Barton Malow CEO Ryan Maibach on AI, Data Centres and the Future of Construction

"Have we seen the productivity benefit from that? I think it's reasonable to say that no, no, we haven't."That is Ryan Maibach, President and CEO of Barton Malow, on the software stackhis own teams are carrying.Roughly 40 different tools for a project manager. Around 35 for a superintendent.He is not describing a company that failed to adopt technology. He is describing one that adopted a lot of it and is now counting the cost.His point on this week's episode was not that the tools are bad. Several of themwork. It is that digging foundations, placing concrete and erecting steel have not fundamentally changed, while the process wrapped around those activities has grown exponentially more complex. He is seeing burnout, and he is not seeing the productivity.Then he took it somewhere harder.If a construction manager exists partly to help a client overcome informationasymmetry, and AI hands that client the same knowledge directly, what is the service actually worth?Full episode out now. Link below.#bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #aec #construction #constructiontech #ai #vcChapters00:00 Intro01:45 Quickfire: builder or technologist04:41 What Barton Malow actually builds07:28 Where the industry goes in the next ten years09:53 Sponsors12:54 Labour, cost and the technology question13:22 Why the downturn worries him more than the labour shortage16:37 Data centers, and the pushback from inside his own team19:09 Steering a company when nobody knows what happens next22:10 What construction executives should prioritise right now24:42 The AI strategy paradox30:07 Second brains, and what happens to the general contractor33:58 40 tools per PM and no productivity to show for it36:50 LIFTbuild: building a tower from the top down41:39 What they got wrong trying to change the industry45:45 Hyperscalers as clients48:42 How he actually runs his week52:43 What he screens for when hiring56:38 Bias, and the leader he learned the most fromOur Sponsors:BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.coAphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.coArchdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com