"I got employee of the year in 2016 for introducing Excel to my company."

That's the state of technology in the $300 billion store development industry.

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we sat down with Genevieve Davis and Alim Uderbekov from Surfaice. These two met on a beach in California (yes, really) and decided to tackle one of the most analog industries out there with AI agents.

Here's what we covered:

✅ Why companies building hundreds of stores aren't using Procore (hint: it's expensive and they're retailers, not developers)

✅ The "McDonald's is a race car" analogy - why 40,000 cookie-cutter restaurants are actually the perfect use case for AI in construction

✅ How code is becoming a commodity and why that changes everything about vertical software

✅ Why AI won't take your job, but people who know how to use it will

Link in comments - give it a listen if you're in retail, store development, or just want to hear how two people turned a beach conversation into a company.

Our Sponsors:

Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io

Chapters

00:00 Intro

03:46 Introduction to Surface and Founders' Backgrounds

06:48 The Vision Behind Surface and AI in Construction

09:41 The Meeting of Minds: Genevieve and Alim's Collaboration

12:45 Current Challenges in Store Development

15:30 AI's Role in Automating Construction Processes

18:32 Efficiency Gains and Time Savings with AI

21:44 The Future of Store Development and Human Touchpoints

24:30 Defensibility and Business Model of Surface

27:25 Funding and Future Plans for Surface

39:13 Investment Insights and Strategic Partnerships

41:31 Customer Engagement and Feedback

44:33 AI in Construction: Transforming Workflows

47:14 Navigating the Go-To-Market Strategy

54:20 Understanding Competition in the AI Space

59:25 Customization and Onboarding Process

01:03:07 Future of AI in Construction

"If we just listened to what our customers wanted, we would have had a faster horse."

Everyone knows the Henry Ford quote, but Lee Mullin actually showed us what it means for construction tech.

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we sat down with Lee from BuildArc. He spent 18 years at Autodesk, and honestly, the conversation completely changed how we think about talking about products.

Here's what stuck with us: we're all making ourselves the hero of the story. We love talking about our amazing AI tools, our productivity gains, our revolutionary features. But Lee said something that hit different - your customer needs to be Luke Skywalker. You're just Yoda, guiding them along.

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why taking people from "9 to 20" beats incremental improvements from "9 to 10"

✅ The framework Lee used to convince construction crews that iPads weren't "voodoo"

✅ How to tell stories that actually connect (hint: it's about project managers lying awake at night, not your feature list)

✅ Why the best customer stories need tension and conflict (even though corporate hates that)

The reality is, there's so much noise in AEC tech right now. If you can't tell a story that makes people feel understood, you're just another vendor promising productivity.

Watch the full episode now. Link in the comments!

Our Sponsors

Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io

Chapters

00:00 Intro

03:48 The Importance of Storytelling in Business

13:32 Navigating the AEC Technology Landscape

21:44 Crafting Compelling Presentations

27:22 Building a Storytelling Framework

31:13 Transforming Customer Stories into Success

37:28 The Human Element in AI

42:11 Understanding Personas in Storytelling

44:26 Frameworks for Effective Storytelling

53:01 Building Conflict and Tension in Stories

"You can drop 30% of your project management labor right now."

In today's episode of Bricks and Bytes, we had Darren Martin from AInvested and we got to learn about the harsh realities of digital transformation in AEC, how private equity firms value tech-enabled companies, and why most innovation initiatives fail to scale... and many more!

Darren left his role as Chief Digital Officer at Atkins Realis to advise PE firms and help construction tech startups break through growth barriers. His perspective from both sides of the table reveals uncomfortable truths about how the industry approaches technology.

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why most companies are "digitally dabbling" instead of transforming

✅ How PE firms assess digital transformation value in billion-dollar acquisitions

✅ The specific labor reductions possible with current AI tools (hint: it's 30% in project management)

✅ Why small AEC firms can now compete with market leaders in ways that weren't possible before

Watch now to hear how the game is changing for construction companies willing to move beyond pilot projects.

Also, have a look at this article to know more: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/aecom-jacobs-downgraded-uncertainty-over-180008836.html

Our Sponsors:

Aphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.co

Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com

BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io

Chapters

00:00 Intro

03:30 Introduction and Background

08:13 Transitioning to Private Equity and Startups

13:35 The Role of Private Equity in AEC Companies

18:22 Digital Transformation and Value Creation

23:20 Market Trends and Company Sizes

28:20 Leveraging Technology for Business Value

33:07 Digital Accelerators and Human-Centric Approaches

35:22 Optimizing Construction Processes for Efficiency

37:51 Tying Technology to Corporate Success

41:42 Proving Value at the Project Level

43:55 The Balance of Show and Tell in Sales

49:09 Purposeful Change in the Construction Industry