Emilio Sassine of Cedrus talks AI in real estate, energy audits & climate tech commercialisation

In this episode of The Plucky Bamboo Podcast, I sat down with Emilio Sassine, Founder & CEO of Cedrus, to talk about what it really takes to commercialise AI in the built environment.Cedrus is building a platform that helps real estate owners reduce emissions across building portfolios - using AI to replace static energy audits with dynamic, data-driven retrofit planning.But as Emilio shared, the technology is only part of the story.A big part of the challenge is trust.When you’re selling innovation - especially AI - to engineers, asset managers, and technical experts, you’re asking people to rethink how they’ve worked for decades.And that creates friction.In our conversation, we explore:• What early sales look like when your product is still being built• The challenge of selling AI to technical stakeholders• How Cedrus uses data to reduce building emissions at scale• Why founders need to challenge their own value proposition first• Balancing customer feedback with product vision• Lessons from moving from MVP to a market-ready platformOne insight that stuck with me was Emilio’s view that before convincing anyone else, founders need to be fully convinced themselves - stress-testing their product, positioning, and differentiation.If you’re building in climate tech, proptech, or energy, especially with an AI layer, this episode offers a grounded look at the commercial realities behind bringing innovation to market.