture with Geospatial Tech: AI, Privacy, and the Future of Design Tools

    In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, Valentin Noves sits down with **David Alpert, CEO and co-founder of Geopogo**, to explore how real-time visualization and AI-driven tools are reshaping the architectural profession. Alpert, an award-winning architect turned product innovator, shares his journey from managing landmark projects to building Geopogo Cities, a platform that leverages Unreal Engine, AR/VR, and BIM integration to transform the way architects, contractors, and clients engage with design at scale. The conversation begins with a striking reality check: in the United States, architects are involved in just 25% of projects, and only 1% of residential work. This leaves a massive gap where design expertise could add value but remains inaccessible, often because architectural services are perceived as too expensive. For Alpert, technology holds the key to unlocking this market. By making architectural workflows more efficient and outputs more affordable, digital tools can expand the reach of the profession while maintaining its creative essence. Importantly, he emphasizes that while automation and AI are critical enablers, they will never replace the human creativity and client connection at the heart of architecture. The episode also delves into Geopogo’s mission to bridge design data with urban context. With Geopogo Cities, architects can drop Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, Archicad, and other models into fully rendered city-scale environments for instant design reviews and stakeholder presentations. This capability not only accelerates decision-making but also ensures projects are viewed in context, supporting better collaboration and transparency. Beyond pure visualization, Alpert raises thought-provoking points about privacy and visibility in the digital age. Drawing from a personal anecdote about using Google Street View in Madrid to locate his daughter’s building, he reflects on the limits of current tools and the ethical questions they raise. While it’s now possible to navigate neighborhoods and evaluate design impacts virtually, interior visibility remains off-limits—and in some countries, entire views are restricted due to concerns like terrorism. This sparks a discussion on what the future might hold as digital visibility expands and how architects must balance transparency with security. Alpert also underscores the shift architects must make when stepping into the product world. Developing Geopogo required leaving behind a purely architectural mindset and learning to think like product builders—understanding user adoption, scalability, and the broader tech ecosystem. It’s a shift many in the AEC industry will face as technology becomes an integral layer of practice. For architects, engineers, and construction professionals, this episode provides a deep dive into the intersection of design, data, and digital ethics. From market gaps in architectural services to the promises and pitfalls of city-scale visualization, the conversation with David Alpert is a reminder that the tools we build today will define how the built environment evolves tomorrow. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com

    Scaling Architecture with Geospatial Tech: AI, Privacy, and the Future of Design Tools
See All (67)

About

Building the Future of Construction, One Story at a Time. Join us on AEC Trailblazers: The Founders Files, where we delve into the minds of the brightest stars in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) startup world. Through intimate interviews, we go beyond the elevator pitch to uncover the raw, personal stories behind these innovative disruptors. Forget dry industry jargon. This is where passion meets innovation. Hear directly from the founders who are shattering traditional mindsets and reimagining the built environment. Join our community of passionate builders. Find more content on e-verse.com, aecworks.e-verse.com everse.substack.com

Information