Emerging Technology in Construction with Michael Zeppieri

Ryan Bell:
00:00:00
I'm Ryan bell of Isaiah industries, manufacturer



Ryan Bell:
00:00:02
of specialty metal roofing and other building materials.



Ryan Bell:
00:00:05
And today my co host is Ethan Young.



Ryan Bell:
00:00:08
Ethan, how are you doing today?



Ethan Young:
00:00:10
I'm doing good today, Ryan.



Ethan Young:
00:00:11
How you doing?



Ryan Bell:
00:00:12
I'm doing great.



Ryan Bell:
00:00:13
It's a beautiful day.



Ryan Bell:
00:00:14
Friday weekends about here.



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00:00:15
finally getting hot here.



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So it feels like summer is here for once.



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00:00:20
Today, our guest is Mike Zeppieri of Skanska.



Ryan Bell:
00:00:24
An industry leader in construction and development that is redefining



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00:00:27
safety standards by leveraging emerging technologies, such as AI and robotics.



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Mike is a graduate of MIT and West Point, an army veteran,



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currently the vice president of Emerging Technology at Skanska.



Ryan Bell:
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Mike, first off, thank you for your service.



Ryan Bell:
00:00:43
it's great to have you on the show today.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:00:44
Yeah, I appreciate you saying that, Ryan.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:00:46
And thank you for having me on.



Ryan Bell:
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Well, let's, jump right into it here.



Ryan Bell:
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before we get into the tech side of this discussion, I'd kind of love it.



Ryan Bell:
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If you'd tell us a little bit more about yourself first.



Ryan Bell:
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I really, I read through your bio on LinkedIn and, and I



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really liked it and I, it kind of resonated with me in a lot of ways.



Ryan Bell:
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So can you tell our listeners a little bit about you and how someone with



Ryan Bell:
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advanced engineering degrees and an MBA also has a passion for the arts



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and creativity and why you kind of feel like they compliment each other.



Michael Zeppieri:
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Yeah, absolutely.



Michael Zeppieri:
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Right.



Michael Zeppieri:
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It's a fun place for us to start.



Michael Zeppieri:
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So I would say, and you already covered this in the intro.



Michael Zeppieri:
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There's really three aspects to my personality and on paper, they would



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seem to maybe contradict one another.



Michael Zeppieri:
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But I actually find that in throughout my career, they've



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complimented them quite well.



Michael Zeppieri:
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And I would say my career path, Hasn't really been linear.



Michael Zeppieri:
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It's been more monkey bars.



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So, so my background and just kind of how I'm wired is has actually served me pretty



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well, given the path that I've chosen.



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So there's obviously the military aspect of my background.



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And you know, it's funny, there's been a lot of articles over the last 10, 15



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years about how corporate America has shifted from command and control to



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like a more decentralized structure.



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And you know how there's, I think there's a perception that command and control



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is naturally kind of bureaucratic.



Michael Zeppieri:
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It's micromanagement.



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It's inefficiency.



Michael Zeppieri:
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You don't get to empower people.



Michael Zeppieri:
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And while some of that is true, I think we in many ways have thrown like the



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baby with the bathwater in terms of losing some of the benefits of command



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and control, which I learned in the army and greatly appreciate it, which is a



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need for predictability, the need for consistency, the need for discipline,



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the need for clarity and purpose.



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We call that commander's intent.



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There was a lot of things I learned in the army about just setting



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direction for an organization and actually empowering people.



Michael Zeppieri:
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I mean, there's, I think there's a lot of stereotypes around what happens in the



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military in terms of empowering people.



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And there's actually a lot of autonomy.



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the military wouldn't function, as an organization if it wasn't for autonomy.



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So, that part resonated very strongly with me at a very young age.



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That need for kind of process, discipline, structure, and I like all those things and



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then I think those things allow me to be effective as a leader in a global company.



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The engineering mindset, you know, with that comes the discipline of just using



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facts and data to evaluate things.



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there's a little bit of a structure to the engineering mindset, but I'm also a big



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fan of lean thinking and systems thinking.



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So the damning cycle of the plan, do check act, you know, a lot of people can do



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the planning into doing like, especially in a technology role, it's really



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easy to get excited about technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
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It's really easy to go take it out on a job site and play with technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
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I mean, that's fun.



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The hard part is the check in the act actually validating that what



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you're doing actually achieve value or delivered value to your stakeholders.



Michael Zeppieri:
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So, so that part of definitely part of my, the wiring of my thinking.



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But where the artistic side comes in, which was your question,



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which one, it surprises people.



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So people see my resume, they see Army, MIT, they think, okay, he's a



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rigid thinker, he's disciplined, he's structured, he can get things done.



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And like, all those things are true.



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But then I surprise them when the creative side kind of comes into the equation.



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So I'm going to use this moment because I think it's important



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to recognize your mentors.



Michael Zeppieri:
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I've had a lot of great mentors in my life, but my artistic



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journey started in middle school.



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It was with my art teacher.



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His name was David Gammonds.



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He has since passed, but probably had as much of an impact on me as a



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person as my own biological father in terms of kind of shaping my thinking



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and kind of view of the world.



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And I have a very specific moment that I shared with him that I think



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is applicable to this conversation.



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So I enjoy painting still lifes, but I was very rigid in my painting.



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like I was trying to literally capture everything I was seeing in front of me.



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So if I saw a reflection on the surface, that meant I had to throw that



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color on the canvas and replicate it.



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And as a result, I wasn't achieving realism in my painting.



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It was like, it just, it was very stiff looking.



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And I actually have a photo of him and I standing together where he was



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giving me coaching on my still life.



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And the advice he said is when you're trying to achieve realism, don't open



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your eyes, squint your eyes, because what you're trying to do is capture



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the essence of what you're seeing, not literally replicate everything



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you're seeing and it really kind of changed how I approached art and kind



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of flush out some of the rigidity in terms of how I was approaching it.



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And a couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to bring my family to



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Paris from my daughter's spring break.



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And both of my daughters are now artists as well.



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And we were standing in the Louvre and I said, okay, now stand back and



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look at this painting and admire the photo realism of it, but now let's



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get close to it and look at the imperfections and the brushstrokes



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and you start to see kind of the human element that achieves that perfection,



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that it's actually imperfection that's achieving the perfection.



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So where I'm going with all this is like the artistic thinking is one in the



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artist community, people aren't judged on the merit of their idea, right?



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You appreciate art as the reflection of what the artist is trying to convey.



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So in an innovation setting, when people bring ideas to me, my engineering mind



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doesn't kick in in terms of trying to filter out why it's a bad idea.



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I appreciate what they're bringing as the creative process.



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And I say, you know what, even if it's not a good idea, even if



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it's not aligned to the business.



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There's an intent behind it.



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Like, what is their artistic intent and what they're trying to convey?



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And what I often find is that I learned more from my people and my



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coworkers by understanding the intent of what they're doing, like more of



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the creativity side of it than like the hard kind of engineering side.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:06:16
And I think the other thing that, that I have brought in from my creative side is.



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like in an engineering kind of world, people are very hesitant



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to bring half baked ideas up for feedback from their peers.



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Like it's like you want to have something fully baked before



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you bring it in for input.



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And I'm I am the exact opposite.



Michael Zeppieri:
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Like I really enjoyed the creative process.



Michael Zeppieri:
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My art teacher, Mr Gammond's and even other students like he would



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bring other students before the painting was done to provide feedback.



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And that makes you very vulnerable.



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Sometimes it's hard to receive that feedback, but you don't



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get better as an artist.



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If you don't receive that feedback around technique around process.



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So for me, when I have an idea and it's half baked, I will bring it into a meeting



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and I will just throw it on the wall and I've had managers throughout my career,



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it gets surprised by that because they, you know, again, the military engineering



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side of me, they expect, well, he's going to be only going to have ideas



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that are fully baked and I'll bring something in that's half baked and say,



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start, let's, here's a piece of clay.



Michael Zeppieri:
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I don't know what I want to do with it, but I think we can make something.



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And then like when other people engage.



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With me, like that's probably like my favorite moment, like



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the innovation process is like that kind of creative process.



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So I would say like, that's, I know this is like kind of a long



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winded response to your question.



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But, like that's how like the artistic creative side of me has



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kind of changed how I, I think it made me more effective in like the



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innovation and engineering world.



Ryan Bell:
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That was a excellent explanation and I'm



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glad you went into all that.



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I find all that fascinating because I'm kind of the same way.



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math was my favorite subject in school.



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I was in advanced calculus classes.



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I also loved art, but the world tells us that those two things don't go together.



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When I went into college, I went into graphic design.



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And I wanted to take math classes.



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And my counselor was like, the graphic design students don't



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take math classes because that's a different side of your brain.



Ryan Bell:
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Right.



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That's always baffled me and I always thought I was like in a not



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weird anomaly that found enjoyment in both, but so it was cool.



Ryan Bell:
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I was excited when I read your, your LinkedIn bio and I was like,



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cool, I'm going to, I'm going to get along with this guy great.



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So thank you for explaining that.



Ryan Bell:
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so let's dive into, Skanska a little bit.



Ryan Bell:
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What exactly do you guys do and how does it affect the construction industry?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:08:23
That's a great question.



Michael Zeppieri:
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I, so I liked how you phrased that question.



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Like, how does it impact the broader construction industry?



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Cause at the end of the day, you want to have, Impact.



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I mean, at least for me, it's more than just showing up to



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every day and having a job.



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So what brought me to Skanska and what I love about Skanska is I've



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always wanted, like for me, job fulfillment is always working in a



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job where there's a higher purpose.



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Like I, I need to work for organizations that have higher purpose.



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Like I need to feel like that I have an impact on, on, you know,



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society and in the world at large.



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and what I love about Skanska is one, because it's a global company.



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It's headquartered in Sweden.



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It's a global construction company.



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So one is, you know, being stationed in Germany and living in Europe for



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a number of years when I was in the army, I gained an appreciation for how



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European companies live their values.



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And what I mean by that is, is, you know, I feel like in Europe they



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do a really good job of recognizing the importance of work life balance.



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And we're starting to get that in the United States.



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I mean, you definitely see it in, you know, especially once, you know, kind



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of Silicon Valley came into prominence and the tech industry kind of changed



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what corporate America looks like, you know, we're starting to get it in the



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United States, but I really appreciate.



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the opportunity to work for a company that truly lives its values.



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I mean, Skanska puts care for life very high, and take safety very seriously.



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We're laser focused on sustainability and, you know, the



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climate impact of construction.



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I mean, you know, construction has a sizable carbon footprint and we are



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a company that recognizes that and has made firm commitments to move



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the needle and trying to change that.



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Like, that's not just something, it's not a paradigm that we should accept.



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Like we, we, as an industry, should be working to move the needle to reduce



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our societal and climate impact.



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So like we're a company that takes those things very seriously.



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We take care of our people.



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So it's a company that it's a construction company, but it's a construction company



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that's trying to have a societal impact.



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you know, and that's that resonates with me.



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So that's what brought me to Skanska.



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I mean, the other thing that's great about this company is because we are



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a global company, we are very diverse in terms of our business units.



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So we work in different markets, different market sectors, the nature



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of Our business in each of our geographies is slightly different, but



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we have a really true, great spirit of collaboration across the business unit.



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So being in an innovation role, that's phenomenal because, you know, someone in



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Sweden or Finland or the UK or Central Europe could be doing something and while



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they may not necessarily be solving the exact problem that I'm trying to solve,



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the opportunity to collaborate at a global scale is very, is a very fulfilling



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for me personally and very exciting.



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So that makes my job a lot of fun is being able to collaborate, you know, at



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Global scale, in terms of like my specific function and how we're moving the needle.



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so I lead the emerging technology function.



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We sit within the strategy function of Skanska's U.



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S.



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Building business unit.



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So within the United States, there's basically three business units.



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We've got U.



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S.



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Building, which is vertical construction, U.



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S.



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Civil, which is horizontal construction, and then our commercial development,



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division, which does what you would expect a developer to do.



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So there's there's synergies between the three, but there's



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also autonomy between the three.



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And even within our business unit, I mean, where you know, U.



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S.



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Building is in every major metropolitan area up and down the East Coast, you know,



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through the south and up the West Coast.



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and yet each office is very different in terms of the markets that they



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serve in the technology that they need in the scale of technology.



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So it's it's very interesting puzzle of trying to kind of service



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this very decentralized company.



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with very different needs, sitting in a central technology function.



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So, so my team, we basically existed, what I would say is the intersection



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of the different innovation stream.



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So we don't have a department of innovation.



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that's actually something that's by design and by intent.



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you know, we have learned through our journey as a company is, you know, and as



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technology has evolved in construction, that a large central overhead function,



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a large central training function, or a large central service function



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really doesn't serve the business.



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So my team is this very small and mighty group of overachievers that



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sit in the middle of all these different innovation streams that are



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coming at us from every direction.



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It's coming at us from VCs.



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It's coming at us from academia.



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It's coming at us from startups.



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It's coming at us increasingly from our job sites.



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you know, I would say 10, 15 years ago, people on job sites weren't



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necessarily digital natives or wouldn't necessarily gravitate to



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technology, but they are today.



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00:12:41
There's not that apprehension of technology and construction



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that there was when I came over.



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00:12:46
I would say, you know, 10 years ago.



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So, you know, innovation coming at us from every direction.



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00:12:50
And what my team does is basically evaluates those ideas



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or those technologies and say, okay, there's merit to it.



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00:12:58
We think this applies to solving a problem.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:01
but then we put it through us and I know you want to talk a little bit



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00:13:04
about our innovation process later in which we can get into the details of.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:07
But basically it's does it actually solve a problem?



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00:13:10
Does it reduce burden?



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00:13:11
Does it increase productivity?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:13
Does it truly add value for our clients?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:14
And so does it pass muster in terms of actually adding value to us as a business?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:20
And then the second question right behind that is, does it scale?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:22
There are some technologies that are point solutions that we will use, kind of in



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00:13:27
a very applied, you know, application.



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00:13:30
But then there's others that scale enterprise wise that we



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00:13:32
embraces as kind of our standard.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:34
So, like, my team basically helps guide that process, make those decisions and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:38
then inform, you know, the investments that we make as a company in technology.



Ryan Bell:
00:13:43
Very good.



Ryan Bell:
00:13:44
let's talk about AI a little bit.



Ryan Bell:
00:13:45
How is Skanska currently utilizing AI to enhance things like project management



Ryan Bell:
00:13:51
and efficiency in construction?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:54
So pretty extensively.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:55
So I have a very, strong opinion about A.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:58
I.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:13:58
So I should probably give that context before you know, we get into it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:02
So, so for those of us that have been on the digital transformation journey



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:05
since day one, I mean, I'm Gen X.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:07
I remember the world before computers, and how things work before computers.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:12
You know, to me, the A.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:13
I.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:13
conversation is really just is the evolution of digital transformation.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:17
I mean, I remember in the early two thousands, all corporations



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:20
were talking about big data.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:21
They recognize that there was value in their data sets and the patterns



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:24
and getting to like predictive and prescriptive analytics.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:28
So, so the AI convocation conversation isn't new.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:32
the data conversation isn't new, but the technology is moving at a rapid pace.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:36
So I can't dismiss that AI is a radical leap forward in terms of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:42
moving the needle towards achieving predictive and prescriptive analytics,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:46
but I still see it as an evolution.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:48
I mean, we, as a company had already made an investment in data prior to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:52
generative AI and Chat GPT kind of capturing everyone's, imagination.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:14:57
So when Chat GPT hit the scene and everyone was suddenly talking about AI,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:00
I kind of saw it through two lenses.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:03
So, so the first lens was like, okay, this is an evolution, like this



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:06
is a leap forward, but it's really just a leap forward in chat bots.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:10
It's a leap forward in search.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:11
It's a leap forward in digital assistance.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:13
I mean, we understood the application of these things in our industry, but



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:17
the Chat GPT aspect of it, I mean, I think that was It almost came across



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:21
to me as like a marketing ploy.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:22
It was like big tech needed the next big thing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:25
A.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:25
R.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:25
and V.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:25
R.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:26
didn't take off.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:26
The metaverse didn't take off.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:28
You know, Bitcoin didn't take off and crypto like there was like they



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:32
tech needed the next big thing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:33
And suddenly we had this toy, this generative A.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:36
I.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:36
toy that kind of mimicked human interaction where you felt like



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:40
you were getting a human response.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:42
through, through, you know, common language queries



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:44
of, you know, basic search.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:46
So my initial impression was skepticism.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:49
I'm skeptical of this.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:50
I don't see this.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:51
I see this more as a hype machine and not really necessarily something



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:55
that's any different than what we already kind of understood is.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:15:57
And once the hype kind of fizzles, we're going to land right where we thought



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:01
we were going to land in terms of how we were going to apply this technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:04
But then I started to play with it, and there was a coolness



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:07
factor, and I'm not going to deny there's like that coolness factor.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:09
The first time you do, you kind of prompt AI in fun and interesting ways.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:15
I definitely I would say being given my creative side.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:18
I started playing with the image generators more so than the text



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:21
generators, like trying to create, yeah, I'm a big nerd, you know, science



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:25
fiction nerds, like, you know, Star Wars, Dune, Tron, all those things.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:29
So like, I've got all these things in my head, like I, so blend those things



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:32
and create, I was trying to create a LinkedIn banner for myself to kind



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:35
of blend all these things, with an avatar, I'm a shameless metal head.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:39
So it's like I put a metal head, you know, in a technology environment and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:43
with all these different elements.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:45
And at first it was fun and it was a toy, a fun toy to play with.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:48
But then as an artist, I started to say, okay, but the AI is pull



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:52
is generating this image because it's pulling from other people's



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:56
work.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:16:56
And I didn't feel good about that, that, okay, so I'm able to now create,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:00
I'm not a talented enough artist to necessarily create the image in my mind.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:04
Now I can let generative AI do it, but it's taking other people's work



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:08
and it's not citing their work.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:10
So I didn't feel good about that as an, as a someone who appreciates art, And



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:13
the other thing was is there's there's kind of a mediocrity to what it creates.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:17
I mean, if you look at like a lot of the A.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:19
I.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:19
Images and stuff like you could tell their A.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:21
I.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:21
generated.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:22
I'm sure we're gonna get to a point where that's not the case, but it's almost



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:26
getting to, I would say, there's like a sameness to the images that people create



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:31
because it's kind of pulling from the same archive of information and as the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:34
patterns generating what it pulls from.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:36
So I started to say, Okay, A.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:37
I.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:39
Is allowing me to create things I couldn't create before.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:42
Which is kind of cool, but there's a mediocrity to what it's creating.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:45
So then I like my second kind of impression of it was kind of this guilt



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:49
of, you know, the, I would think just the ethics of pulling from other people's work



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:53
and not being able to cite it where I am now is using it as a digital assistant.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:17:59
So there's some applications that I have found it to be helpful.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:03
And I think that's where we're going to land.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:05
So like the more of the mundane tasks, the things that I would do if I had



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:09
time, but I don't have time, but.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:12
But where my thinking isn't on that is, okay, so let's take meeting



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:15
transcription as an example, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:17
We're all in meetings.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:19
we've, we sometimes missed the opportunity to capture what was discussed in the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:22
meeting, action items, critical things that people said, like, we're just,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:26
we're not taking notes fast enough because we're all jumping to the next



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:29
meeting and we don't have time to pause at the end of the meeting to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:31
actually document what we discussed.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:34
So AI seems like this magical, what a great magical solution



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:37
to solve that problem.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:38
But then I think, What's the root cause of that problem?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:42
The digital transformation and the digital age is in many



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:45
ways buried us in information.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:48
And now we almost need technology to unbury us from the pile of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:53
things that, that, that have been piled on us by technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:55
So is it a net gain?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:18:56
is it, do I want to apply AI because I don't have time to actually



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:01
be more thoughtful in meetings because I'm worrying about the next



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:04
meeting isn't the better solution to maybe have less meetings.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:07
It's like, like you're moving a pile of dirt.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:09
So I moved the pile of dirt from here to here.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:11
But have I actually really achieved anything?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:13
If I haven't graded it so I can seed it, I haven't really moved the needle.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:16
So, so that's kind of where I am at.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:18
And I think, but that's my personal opinion.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:20
Now, where we are as a company, though, is because we were on a data journey.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:24
We were able to take this disruption in stride.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:27
So we do have generative AI internal capabilities that people are using.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:31
And I would say, you know, given feedback that we've heard from our employees



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:35
there, they're on a very similar journey.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:37
there's some who are skeptical.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:39
There are some who are finding applied uses like digital assistant



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:42
that they find to be very useful.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:44
And then there's some that have concerns, about the technology, the ethics of it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:48
Privacy concerns.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:50
you know, which I think are not unwarranted.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:52
So, so where we are as a company is we've embraced the technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:55
We've taken into stride.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:56
I don't know that we've given into the hype of it, but we're



Michael Zeppieri:
00:19:59
also seeing some promise.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:20:00
so we're, I think we're on the journey of evaluating it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:20:03
We haven't dismissed it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:20:04
but we haven't gone all in on it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:20:05
I think we're being very pragmatic about what AI can do.



Ryan Bell:
00:20:08
You know what blows my mind is that the image generators



Ryan Bell:
00:20:11
can't get text right yet.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:20:13
No, or four fingers.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:20:15
You get like six fingers.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:20:18
Yeah,



Ryan Bell:
00:20:18
they really can produce some pretty cool stuff, but, and as a



Ryan Bell:
00:20:22
creative, you know, that's what I went to the image generators first instead of



Ryan Bell:
00:20:25
chat GPT, but, And just really, I spent a lot of time just putting stuff in there.



Ryan Bell:
00:20:30
What can I make?



Ryan Bell:
00:20:31
What, you know, and as a creative, it helps my thought process.



Ryan Bell:
00:20:35
But again, the ethics of it and stealing other people's



Ryan Bell:
00:20:38
work is certainly concerning.



Ryan Bell:
00:20:40
And Adobe just had, there was some drama around Adobe



Ryan Bell:
00:20:44
updating their terms and conditions, here recently where it.



Ryan Bell:
00:20:49
Left a lot of creatives thinking that what they are going to create



Ryan Bell:
00:20:52
in their programs now is going to be read and looked at by Adobe's, Firefly



Ryan Bell:
00:20:56
and used across their applications.



Ryan Bell:
00:20:59
So definitely interesting.



Ryan Bell:
00:21:01
and something that I think we're going to be living with for a while.



Ryan Bell:
00:21:04
Uh, can you share any examples of how AI is being used to improve



Ryan Bell:
00:21:08
safety and risk management on, on your construction sites or job sites?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:14
Absolutely.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:14
So we're, I mean, that's one of the areas where heavily, investing in.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:18
you know, the classic or the, I think the well known application is



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:22
catching the safety incident in the moment so that you can respond to it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:26
So an example of that is making sure, you know, because safety is very



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:29
important to Skanska, making sure that people are wearing their PPE properly.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:34
So we have site cameras that's capturing, you know, imagery, you know, continuously.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:38
We're looking at how do we take that imagery, and pass it through an A I



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:43
kind of, you know, way of evaluating that to catch incidents in the moment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:47
But, the limitation that we're finding is that's good capturing



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:53
the incident in the moment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:54
but there's other implications when you start thinking more kind of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:21:57
holistically in terms of like a data mindset or a systems mindset is are



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:01
there additional applications of that data that would be of value.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:03
So you capture the incident in the moment, but what if there's a pattern around



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:07
that particular individual over time?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:10
What if that person is repeatedly not wearing their PPE?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:13
So now you have a systemic problem around that individual and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:16
there's different things that you would want to do to engage that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:19
Maybe they need training.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:20
Maybe you need to go talk to that sub.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:22
You need to address that, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:23
Because now it's a systemic problem.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:25
But what if that systemic problem extends to the sub itself?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:27
It's not just their employee.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:29
What if it's their crews?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:30
And that's a systemic problem.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:31
So, so you're capturing a safety incident here, around that, but how does that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:35
then feed into subcontractor selection of pre qualification over there?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:39
Like there's value to the data you're capturing around safety here, which



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:42
should inform how you want to work with that sub in the future because we



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:46
work with the same subs over and again.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:48
and I'm not using this as a specific example to call out an incident



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:50
that to say that this has happened with any particular sub, but



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:53
hypothetically it could happen, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:55
So you so you're capturing data in the moment, but there's value to that data



Michael Zeppieri:
00:22:59
in terms of the patterns and the usage.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:00
So that's how we're thinking about AI is capturing the data in the moment



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:05
is good, capturing patterns and then relating that to data to other things



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:09
that give us a broader view is better.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:11
And, you know, so that's how we're kind of thinking about it.



Ryan Bell:
00:23:14
Let's dive into kind of the emerging technologies side of



Ryan Bell:
00:23:17
things that, that you guys look at and invest in what's some criteria



Ryan Bell:
00:23:21
that you use or what's that decision making process look like for you guys?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:27
So, my, my boss sent me a podcast and I'm not recalling



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:30
the name of it, right now, but I can, I'll send it to you if you want



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:34
to rerecord it or capture it later.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:36
But it was about innovation through reduction and that podcast really



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:41
resonated with me because you take any innovation brainstorming process.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:45
You bring a group of people today together to brainstorm around innovation.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:49
It tends to be additive.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:50
And I wish I could cite the podcast because this wasn't my thought,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:53
but it really resonated with me.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:54
So that's why I'm sharing it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:55
It's, you're in a room and when you talk about innovation and process improvement,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:23:59
although it's always additive, what are the things that we can do, like we should



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:02
do this and we should do that and we should do, and then the pile starts, keeps



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:04
getting bigger and bigger and additive.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:06
But when you think about innovation in terms of productivity and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:09
what we're trying to achieve in construction, it really needs to be.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:12
Reductive.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:13
I mean, we need to reduce the burden on our people, on our job sites to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:18
really move the needle on productivity.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:20
And just so we're starting to look at innovation through the lens of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:24
burden and reduction, because one of the things that we're hearing



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:26
loud and clear from our job sites is that, they're hitting app fatigue.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:31
There's too many tools.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:31
There's too many solutions.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:32
And I think where construction is different from manufacturing, where I



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:35
had spent a fair amount of my career is manufacturing, there's the whole nature



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:40
of production systems and assembly lines.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:42
Like they, they were transformed, you know, the moment that Henry Ford



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:44
had the idea of the moving assembly line, and then was refined by the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:48
Japanese through, through Taichi Ono and others with the Toyota



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:51
production system and lean thinking.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:53
That works in manufacturing because it's repetitive and it's in a



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:56
controlled environment, but construction is not a controlled environment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:24:59
We, buildings don't come off of assembly lines.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:02
So when you think about the scaling of technology on a construction job



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:06
site, if I were to snap the line right now across our company, all of our



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:09
job sites are at different phases.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:10
Some are doing site work, some are doing logistics planning, some are fitting



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:14
out, some are about to close out.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:15
And if you think about the duration of how long it takes to build a job,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:19
most jobs are over multiple years.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:21
Project teams are on this kind of journey with their client to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:23
build what we built for them.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:25
So let's say we introduce a new technology that we're trying to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:29
scale, but it's applied at one phase of the construction process.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:33
In any given moment, if I were to train people in the use of that technology,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:37
we're not universally benefiting from it across the entire enterprise.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:40
There's only a percentage of jobs that are actually in that moment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:45
But if you think about training, you typically want to train everyone at once.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:48
So let's say I choose to train a project team on how to fly



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:51
a drone to do site logistics planning, but they're in fit out.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:25:56
They're not going to be able to apply that learning in the moment on the job, on the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:00
workflow that they're actually working on.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:01
So it's going to be out of sight out of mind, you know, one week after



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:04
they've done it and we're gonna have to retrain them or revisit it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:07
So, so scaling technology in construction, it's kind of tricky that way and why



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:12
it's different than manufacturing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:13
So, so our thinking around technology is when we think about it is



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:17
really about reducing that burden.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:20
How do we reduce the burden?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:21
Making sure that it's not additive to that burden and also measuring



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:24
values to the other because we don't self perform a lot of work.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:27
A lot of these technologies that the people who are actually going to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:30
benefit from the productivity gains of the robots and a lot of these other



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:34
technologies, is not us necessarily.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:37
it's it's the subs.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:38
It's the trades, you know, so for us, it's less about us adopting the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:42
technology and more about finding the right incentives for them.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:46
to adopt the technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:47
And I'll give you a very specific example.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:49
So we're doing a lot of testing with site layout robots.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:52
We have validated the use case that a site layout robot, can get to a more accurate



Michael Zeppieri:
00:26:58
site layout, in a fraction of the time that it would take a human to do it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:02
So we validated the use case.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:03
The technology works.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:04
The problem is how does the technology fit into the broader landscape



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:08
of just how a job site functions?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:10
So there's a lot of prep work in BIM and VDC to make the site layout work.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:15
So who's going to absorb that cost and that labor and all the prep work?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:18
Now, there are jobs in some geographies I mentioned, like, we have a lot of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:22
disparity in terms of our markets and our, you know, all of our different offices,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:26
service, different market sectors, different complexity, different clients.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:29
So in some of our larger metropolitan areas where there's mega jobs, we have the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:35
staffing to actually do that prep work.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:36
There's people that have that skill set and the clients see value in it or want



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:40
to go play in that sandbox with us.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:41
Absolutely.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:42
We'll do it there and we can do it there, but I can't necessarily replicate that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:46
on a smaller job in a geography where that may not necessarily be the case.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:49
So, you know, when we think about technology, it goes back to the whole



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:52
plan, do check act thing, making it work in validating the value isn't enough.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:27:58
It's validating the value, but then also saying, once you validated



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:01
the value, who realizes that value?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:04
And then if you realize that value, if you look at it holistically, is



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:06
it actually creating a net benefit?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:09
And then if it does create a net benefit of someone to pay for that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:11
So it's just so when we think through innovation, we're thinking through those



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:14
follow up questions around scalability.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:17
yeah, we get this.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:18
I had a really interesting conversation with someone who was part of our extended



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:21
network who said to me that he would love to see more kind of enthusiasm, for



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:27
technology and curiosity for technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:29
Like, could we as a company be more enthusiastic and curious?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:33
And that's important.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:33
Like, that's the first step.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:34
Like, you absolutely need to have a curiosity around innovation.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:38
a willingness to try new things.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:41
But there's also I think sometimes a confirmation bias in people who



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:45
kind of gravitate to technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:47
It's like I like technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:49
I'm gonna go test the technology, testing the technology,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:51
validated that I like technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:53
But we have to ask those hard follow up questions.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:56
Does it scale?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:57
Does it align with our business?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:28:58
You know, can we deploy it as a service or people want to pay for it so that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:01
so we built the process to kind of structure that and ask those questions.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:04
I can't say we've perfected it, but people are starting to gravitate to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:09
it and they like it because they're like it kind of goes back to where



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:11
we started with kind of the different aspects of how I operate personally.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:16
It provides enough discipline and structure and process that we can



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:20
scale, but it also gives enough room for autonomy and creativity so that we



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:24
actually truly are harnessing innovation.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:27
from our people in the field.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:28
And I'm really proud of our team that we have been able to build



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:31
something that strikes that balance.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:33
And like I said, people are people typically look at process, especially



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:36
when you try to impose process innovation.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:38
They see it as a blocker, not an enabler.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:41
It's innovation.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:41
They try to find ways around it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:43
And what we're finding is people are increasingly gravitating towards



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:45
it, which is probably the best, I think, metric that it's working.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:48
Is it perfect?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:49
No.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:50
Do we still hit obstacles and frustrations?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:52
Absolutely.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:29:52
But, I'm really proud of where we are as a team and what we've done with it.



Ryan Bell:
00:29:56
So explain to me what a site layout robot is.



Ryan Bell:
00:30:00
Like, I want to go type that into mid journey and see what it gives me.



Ryan Bell:
00:30:03
But what, what exactly is that?



Ryan Bell:
00:30:05
I don't know.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:06
That's a good question.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:07
So most construction jobs at some point, it's just a concrete slab.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:11
Like you get to a phase of construction where you're just



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:13
looking at concrete slabs.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:14
And at some point, You have to figure out where the different penetrations



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:18
are going to be because you've got, you know, mechanical, electrical, plumbing,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:22
things that are coming through floors.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:23
You've got walls that are going to be erected.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:26
You know, you've got carpentry that's going to be done.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:28
You know, there's a variety of tasks of like basically, you know, think



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:30
about, if you've ever built a Lego set, you know, the steps, those



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:34
initial steps, like you've got the kind of the slab, the base plate.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:38
And you're starting to put those initial blocks down, which are the foundation upon



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:41
which everything else is going to build.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:42
And then eventually you have walls and you have partitions and you have,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:45
piping and you have utilities and all of these things that kind of go through.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:48
So, so layout is the process of literally using chalk lines to create



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:52
the lines that, that, you know, so if you look at a set of drawings, a set



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:55
of drawings, you know, engineering drawings, architecture drawings, they



Michael Zeppieri:
00:30:59
tell you where all those things are going to be dimensionally accurate,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:02
because there's tolerances for all those things when you're building a building.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:05
So, someone has to provide guidelines to help the people that are going to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:08
build those things to know where to install the wall, where to put the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:10
penetration, where to drill the hole.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:12
So, that's what site layout does is it's through chalk lines and you know,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:15
with intolerance of the precision, lays everything out for you, you know,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:19
tells you where to put the Lego bricks.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:21
That is a time intensive process to do manually and just the nature of even



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:25
just snapping the chalk line, you lose a little bit of accuracy just through the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:28
means and methods of doing that manually.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:30
So, the, so the idea of site layout.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:33
It's think about putting a printer on a set of wheels that's talking to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:38
a station that tells it where it is, you know, it geolocates it and it's



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:42
telling the robot, drive along this and as you're driving, paint the line.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:47
So instead of doing the chalk line, it's painting the lines for you.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:50
And what's cool about the robots is they can do other things like add annotations.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:54
They can add QR codes, which allow you to then link to other



Michael Zeppieri:
00:31:57
things, like if you want to pull in other contextual information.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:00
So, so the site layout is actually a very intriguing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:04
use case for us because it allows us to do these other things.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:08
It ensures accuracy.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:10
It's less time consuming than doing it manually.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:12
but the question is, we don't self perform that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:14
So there's like the questions we have to ask about the site layout is okay,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:18
so I don't self perform site layout.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:21
I'm paying a sub to do that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:22
Well, when I signed a contract with the sub to perform that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:26
scope isn't quality expected.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:29
So do I really care how they get there?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:31
I'm paying for the quality.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:33
And if there isn't the quality, then there's a means to claims and other things



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:36
to get, you know, compensation for that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:39
But then the other question is don't we want them to achieve first time quality?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:42
So don't we want the site layout companies, rather than dismiss it as



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:46
taking away a human job, recognizing that you still need the expertise of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:52
what it takes to do a good site layout.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:54
So we haven't replaced the human, but could the robot augment the human to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:32:58
ensure that when they are on site.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:00
the quality of their work.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:01
They're achieving first time quality the first time.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:04
we all know that there's a resource constraining construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:07
We don't have enough people in the trades.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:09
So does this allow the trade partners to actually increase their bandwidth?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:12
Because now you're augmenting the human with the robot.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:15
So instead of taking them three days to do a layout, they can do it in an hour.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:18
but you also have to think about it in terms of the value chain.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:21
So that all sounds good on paper.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:22
And that's, you know, you talk to any of the site layout



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:24
companies, that's the use case.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:26
They will tell you like, they'll tell you that's the value.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:28
But you also have to recognize that there's a lot of prep work



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:31
that has to go into making sure that the robot knows where to go



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:34
and knows where to print the line.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:35
So if you're willing and able to do the prep work and you're willing and able



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:38
to compel the subs to see the value in embracing the robot, then you have a path



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:43
to realize value with the technology.



Ryan Bell:
00:33:44
Very good.



Ryan Bell:
00:33:45
Thank you for painting that picture for me.



Ryan Bell:
00:33:47
I what it is now.



Ryan Bell:
00:33:49
Very well explained.



Ryan Bell:
00:33:50
What about, uh, VR and AR?



Ryan Bell:
00:33:53
you guys doing anything with that on your projects?



Ryan Bell:
00:33:56
What are your thoughts on those technologies?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:57
We are.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:33:58
So this kind of goes to my comment on scale.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:00
So they have a place in our industry, but I don't see a world where those devices



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:04
are universally kind of ubiquitous.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:07
You know, the same as like an iPhone is like, I don't think they're



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:09
ever going to achieve ubiquity.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:11
I think they're always, they have a place.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:14
But if I go to my desk right now, you know, we have our grave, like in our



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:17
cubicle row, we have a kind of a graveyard of like technology that didn't work.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:22
And most of the stuff that's sitting in that pile is a AR and VR devices.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:25
The reason being is, one is the pace of the technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:29
So the obsolescence of that technology is moving, I mean, that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:33
tech is just moving very quickly.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:35
you know, so there's just the form factor.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:37
I mean, where augmented reality goggles were even like three years ago.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:41
What I mean by that is like the, so the weight of the battery pack and where



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:44
it sits, I mean, like the technology is evolving, like the early iterations,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:48
like you would feel the heat of the battery pack because it was sitting on



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:50
your head and it had a weight to it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:52
So it would kind of tilt your head and it was very uncomfortable.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:54
So They weren't really practical devices for long duration use.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:34:58
But the technology has moved very rapidly.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:00
So we're not yet to the point where like, this is my AR device, like,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:04
like where, like, as unobstructed as a pair of like reading glasses,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:07
eventually we'll get there.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:08
But until we're at that form factor, I don't think you're going to see it being



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:13
used universally, but there are use cases where we have found it useful, but it goes



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:17
right back to the site layout example.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:20
The conditions have to be like the stars have to align, the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:22
conditions have to be ripe for the application of those technologies.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:26
So so an example of where AR we are finding to be very useful



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:31
is when you have high density M.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:33
E.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:34
P.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:35
configurations and you're trying to coordinate around those.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:38
So, so, so think about, you know, any industrial space where you have exposed



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:42
ceilings and you can see the pipes and the ducks and all the different runs of the M.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:47
E.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:47
P.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:47
utilities.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:48
There's some that literally all kind of sit on like one or two dimensions.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:51
There's not a lot of complexity.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:53
I mean, you might look at it in question.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:54
Well, why did they move that duck around that pipe?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:56
Like that didn't seem efficient.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:35:57
And that's kind of the nature of construction is things come together in



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:01
the field, you know, when you coordinate things, but by and large, like most



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:05
jobs, like the office I'm in right now, I'm looking at our exposed ceilings.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:08
I don't need AR to coordinate that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:10
They can do that with the BIM model.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:12
with somebody kind of navigating on a screen, you know, driving



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:16
it and kind of guiding people to kind of talk through that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:19
But what we have found is that for really complex stacks where there's a



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:22
lot of density, having somebody drive.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:26
And kind of try to find the view that's helpful to everyone isn't as useful as



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:31
putting them all in an AR or even a VR experience like that's actually more



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:35
intuitive interface for navigating a 3D environment because they could put



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:40
their head kind of literally like see what they would want to see if they



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:43
were getting on a ladder and doing it themselves like it's just more of like



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:46
a kind of intuitive UI for kind of experiencing space and interpreting space.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:52
So for those use cases, we're seeing a lot of value.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:55
The other, use case where it's kind of a, we're not sure if it's going



Michael Zeppieri:
00:36:59
to be AI or AR that's going to solve it, but it's really ensuring



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:03
the quality of installed work.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:04
So making sure that what's built actually matches up with the drawing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:08
So for progression tracking, for quality checks.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:10
Like there's the idea of like projecting the model on what you're seeing in front



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:14
of you to ensure that what was built is lining up with what was planned.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:17
So like we've had applications where that works very well



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:20
and people seem to like that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:21
But on the other end of the spectrum, so like that's in like the built environment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:26
But on the other end of the spectrum where we're seeing a lot of value



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:30
is also on informing design.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:33
So so think about and it's not for every market sector.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:37
But when you think about fitting out of space and like the classic example



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:39
is let's say an operating room.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:42
Doctors and nurses have a very specific, they understand the space



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:46
and what that space has to do for them.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:48
Like they know where the operating table is.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:49
They want, they know where the lamp is.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:51
They understand the different things that the plug into the air



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:53
and the water and all the different things that are along the wall.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:56
And I'm not a doctor, so I can't speak in like specificity around all



Michael Zeppieri:
00:37:59
those things, but a doctor or a nurse knows how that layout should be.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:03
I mean, like even think about, something you're building for



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:06
yourself, like, like cooking.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:08
You have a process, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:09
You have a preferred way of like how you prep the ingredients, how



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:12
you cook things if, you know, you know, so, so same with like a doctor.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:16
So, so using like VR, if you put them in the space and you show them the design,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:22
here I, as the architect or the designer or the engineer, this is what you told



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:26
me the requirement was, which typically is articulated in text and documents.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:31
But now you're seeing, you're seeing physically seeing



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:34
what it's going to look like.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:36
And you can receive feedback from the people who are going to use the space.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:38
We say, you know what?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:39
If you put the table over there, that's actually a problem because I can't



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:41
get to it from this side when I hook up this, or I'm going to be bringing



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:44
in additional devices on carts that you don't see in the design because



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:48
they're not physically part of like your process, but we have all this additional



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:51
equipment that I'm going to bring in.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:52
Where am I going to put it?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:54
So, so using VR, as part of like the design process and the fit out process.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:38:59
We're similarly finding it to be, very beneficial because if



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:03
you think about that, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:04
So at the end of the day, you ultimately wanna build a space that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:08
the owner needs, and eventually those things are gonna flush out.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:11
The last thing you wanna do is build a space and then have a client come



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:13
in and say, well, that's wrong, or that's not what we thought.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:16
'cause now you're talking about rework.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:17
So, so there's a value to being proactive and it's, it really,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:21
it's the translation of, like in manufacturing they do this very well,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:25
like designed for manufacturing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:26
Like, so when you design something that's gonna be built.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:29
The people who are actually going to be on the shop floor or understand



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:32
the manufacturing process have an opportunity to influence the design so



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:36
that the thing that you're designing can actually be built at scale.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:39
We're getting smarter about design for constructability.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:41
So, so can we use technology to prevent rework downstream?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:47
So there's an investment we need to make upstream in terms of data, in terms of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:51
information, in terms of partnership, and even contractually how we engage.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:56
you know, with our partners, you know, there's contractual



Michael Zeppieri:
00:39:58
implications, just how construction is done that create limitations



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:01
that don't exist in manufacturing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:03
But I mean, that's honestly where I am most excited about technology and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:07
this kind of goes to my lean thinking.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:09
I see a lot of the technology that's coming out now, particularly the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:12
startups, is they gravitate to a problem that they see and they're



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:16
trying to solve the problem.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:18
But the problem that they're solving is inherently inefficient.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:21
It's inherently wasteful.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:23
So what we're doing is we're using technology to get better at doing



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:27
something that's inherently wasteful.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:28
If we just move upstream in the value chain and get to the root cause of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:32
why that thing is so wasteful, could we use technology to prevent it?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:36
So now I'm not, I'm not spending more money later to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:39
fix things or to rework things.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:42
I'm, it's cause I did it's that whole go slower to go faster kind of paradigm.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:46
I'm moving upstream, spending more time in coordination.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:49
And I think that's where the data BIM VDC AI thing is really going to move the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:54
needle on construction is if we can get better and smarter around constructability



Michael Zeppieri:
00:40:57
and planning, then everything downstream is becomes very fluid.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:01
and then you'll appreciate this.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:03
you know, given your background, Ryan, in, in kind of prefabrication,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:07
it opens up the door for now moving more of the construction process



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:10
into a controlled environment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:11
So if I'm doing the planning up front and I'm coordinating things up front,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:15
I am now finding opportunities.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:17
I'm never going to be able to get a building to come off of a job site, but I



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:20
can get components of a job site to come off of a, of assembly line MEP stacks.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:25
you know, wall assemblies, things like that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:27
So, so that's why I'd love the industry to get to.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:30
and I think that's, I mean, like with that's going to be our Henry Ford moment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:33
Like, we, like, we have not had.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:36
Um, like one of my, I told my coworker, Mark Moore, who sits here in Boston,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:39
that I would use this quote in a podcast.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:42
He has this great quote that I love that he says that, um,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:44
construction is an unbroken line since the days of the pyramids.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:47
And he's not wrong.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:49
Like, we have not had that, like, if you think about manufacturing used



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:52
to be a craft industry, the same as construction, but it had that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:55
transformational moment the industrial revolution was the catalyst for it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:58
but.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:41:58
They had that moment, you know, the Henry Ford, the Taichi Ono,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:01
the moment where somebody radically transformed manufacturing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:05
We haven't had, we haven't had that moment in construction yet.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:07
but I think data, AI, some of these other technologies, if we move it



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:11
upstream, I think that will get us there.



Ryan Bell:
00:42:14
Are you guys do anything special or specific to address the



Ryan Bell:
00:42:18
skills gap or the labor shortage in the construction industry?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:22
We are, and it's through a number of different, channels.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:26
And so this is a topic that I'm, I'm particularly passionate about.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:30
and I have a very strong opinion on it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:31
So, so, and this is because I come from an immigrant family.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:34
So, so, you know, my, my grandparents came off a boat from Italy.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:38
They weren't college educated.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:39
And, you know, so my family story is weaved through the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:41
trades of New York City.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:43
So, and I have a lot of kind of pride, like when we, you know, my dad, I remember



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:47
as a kid, like we'd be going down to New York for the Rangers game and on



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:51
our way down to Madison Square Garden.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:52
You know,, your grandfather worked on that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:54
Your uncle worked on that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:55
Like there's a pride.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:42:56
Of being part of like the American journey, but also I think a pride of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:01
being in the trades Like I remember like the community that I grew up



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:04
in New York Not a lot of the moms and dads had white collar jobs.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:08
People were plumbers.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:09
They were electricians They were carpenters they were and like that was



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:12
the foundation of the middle class.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:13
So I feel like at some point in pushing everyone to get college degrees.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:18
I mean, technology kind of created this suddenly this



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:21
opportunity for work life balance.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:22
And, you know, I'm a hypocrite in some extent, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:24
Because I'm in a white collar job.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:26
I mean, I'm not on the job site every day.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:28
Although the army was like that, I think that's what attracted me to the army.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:30
And I do.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:31
I do miss that, like, just the energy of just being out in the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:34
field, doing things with your hands.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:36
I mean, I enjoy that personally and I get a lot of fulfillment from that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:40
So, so to me it's like we lost our way pushing everyone to get college



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:44
degrees and diminishing the importance of people in the trades and even the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:49
fulfillment that you get from the trades.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:51
But also you have to look at, construction does not have great work life balance.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:55
I mean, there's a reason why people have also gravitated to office jobs is because,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:43:58
you know, it's nice to be able to get home in time for your kid's soccer game.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:02
I coach my daughters in soccer.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:03
I probably wouldn't be able to do that if I was out on a job site.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:06
I mean, it's like we have put an increasing burden on our



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:10
construction, people out in the field.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:12
The days are getting longer, the timelines and the expectations around



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:16
what it takes to build something have been compressed, it's putting a



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:19
tremendous amount of pressure and people just as a result, people just aren't



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:23
attracted to construction anymore.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:24
So.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:25
But I think there's still a lot of fulfillment to it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:27
I mean, I, you know, construction is still the last of the great trade industries.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:30
You know, you can't outsource it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:32
It has to be done here on site.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:34
you know, I think it kind of weaves into the whole kind of, you know,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:37
kind of migrant conversation.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:38
I mean, our, like the construction trades have always been, that's where migrants,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:41
I mean, the whole kind of immigration, you know, journey of America and the melting



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:45
pot is largely driven through the trade.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:47
So like, I see the trade as the pipeline of solving, not just construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:53
challenges, but also broader societal challenges.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:55
I have a great deal of passion about attracting people to construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:58
So, but how do you do that?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:44:59
How do you get kids like my kids, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:03
Who have had devices in front of their faces from the day they were



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:06
born and like to sit, you know, they don't go outside and play and kick the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:09
soccer ball around like I used to do.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:11
They forced them to do that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:12
They gravitate to the technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:15
How do you get people that are now digital natives and live in a digital



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:18
world to get excited about construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:20
And I think that's where technology might be able to help us.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:22
So augment them with robots, augment them with drones.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:26
Like suddenly there's an excitement to technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:29
Like there's a technology aspect to building things in construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:32
that I think is very enticing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:33
So that's like that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:34
That's the first thing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:35
And we're and you know, we're exploring that as a company.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:38
you know, through communities, through, through trade partnership,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:41
through trade mentoring.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:42
how do we do that?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:43
So that's the first avenue.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:44
The second Avenue, and this is something we're very passionate about as a



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:47
company is how do we improve the quality of life for construction workers?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:52
How do we reduce the burden, the physical burden and toll of construction?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:45:55
I mean, if you look at the opioid crisis, the suicide epidemic in construction,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:00
a lot of that is attributed to the work life balance implications, but also



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:04
just the physical toll of construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:06
you know, I mean, I don't know if either of you have done any, you know, overhead



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:10
work for any extended period of time, but I mean, it blows out your shoulders.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:14
It blows out your upper back.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:15
It has implications.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:17
So, so that's where technology can help us.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:20
You know, so instead of putting somebody on a scissor list, scissor lift and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:24
they're doing overhead work all day.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:26
could we use exoskeletons to reduce that burden?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:28
Could we have robots perform that work?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:31
You're not taking the human out of the equation, but you're augmenting them to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:34
reduce the physical toll on their body.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:36
So that, that excites me.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:38
The other thing is creating pipelines into construction for



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:41
our underserved communities.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:42
Like I'm, I am very passionate about helping veterans find



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:46
paths into construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:47
I think construction is a wonderful place for veterans.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:50
One is because there's a similarity and familiarity.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:53
you know, being out on a job site and working with superintendents, is like



Michael Zeppieri:
00:46:57
being with the platoon and working with a great non commissioned officer.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:01
I mean, there's so many parallels between the culture of the military and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:05
the culture of a construction job site.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:06
I mean, at the end of the day, both are about, you know, performing under, high



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:10
stress situations and managing risk.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:13
you know, so I'm very passionate about helping veterans find,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:16
places in construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:17
So they, and in our companies as well, I mean, actually, I



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:19
purposely wore this shirt today.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:20
You can see it like we, this is a patch that they created for all the veterans.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:24
they sent this out on Veterans Day, the shirts, all the Skanska



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:26
employees that are, veterans.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:28
And like, we're very appreciative of that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:30
like we do a very good job through our diversity inclusion efforts.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:34
to not just do that, but also we mentor, you know, trade partners that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:37
are owned by underserved communities.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:40
So, so women, minorities, you know, increasingly, people who are not



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:43
English as, you know, their native language or their first language.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:47
for their first language.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:48
you're finding ways to make sure that those people have a place,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:52
to find paths, you know, rewarding construction paths in construction.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:47:56
So we do a lot of work through mentoring trade partners, we have a number of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:00
different programs that we do for that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:02
I've personally, actually taught classes that we've given to some of our



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:06
minority and women owned, businesses.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:07
And it's such a great opportunity to kind of give back to the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:10
communities we serve in.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:12
And also kind of expand the bench.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:14
because like a lot of the talent and a lot of the capability, that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:18
we need for our industry, like resides in those Communities.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:20
So we would be negligent, not to tap into the diversity of that to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:24
kind of solve the resourcing issue.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:26
And then lastly, you know, we're doing a lot in recognition of, you know, making



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:31
construction more approachable for women.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:33
I mean, if you look at any of the trades, they're still predominantly men.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:37
And if you think about the, what are the things that are barriers



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:40
for women to work in construction?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:42
Like I, I become more in tune to this because both of my daughters



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:45
are pretty serious athletes.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:47
Like most of the athletic equipment that they use for soccer, for



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:50
lacrosse, for basketball, it's designed for the male body.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:53
It's not designed for women's bodies.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:55
And there's actually articles right now, there's like an epidemic of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:48:58
college level female athletes that are suffering from meniscus injuries



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:04
and they don't know they don't.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:05
There's this pattern of female athletes when they hit a level of intensity in



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:09
terms of their training and their play.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:11
They're all suffering these need knee injuries and there hasn't been



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:15
enough research in this, which is unfortunate to solve the problem.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:19
But I think the hypothesis is that it's because the shoes that they



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:23
wear and the equipment is just not reflective of their bodies.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:26
and my daughter is actually dealing with some knee injuries right now



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:28
and it's, and I guarantee you that's probably part of the equation.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:31
So like we're partnering with vendors that are designing work boots for



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:35
women where we're partnering with companies that are creating PPE that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:39
actually conform to a woman's body that accommodates them when they're, pregnant.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:45
So that they can continue to be on a job site and wear PPE and wear it in



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:48
a way that's not discomfort to them and then solving, the broader problem



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:52
is like the burden of motherhood, largely falls on working mothers.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:49:56
It's it's but job sites require people on site like so, so how do you create an



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:00
environment on a job site where someone could choose to be a field construction



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:03
worker and also choose to be a mother, you know, because mother still kind of



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:06
bear the burden of childcare and all those things, and how do you create



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:09
programs that accommodate for that?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:10
So like we're looking at all those things of the company and it's like that's what



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:14
makes me proud to work for this company is because and trying to solve the workforce



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:19
Problem, we're not just kind of looking at technology as a way to replace or fill



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:25
that void, we're looking at can we use technology and innovation to augment our



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:30
workers and bring more people make it more of a people conversation and not a



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:33
technology conversation, so And if I'm rambling on this for a long time, it's



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:36
because I'm very passionate about it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:50:37
And I'm actually very proud of what our company is doing in this space.



Ryan Bell:
00:50:39
Well, you should be.



Ryan Bell:
00:50:40
Yeah, you should be.



Ethan Young:
00:50:42
I was going to say, it kind of ties back, obviously not quite the



Ethan Young:
00:50:45
same, but when you made that earlier point about AI, like going back to the root of



Ethan Young:
00:50:49
the problem instead of trying to just kind of put a band aid fix on it, you know?



Ethan Young:
00:50:53
Same thing you're talking about here, just how can we look at this from a



Ethan Young:
00:50:56
holistic view and see like, what can we do to improve in these different areas?



Ethan Young:
00:50:59
Not just, well, let's just automate this or, you know, use the robots here.



Ethan Young:
00:51:03
So I think that's definitely in line with what you were saying earlier.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:07
yeah, I mean, it's really about being, I mean, it really



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:10
comes down to being like very inclusive.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:12
It's like you, you know, you're planning a meeting and you



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:15
fail to kind of accommodate for vegetarians like in the menu.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:18
So, I mean, it's like it's thinking about everyone that's going to be



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:20
in the room, and in trying to make a kind of thinking, you know, thinking



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:24
about everyone in the room and also thinking about who's not in the room.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:26
I would say, like, that's like where we have really moved the needle on



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:31
innovation is the people that care about innovation will gravitate to it.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:35
But then you get a little bit of group think it's sometimes you have to pause and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:38
think who's not in the room and I would say we've gotten the best outcomes when



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:42
we bring in the people who typically are not in the room and get their perspective



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:45
because it's it's really kind of expanded our thinking around how we solve problems



Michael Zeppieri:
00:51:49
for our company and as an industry.



Ryan Bell:
00:51:51
Well, thanks so much, Mike.



Ryan Bell:
00:51:52
This has been great.



Ryan Bell:
00:51:53
We're really thankful for the time we've had with you today and



Ryan Bell:
00:51:56
everything you've shared with us.



Ryan Bell:
00:51:57
We're close to wrapping up what we call the business end of things.



Ryan Bell:
00:52:01
Is there anything that we haven't covered yet today that you would



Ryan Bell:
00:52:04
like to share with our audience?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:06
Yeah, I actually Ryan where we started, which is, you



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:09
know, my appreciation of your, you know, your stack behind you and your



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:12
are kind of shared love for music.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:15
So there was a, like another analogy I wanted to use around, like, kind



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:19
of how I think about technology and it's very centric to music.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:22
So my parents were both shameless hippies.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:25
In the sixties, they, I think their first date was they went to, the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:28
Woodstock documentary, the movie.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:29
So like, like, like my parents, have seen the Rolling Stones and at their



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:33
peak, the Beatles, Cream, like, like all those bands, like my dad's



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:37
a huge Clapton fan, Beatles fan.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:39
So I grew up around music and my dad, didn't have a lot of money, but the one



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:43
thing my father always would invest in.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:45
Was a good audio setup.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:46
Like he, he had the, like the full stack and the speakers.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:50
And when cassettes came into, to being, and we started going on road trips as



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:55
a family and we, and they had their first cassette player in the car.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:52:57
My job was to create the playlists for our family trips.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:01
So I would literally record from the vinyl to the cassettes and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:05
why I'm sharing this is like with physical media, it wasn't just about



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:10
creating the playlist like that.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:12
There's something like, as I'm telling this story, like, like I can just



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:15
like in a matter of seconds do that digitally today, but it was, and there



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:19
was imperfections in like the recordings and you'd get the pops but yet going



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:23
through that journey because I couldn't digitally skip around very easily.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:27
Is it forced me to kind of experience the albums as they were designed and intended



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:31
by the audience, I mean, by the artist.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:34
And as I sat on the floor listening to music, I would open up the cover and I



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:38
would read the liner notes and I would explore other aspects of what the artist



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:43
was trying to convey through the music.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:45
And I got very interested in like the art, like the album covers.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:49
I love album covers.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:50
I, and I miss the days of when you could open up the cover and kind of flip



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:54
through and like have this experience.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:55
It wasn't just about the music, there was an experience.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:53:58
And I similarly kind of miss going to record stores and that there was like,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:02
they typically, musicians were the people that work there and you'd find someone



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:07
that worked there that shared your interests and you'd spend the Friday night



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:10
with them kind of exposing you to new, like, that's how I discovered most of the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:13
bands that I love today, was on a Friday night hanging out in a record store with



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:17
some dude that played in a band and was passionate about the same music I was.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:20
So yeah, so we moved everything digital, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:23
we've got the convenience.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:25
I can create a playlist in a moment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:27
I certainly could search and maybe experience genres, you



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:31
know, from across the globe.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:32
So I mean, digital has opened up some things, but we've lost something too.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:35
Like I feel like we've lost like that human connection, like that, that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:39
the joy of discovery and exploration.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:42
Like they're always, there's the urgency that technology brings, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:45
the, like the speed of being able to do something quickly so I can get to the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:48
next thing that you lost, you lose the opportunity to kind of savor the moment.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:53
and how I kind of apply that to like my role in a corporate function is like,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:54:58
so let's apply that to data, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:00
It's very easy for me to now pull together a whole bunch of spreadsheets, model



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:04
it in Power BI and visualize the data.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:07
But there was something about.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:09
the journey of discovery back in the day when you had to manually tabulate the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:14
data and explore the data at a slower pace as you started to see things that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:18
you just don't see when you're moving at a rapid pace that technology enables.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:21
So there's that, I guess where I'm going with all of this is while like



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:25
productivity always seems to build a selling point for technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:28
And I think that we laser focus on productivity, the ability to churn



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:31
things out and it kind of goes back to maybe my earlier comment about the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:34
mediocrity of like what AI produces.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:37
is there's something about the journey?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:39
there's value in the journey.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:40
It's not just about the productivity.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:42
Like, so for me, it's how I kind of overcome that is like understanding



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:46
the intent of why you're doing what you're doing with the technology.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:50
What's the problem that you're trying to solve?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:52
How does it add value?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:53
How does it fit together in the bigger picture?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:55
And I think we lose sight of those things, but they're so important



Michael Zeppieri:
00:55:57
because I think you don't get to like true learning and really, I think



Michael Zeppieri:
00:56:01
fulfillment from technology, if you don't take the pause, the kind of saver.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:56:05
like you would an album back on the day.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:56:06
So I'll end there.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:56:07
I thought that was a fun place to



Ryan Bell:
00:56:09
That



Ryan Bell:
00:56:09
Was excellent.



Ryan Bell:
00:56:09
Great analogy.



Ryan Bell:
00:56:10
Thank you.



Ethan Young:
00:56:11
I think that's an interesting microcosm of like how technology has



Ethan Young:
00:56:15
changed how we interact and stuff.



Ethan Young:
00:56:17
Like, even like you said about making a playlist, like, and giving it to



Ethan Young:
00:56:20
somebody or like having it for, you know, like nowadays, if I want to make



Ethan Young:
00:56:23
a place, I just go on Spotify and make it in like two minutes, you know, it'll



Ethan Young:
00:56:25
have like, Oh, you like this song, put it in the playlist, blah, blah, blah.



Ethan Young:
00:56:28
And you can do it super fast.



Ethan Young:
00:56:29
And you know, you can just, there's a share button right there.



Ethan Young:
00:56:31
You can share with whoever instantly.



Ethan Young:
00:56:33
It's not the same as like, I don't know.



Ethan Young:
00:56:35
I was too young for cassettes, but like I had CDs, so I kind of



Ethan Young:
00:56:38
get that, but yeah, it's kind of a different thing right and like even



Ethan Young:
00:56:42
the Like you said like discovering it.



Ethan Young:
00:56:44
It's that's a lot of that's based on an algorithm now.



Ethan Young:
00:56:46
It's not you know.



Ethan Young:
00:56:48
Oh, hey, let me talk to this guy next to me in the mosh pit or whatever at



Ethan Young:
00:56:50
the concert Who else do you like it's?



Ethan Young:
00:56:52
Okay, i'll just you know, this is the next recommended song.



Ethan Young:
00:56:55
Okay, here we go You know, I think it's an interesting reflection of



Ethan Young:
00:56:58
how we've changed around technology and maybe how it's changed us.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:03
Yeah, very well put Ethan.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:06
Well, before we close out here, I have to ask if you would like to participate



Ryan Bell:
00:57:10
in a little game we like to play at the end here called rapid fire.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:15
We have seven rapid fire questions, some of them are serious.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:19
The majority are a little funny, I believe.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:22
all you gotta do is give a quick response to each question.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:25
Are you up for the challenge?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:57:26
All right, let's do it



Ryan Bell:
00:57:28
All right, Ethan and I will alternate asking question.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:31
Do you want to start us off, Ethan?



Ethan Young:
00:57:34
Yeah, I can be the first one.



Ethan Young:
00:57:35
what's a hidden talent that you have?



Ethan Young:
00:57:38
If you have a hidden,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:57:39
Well, then we talked about the artist thing So a



Michael Zeppieri:
00:57:41
lot of people don't know that about me But that's to most that's a hidden



Michael Zeppieri:
00:57:43
talent that they don't know that I have.



Ethan Young:
00:57:46
It's a good one.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:47
Question two.



Ryan Bell:
00:57:48
What's the strangest thing you believed as a child?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:57:52
Oh, that's a good one what is the strangest



Michael Zeppieri:
00:57:54
thing that I believed we'll have to go back to that one.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:57:57
I can nothing comes top of mind, but I know there was definitely some



Michael Zeppieri:
00:57:59
strange things I believe there's a kid we'll have to go back to that one.



Ethan Young:
00:58:03
Okay, I'll do the next one then.



Ethan Young:
00:58:05
I guess we already shared one, but could you share like a pivotal



Ethan Young:
00:58:07
moment in your life that kind of changed who you are today?



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:11
Yeah, there's been, there's been a couple.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:13
I would say the moment that kind of really broadened, kind of my, my, I would say,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:19
the significance that I put on like the diversity inclusion conversation is so,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:22
so, you know, as a man coming, you know, we go kind of exploring and navigating



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:27
life as a man, you kind of lose sight of, perspectives and you don't have to, you



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:33
know, I don't think you recognize, how things are kind of aligned in a way to



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:36
kind of further your journey as a man.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:39
And like, you don't really gain an appreciation for what women deal



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:42
with until like you kind of really experienced things through their eyes.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:45
And my wife, so Ryan, she's a graphic designer.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:48
She's an artist too.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:49
She's a very talented graphic designer.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:52
you know, we, we hit a point in our, on our journey as a couple where, you know,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:56
where we were trying to get pregnant, you know, the company that she worked



Michael Zeppieri:
00:58:59
for knew that they were downsizing and she was kind of pushed out of the



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:04
workforce as a result, she was laid off.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:06
And, and, you know, and then you have kids and you have to accommodate



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:08
childcare and then global pandemic.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:10
So it's been this kind of series of events that have prevented her, from



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:14
being able to get back into the workforce.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:16
I mean, she's she's college educated.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:17
She has more talent than I do in many ways.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:19
but yet there's barriers and I don't know that I truly appreciated and



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:24
recognize those barriers until I kind of experienced them through her eyes.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:28
And I think it was a pivotal moment for me to kind of to see that



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:32
and acknowledge that it's kind of like it's a sombering realization.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:36
Because it's easy to dismiss that when you're only seeing it from your



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:39
perspective, but when you see it from someone else's perspective and you



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:42
take the time to see it from someone else's perspective, it's very somber.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:46
But I also think, but as a result of having that kind of like realization,



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:50
it makes you a better leader.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:52
because that's always top of mind for me now.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:54
It's like, I'm always.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:55
I'm always thinking about like, like, okay, someone's not performing.



Michael Zeppieri:
00:59:59
Like it's actually, it's given, I know this is not a short answer



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:01
to your rapid fire, but it's,



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:03
it's, you know, it's like, like, so let's say I have an



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:04
under, underperforming employee.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:08
It's very easy to just dismiss that.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:10
And like, now it causes me to really pause and kind of say, okay,



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:12
well, what else, what's going on?



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:14
Like, like, like, don't just dismiss it based on face value of like,



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:17
see it from their perspective.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:18
you know, every so there's always other second, there's always other



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:21
circumstances and you need to take the time to understand them.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:23
So, yeah, so I, I think that was a really pivotal moment for me in terms of how I



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:27
think about people's like what they're experiencing in their personal lives and



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:31
how that sometimes you don't even know right what's happening behind the door.



Ethan Young:
01:00:34
Yeah.



Ryan Bell:
01:00:35
Question number four.



Ryan Bell:
01:00:36
If you could have any animal that's a carnivore as a pet, regardless



Ryan Bell:
01:00:41
of practicality, what would it be?



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:44
Oh, probably a shark.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:45
Without a doubt, A shark.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:46
Yeah,



Ryan Bell:
01:00:47
That'd be cool.



Ryan Bell:
01:00:48
. Ethan Young: that'd be sweet.



Ryan Bell:
01:00:49
Yeah.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:50
With lasers.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:00:50
We have to have sharks with lasers.



Ryan Bell:
01:00:52
Of course



Ethan Young:
01:00:53
All right.



Ethan Young:
01:00:55
How do you stay motivated, inspired, especially during tough times?



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:01
have a lot of hobbies that I tap into to distract.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:04
Like music, music is my passion..



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:07
I think there is, there is in a recording studio.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:13
Um guitar.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:16
I'm like, I'm not to make music.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:21
I can't play lead okay at rhythm.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:24
so like when I'm stressed out Um, I go to that place like I like, like,



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:27
music is always my sound like it's always like kind of like I like



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:30
there's like literal albums that I listen to when I'm in certain moods



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:33
that lift me up or motivate me or, um, I even my high school yearbook,



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:38
my quote in my high school yearbook was a was lyrics from a Queen song.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:42
so there, there are songs that hit me a certain way and



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:44
lyrics hit me a certain way.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:45
So like that's always where I go when I need to pick me up.



Ryan Bell:
01:01:47
What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever bought?



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:51
Oh, so my wife will tell you it's my collection of Star Wars toys.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:54
so, so this is a funny, like I, so talking about the different



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:58
aspects of my personality, right?



Michael Zeppieri:
01:01:59
So when my wife and I met, she knew I was a military veteran.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:02
She knew I was going to MIT.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:04
She didn't know I was a nerd because all my nerd possessions were in storage.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:08
And we got engaged and we moved to California and the



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:11
nerd thing stayed in storage.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:14
because we weren't sure how long we were going to live in California and



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:16
that ended up being a decade, but never took the time because we didn't



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:19
live in a big enough apartment to move the nerd stuff over, to California.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:23
So we moved back to the East coast and now I'm reunited with my nerd stuff.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:26
And my parents will live in New York.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:29
You know, they'd come visit us periodically and every time they came



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:32
up, it was the box of Star Wars stuff.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:35
And after the first box, my wife was like, okay, I knew you were into Star



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:38
Wars, but maybe not to this extent.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:42
And then the second box shows up and she's like, okay, I understood



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:45
why you had the action figures, but do you need all the play sets?



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:47
And then the third box shows up.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:49
She's like, oh, you got all the spaceships too.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:51
And then it's like the fourth thing comes up, and it's like,



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:53
Shit, you've got costumes, too.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:55
And by the time the fifth box came, and she's like, if I knew you had all this



Michael Zeppieri:
01:02:58
stuff, I wouldn't have married you.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:00
So, yeah, so, so, yeah.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:01
So that's like the most ridiculous.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:03
I don't buy them anymore.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:04
No, no, I won't.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:05
I'll take that back.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:07
I have learned to fulfill that need through my children.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:10
So my daughter's have a lot of Star Wars lego sets because they wanted them.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:16
I get to build them with them, but they're all sitting on my, in my office now.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:19
Well played there.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:21
Well, Mike, thanks again for your time today.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:23
We really appreciate it for anybody that wants to learn more about



Ryan Bell:
01:03:26
Skanska or get in touch with you.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:27
What's the best way for them to do that?



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:30
So LinkedIn is always a reliable way to



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:32
I'm pretty active on LinkedIn.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:33
So that's the easiest way.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:35
to find me.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:36
if not, I mean, you can find me on email.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:38
It's my first name dot last name at Skanska.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:40
com.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:40
So my full first name.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:41
so Michael.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:42
Zeppieri at Skanska.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:43
com.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:44
So, so either way,



Ryan Bell:
01:03:45
Awesome.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:46
We will put that in the show notes.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:47
before we wrap up here, we need, I forgot to mention it at the



Ryan Bell:
01:03:50
beginning, but we were playing our challenge words game and we were



Ryan Bell:
01:03:53
all successful at working our word.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:55
And Mike, your word was.



Michael Zeppieri:
01:03:58
vegetarian.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:58
Vegetarian.



Ryan Bell:
01:03:59
He worked at him very well.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:00
Ethan, your word was.



Ethan Young:
01:04:02
Mine was mosh pit.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:04
You did great, man.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:05
I was a little nervous for you, trying that one in there.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:08
and mine was carnivore snuck it in there at the end and the challenge words, or



Ryan Bell:
01:04:13
I'm sorry, in the rapid fire questions.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:16
So good job guys.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:18
Well, thanks so much for tuning into this episode of construction disruption



Ryan Bell:
01:04:22
with Mike zeppieri, Vice President of emerging technology Skanska.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:27
Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:29
We are always blessed with great guests.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:31
Don't forget to leave us a review on Apple podcast or give us a thumbs up on YouTube



Ryan Bell:
01:04:36
until the next time we're together, keep on disrupting and challenging those in



Ryan Bell:
01:04:39
your world to better ways of doing things.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:42
And don't forget to have a positive impact on everyone you encounter.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:45
Make them smile and encourage them, two simple yet powerful things we



Ryan Bell:
01:04:49
can all do to change the world.



Ryan Bell:
01:04:51
God bless and take care, this is Isaiah Industries signing off until the next



Ryan Bell:
01:04:54
episode of Construction Disruption.