The ConTech Exec

Robert Zimmerman

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The ConTech Exec is real talk on construction tech and AI. We break down what actually works on the jobsite—software, hardware, workflows, and tools that boost productivity. No hype or jargon. Just straight conversations with construction execs and project pros sharing field-tested lessons, wins, and screwups that help you build smarter.

5d ago

Opening the Palantir Black Box - Cavtera

The conversation delves into the concept of Palantir Foundry and its impact on construction technology. It explores the challenges of legacy technology, change management, and the role of AI in modernizing construction operations. The conversation delves into the challenges and opportunities in the construction industry, focusing on the adoption of technology, the impact of AI, and the need for seamless integration of digital tools with physical operations. The discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding the true ontology of the construction business and the need for a holistic approach to technology adoption. Takeaways Palantir Foundry is an ecosystem that allows businesses to organize and assimilate all their data, enabling the creation of custom applications and solutions.Change management is a critical aspect of implementing new technology, and the process involves untangling legacy systems and processes to build tools around the best way to work. Technology adoption in the construction industry presents challenges and opportunities.Understanding the true ontology of the construction business is crucial for successful technology integration. Chapters 00:00 Tackling Change Management and Solutions Engineering45:22 Understanding Ontology and System Elements
Aug 9

We Didn't Transform. We Just Digitized.

Before he was Field COO for public sector at Procore, AJ Waters was an engineer whose actual job on a project was moving RFIs out of his company's spreadsheet and into the owner's spreadsheet, then carrying the answer back. His words: "I was the API between the two systems." He says that's still the reality on almost every job site. This week we get into public sector construction, where every dollar spent on software is a dollar a taxpayer thinks should've gone to a project. Owners maturing off spreadsheets. Data centers as infrastructure, and the Nebraska power plant that had no customer until one showed up. And AJ's bigger argument — that construction spent twenty-five years digitizing paper and called it transformation. Plus the Empire State Building, built in under a year with everybody working out of the same building. Which last time I checked is not how we do it anymore. New episode every week.
Aug 3

Be First To Be Third

Steve Jones started studying BIM in 2005, back when five people would give you ten definitions of it. Twenty years later he's still doing the same job: finding out what contractors, owners, and designers are actually doing, and what's actually working. His verdict on two decades of construction tech promises is not what you'd expect. The vendors weren't the problem. The industry doesn't want to be reinvented — it wants to be better in about 10,000 specific ways. What got underestimated was how hard organizational change is when every project is a temporary organization stitched together from firms with different contracts, incentives, and digital maturity. We cover the Procore study on expertise, the change order research showing only 7% of GCs rate themselves very effective at managing T&M work, why 38% of projects run over schedule while only low-20s run over cost, and what separates owners who think tech means software from owners who think tech means better information. Steve Jones is Senior Director, Industry Insights Research at Dodge Construction Network. Free research at construction.com. #ConstructionTech #ConstructionManagement #ProjectControls #ConstructionIndustry #Preconstruction
Jul 28

Your CPM Schedule Is a Backwards Pass

Everybody quotes the failure stat. Almost nobody reads it right. Alan Espinoza of Reconstructive AI returns for the full Texas Drive Time conversation, and he opens by reframing the number the industry hides behind. It isn't that seven out of ten implementations failed. It's that seven out of ten people struggled to use what you bought them. Different problem. No software fix. Then the harder question: what are we actually training these models on? An architect, a GC, and an owner will each get a different answer out of the same tool, because each one is prompting it to defend their own position. If AI learns the industry as it behaves today, all we've built is a faster way to point fingers. Host Robert Zimmerman and Alan cover the administrative state built out of CYA contract language, the 96% of data that goes straight to the shelf, CPM schedules as a backwards pass from a date corporate already picked, and what walks out the door when your one indispensable guy retires. Plus a Reconstructive AI update — Y Combinator, GC incubators, and agents crawling county permit records to find work early. 🎧 Also on YouTube. Real People. Real Work. Real Talk. #ConTech #AIinConstruction #ConstructionTechnology #ConstructionProductivity
Jul 20

No Time To Plan...But Time To Do It Twice

Your construction schedule is detailed to the hour. Your procurement schedule is two lines on a Gantt chart. That's the problem. Jeff Kaufman, founder of JIT Pro, started as a field carpenter, ran large projects as a superintendent, and moved into management where he traced nearly every late job back to the same root cause: procurement. In this episode, Jeff explains why expediting procurement doesn't save time — it compounds risk that lands three months later when the steel package shows up wrong. He and Robert get into hidden buffers versus strategic buffers owned by the whole project team, the silent transfer of risk that happens when contractors sign unrealistic schedules, and why working backward from required on-site dates often proves the buying should have started before the contract was even signed. They also cover the Living Building Challenge's double procurement process, cognitive overload on project teams, and who JIT Pro is built for: growth-stage GCs jumping from two jobs a year to five. Guest: Jeff Kaufman, Founder, JIT Pro (jit-pro.com) #ConstructionTechnology #Procurement #ConstructionPlanning #GeneralContractor #ConTech
Jul 6

Schedule Wrecked? Check Your Materials. | Eshan Jayamanne, Krane

Materials are roughly half the cost of any construction project, and on most jobs they get less management attention than the coffee order. Eshan Jayamanne, Founder & CEO of Krane, joins Robert to talk about why the construction supply chain stayed broken for so long — and what changes when jobsite delivery data starts flowing upstream into preconstruction. They cover the whiteboard that started it all, why hospitals are quietly fighting data centers for the same transformers and switchgear, and why the right time to find your bottleneck is before you pour, not after. Eshan also explains why Krane refuses to pitch itself as "AI for anything" — lead with the problem, and let the tool be the how. Three takeaways: Your procurement log is a diagnostic. Columns, macros, submittal ties — the spreadsheet tells you exactly how a team actually works.Design around the supply chain. Same cost, two supplier paths, six months of schedule difference. That decision belongs in precon, not month nine.The tools now train the people. GCs are using these systems to onboard new project engineers faster than the jobsite learning curve ever allowed. Eshan Jayamanne is a licensed PE and third-generation builder who worked at Stantec, WebCore, Boldt, and Chevron before founding Krane, now deployed across major healthcare and data center programs. Listen, follow the ConTech Exec Podcast, and share it with someone still running their supply chain off a whiteboard.
Jun 29

A Tech Founder's Bet on Construction's Worst Paperwork

Insurance compliance is construction's most hated paperwork — and one of its most expensive blind spots. Vince Giacomini left a ~$50M Silicon Valley exit to go fix it. After building a connectivity-as-a-service platform to ~$50M ARR and selling to private equity, Vince went and asked contractors what they actually hated. Two answers came back: insurance compliance and the skilled-labor shortage. In this episode he breaks down why the GC, the sub, and the broker never share a system of record — and how his platform Forsured closes that loop and monitors policies before they lapse mid-project. Then he gets into his second bet: a construction-specific talent platform aimed at pulling the next generation into the trades. A rare look at how an outsider investor reads construction's oldest problems. Guest: Vince Giacomini, Founder & CEO, Forsured (former CEO, Premier Wireless Solutions)
Jun 29

Construction Doesn't Resist Tech. Tech Resists Reality

Everyone says construction resists technology. Olivier Grinda thinks that's a cop-out — and he sold his last company to come prove it. A repeat founder who ran the turnaround at Clearco, Olivier crossed into construction through the Stackpoint venture studio to attack a $175B+ annual problem: rework. In this episode he argues that tech rollouts don't die because field crews are stubborn — they die because the tool solves 80% of the job and sends you back to Excel for the rest. His rule: solve the discrete problem 100%, lean into how people already work, and never tell a 30-year superintendent how to do his job. When his team gets it right, document review drops from four days to fifteen minutes. A sharp, contrarian take on AI adoption on the jobsite. Guest: Olivier Grinda, Founder & CEO, [construction AI startup — confirm name/spelling] (former COO, Clearco)

The ConTech Exec is real talk on construction tech and AI. We break down what actually works on the jobsite—software, hardware, workflows, and tools that boost productivity. No hype or jargon. Just straight conversations with construction execs and project pros sharing field-tested lessons, wins, and screwups that help you build smarter.

Creator

Robert Zimmerman
Episodes

72
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 Robert Zimmerman
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The ConTech Exec