Wired & Hammered

Boyne Labs

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Technology

Wired & Hammered cuts through the hype. We talk shop with founders, execs, PMs, estimators, foremen, and operators building real systems in heavy civil, mining, and vertical construction. RSSVERIFY

1d ago

E09: Dr. Ibrahim Odeh, Columbia University

Ibrahim Odeh is the Chair of Construction Engineering and Management at Columbia University and founding director of GLCM, a program that has grown to 5,000 industry members globally and over a million learners on Coursera. He's spent the last academic year embedded with major AEC firms studying real-world generative AI adoption, with three white papers landing imminently. This is a conversation grounded in research. Ibrahim introduces a framework that cuts through a lot of the noise: the gap between theoretical benefit and observed benefit, what AI could do for your organisation versus what it's actually delivering today. Most companies, including the biggest GCs and engineering firms, are still firmly in the exploratory phase. Their CEOs will tell you that themselves. We get into Turner Construction's approach to enterprise AI rollout, including the SafetyCoach GPT they built and gave away free to the entire industry. We talk about the three pillars of digital transformation and why technology is the smallest part of that equation. Ibrahim also breaks down what the generational shift in the workforce actually means for construction companies. Gen Z are entering the industry as AI natives, not just digital natives, and the GCs winning the talent war are the ones creating cultures that give them the freedom to experiment. Get that wrong and they're gone within 18 months. We close on a note that should give the industry pause. Ibrahim has started to notice a pattern: polished AI-generated content everywhere, but when you get people in a room and take the screen away, the understanding isn't there. We're producing more, reading less, and retaining even less. For an industry that runs on expertise built over decades, that's worth taking seriously.

41 min
Feb 12

E08: Cibby Pulikkaseril, Founder of Zabidou

Cibby Pulikkaseril is bringing laser vision tech to construction manufacturing through his new company Zabidou. He's taking laboratory-grade sensing and delivering it at 1/10th the cost and 10 times faster to install and commission by building a cheaper, fit-for-purpose sensor stack that's good enough — and using AI to build way more efficiently while stripping out all the platform bloat, cloud fees, and licensing fees. We talk about how he's targeting precast concrete plants, why construction manufacturing can't be outsourced (everything's too heavy), what makes dirty industrial environments different from clean rooms, and why he's deliberately designing with low cost components that do the minimum job needed. Plus we get into the Innovator's Dilemma playbook he's using to disrupt from the bottom, why he's manufacturing everything in Australia up to a thousand units a year, and his vision for robotic vision becoming the "sentience of a factory" — making decisions about what's happening in manufacturing and what to do about it. Good chat about practical automation in heavy industry, the global opportunity in precast and construction materials, and where quality control technology is actually heading.

32 min
Feb 3

E07: Doug Vincent, CEO @ Mastt, AI assisted Project Management Software

Doug Vincent - Mastt Doug Vincent is co-founder and CEO of Mastt, a construction project management platform focused on cost tracking and financial controls. They've got customers managing billions in projects across 10 countries. Doug's been deploying AI in the product for a while now, so we talked about what that actually looks like in practice: AI agents read through contracts, invoices, and progress claims (even 500-page documents) and auto-populate the cost trackerTakes work that used to require 30 minutes to an hour down to about 15 secondsThe AI reviews payments against contract terms and flags non-compliance issues that project managers typically missUsers can QA the data as it comes in until they trust it enough to run in the backgroundWe got into how Mastt started. Doug was working on a big government portfolio, drowning in thousands of spreadsheets that all had different formats. Told his boss "enough of this madness" and built software to roll up project finances automatically. That first client is still a customer today. Other stuff we covered: Why they run a freemium model in an industry that's traditionally enterprise sales-ledHis advice to founders: avoid innovation budgets and transformation teams, focus on core workflows with real customers who'll actually pay30% of their business is outside Australia, all organic growth—no paid adsWhere he sees this going: AI project team members you interact with via email like another humanDoug's also coaching other construction tech founders and thinks Australia leads the world on construction tech adoption because we've got less labour and need software to move things forward. Find Mastt at mastt.com (two T's). Doug's on LinkedIn as Vincent Doug.

36 min
Feb 3

E06: Noel Brady, COO @ ProjectMark, the CRM for Construction

Noel Brady - ProjectMark Noel Brady is co-founder and COO of ProjectMark, a construction-specific CRM. He spent 10 years as a project manager across Irish, UK, and US markets, most recently with Tishman Construction on a $2 billion project in downtown San Francisco. The company started because Noel kept seeing contractors lose work despite being qualified. "Death by a thousand cuts" - messy BD processes, uncoordinated proposals, disjointed procurement. He and his co-founders knew these companies could deliver on site, but they were getting knocked out in the selection process. The bigger problem: 47% of construction workers are aging out over the next few years. Knowledge lives in people's heads, and if that transfer doesn't happen, the industry's in trouble. You can't just pick up the phone and call the guy who built a similar project down the street anymore - you need that information centralized and searchable. Why companies choose ProjectMark: Built specifically for construction workflows, terminology, and processesDeep integration with Vista (biggest ERP in the market) to pull project history, financials, team dataUses that historical data to help pick the right opportunities, not just the biggest ones90% of their product roadmap comes from customer feedbackThe "Moneyball" approach: ProjectMark doesn't automatically tell you to chase every billion-dollar opportunity. That project might kill your business. Instead, it might recommend five $10M projects where you've worked with the client before, your backlog is lower, and you have the right team available to actually win and deliver. We talked about pre-construction, why construction companies get weeks not months to prove software value, and how their dev team 3X'd productivity using tools like Cursor. Noel's clear that you can't vibe code an enterprise CRM - you can build the shell, but not something that services thousands of businesses. Trimble Corporate Ventures is on their cap table. The goal is to be the next Procore, but in a different space - CRM as the hub with spokes coming off it for resource planning, financials, proposals, and AI-powered business insights. Find ProjectMark at projectmark.com. Noel's on LinkedIn.

32 min
Jan 8

E05: Inside Trimble Ventures: How Corporate VCs Are Reshaping Construction Tech

In this episode of Wired & Hammered, we explore corporate venture capital with Eliot Jones, Principal at Trimble Ventures. As part of the global technology leader's investment arm, Eliot shares insights on how established corporations are partnering with emerging construction tech companies to drive industry innovation. Key topics covered: Trimble's investment sweet spot: Why Series A startups are the focusThe shocking reality: Construction represents 14% of global GDP but gets only 1% of VC fundingHow the Construction Startup Competition sources 500+ companies annuallyBuilding two-sided partnerships between corporates and startupsThe evolving role of CIOs in construction companiesInteroperability challenges vs. data protection in the AI eraWhy getting construction workers back to the field (not the office) drives product developmentWhether you're a construction professional curious about emerging technologies, a startup founder looking to understand corporate partnerships, or simply interested in how innovation happens in traditional industries, this conversation offers valuable insights into the intersection of construction and venture capital.

23 min
12/18/2025

E04: Democratising Spatial Data: Civillo’s Steve White on Modern Civil Construction

Summary In this episode, John sits down with Steve White, General Manager at Civillo, to unpack how spatial data is changing the way civil infrastructure projects are delivered. Steve started his career as a surveyor, and he explains the everyday bottlenecks that pushed his team to build Civillo; a simple, web-based way for engineers, supervisors, managers, and clients to access and work with spatial information without specialist software. Steve breaks down how Civillo lets teams bring CAD, GIS, BIM, 12D, drone imagery, and underground services into one shared workspace, giving everyone on the project the same view of what’s happening. They talk through real-world impacts: cutting time spent on survey requests, reducing rework, improving communication, and modernising painful workflows like excavation and HotWorks permits. Steve also shares how Civillo’s adoption grew organically across major contractors like Seymour Whyte, why project-wide access is core to their model, and how digitising permits has become one of the platform’s biggest productivity wins. A practical, ground-level look at how better spatial visibility improves safety, reduces risk, and helps teams build things right the first time.

20 min
12/12/2025

E03: The New Playbook for Smarter, Healthier Buildings — with Tekifi’s Mike Arnold

In this episode, John sits down with long-time friend and Tekifi Managing Director, Mike Arnold, to break down what “smart buildings” actually mean today; and why we’re only at the start of the curve. Mike explains how modern buildings are becoming more like smartphones: built on a unified digital infrastructure that enables everything from better user experience to major productivity and energy gains. They dig into examples across Australia, London, and Dublin, including how air quality sensors boost worker performance, how simple changes like mobile access credentials eliminate daily friction, and how AI is reshaping traditional engineering design. Mike also talks through retrofitting older buildings, the myths that hold owners back, and why 95% of the global building stock is where the real opportunity sits. A practical, grounded look at what’s possible right now, and what’s coming next.

24 min
12/12/2025

E02: 30,000 Sites: How Propeller Built the Google Maps of Heavy Industry

Rory San Miguel, CEO of Propeller, joins the show to discuss building one of the most successful construction technology startups in the world. Propeller's drone mapping platform now operates across 30,000 active sites every month in over 100 countries, processing nearly 300,000 surveys annually. In this episode, Rory shares the pivotal moment when early customers told them to "leave the drone" and focus on the data platform instead—a strategic decision that transformed their trajectory. We dive deep into how they scaled in an notoriously difficult industry through smart distribution partnerships with Trimble, a viral business model that spreads site-to-site, and early technology bets on cloud-first architecture. Key Topics: The strategic pivot from hardware to data that built a global platformHow they achieved viral distribution in construction through business model designManaging operational complexity at 300+ employees across multiple continentsAI integration strategy and the workflow revolution coming in 2026Leadership philosophy: counting up instead of down and building structural resilienceFuture vision: sensors, robotics, and the construction site of 2035Rory provides candid insights on the patience and grit required to succeed in heavy industries, the importance of outlasting competition, and why "there's no such thing as overnight success" in construction technology. About the Guest: Rory San Miguel is CEO and co-founder of Propeller, the leading drone mapping platform for construction, mining, and heavy industry. He's a recipient of the 2025 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award and has built Propeller into a global platform serving 2,000+ companies.

31 min
12/11/2025

E01: From Site Engineer to CIO: Hani Arab on Tech, Adoption & What’s Next

In this episode, John talks with Hani Arab, CIO at Seymour Whyte, about how a civil engineer became the technology leader for one of Australia’s major infrastructure contractors, and what it actually takes to drive technology adoption across field teams. Hani shares the early moments that pulled him toward tech, from GSM-connected site systems in the 2000s to today’s push toward AI-enabled operations. They dig into the realities of supporting remote projects, why the biggest challenges now are organisational rather than technical, and how Seymour Whyte builds trust with engineers so digital tools don’t feel like top-down mandates. Hani also explains how they evaluate new tools, the role of enterprise architecture, why customer success matters just as much internally as it does for vendors, and how API-first platforms are shaping the future of design and construction workflows. They finish with the big one: AI. Hani lays out his goal for the next 12–24 months; 800 out of 1,000 Seymour Whyte employees using AI agents as part of their daily routine, and why broad, everyday gains across documents, meetings, tasks, and workflows will matter more than narrow, high-risk experiments. A grounded, candid look at what modern tech leadership in civil construction actually requires.

24 min
11/07/2025

Intro to Wired & Hammered

This is Wired & Hammered — the show where we break down how technology is changing the way we build, operate, and run the physical world. From mining and construction tech to infrastructure and real-estate operations. Each episode we dig into the tools, tactics, and lessons from the people shaping how these industries actually work — from startup founders to site foremen and asset operators. I'm your host John Naughton.

1 min

Trailer

Intro to Wired & Hammered

This is Wired & Hammered — the show where we break down how technology is changing the way we build, operate, and run the physical world. From mining and construction tech to infrastructure and real-estate operations. Each episode we dig into the tools, tactics, and lessons from the people shaping how these industries actually work — from startup founders to site foremen and asset operators. I'm your host John Naughton.

11/07/2025

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1 min

Wired & Hammered cuts through the hype. We talk shop with founders, execs, PMs, estimators, foremen, and operators building real systems in heavy civil, mining, and vertical construction. RSSVERIFY

Creator

Boyne Labs
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

10
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026 Wired & Hammered
Show Website

Wired & Hammered