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Hi everyone, welcome to the podcast
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Transformational Architecture, Engineering,
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and Construction, or AEC.
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I'm Bill Rue, your host.
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Now the property market is one of the largest industries
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in the world, and yet, it's one of the last
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to be transformed by technology.
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Given the size of the prize,
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there's definitely great opportunity to make giant leaps
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in the quality buildings, reducing time and costs
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to address affordability and profitability issues
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that the industry faces, making construction safer,
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and reducing the carbon footprint
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of construction and operations.
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These are global trillion dollar opportunities.
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Now there have been attempts in the past,
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but these have always fallen short of transformation.
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Digitization of design was the last major transformation
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that began over 30 years ago.
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Now BIM has been an important technology,
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but it hasn't been transformational yet.
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It has been important to record keeping,
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but it hasn't yet solved larger automation workflow
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collaboration and commercial problems.
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But it seems like now the technology and infrastructure
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is beginning to appear, led by cloud and AI,
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coupled with large quantities of data.
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This is opening new opportunities to develop technologies
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that can transform this industry.
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Now this will not be easy, as this industry
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has some uniquenesses that are major roadblocks to success.
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Projects involve many different players
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with different competing interests.
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Projects often become 100% bespoke.
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Large number of organizations are needed to design,
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build, supply, and operate a building.
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Costs are not often understood until late in the process,
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and design may not accurately reflect the physical reality.
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Lastly, industry culture is often skeptical of innovation.
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But today we're going to talk to the CEO of Podium.io,
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a startup developing a platform that they believe
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will transform the industry.
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This is a platform that will automate
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and streamline development and construction,
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as well as create a marketplace for solutions.
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And so let's jump in and talk to our first guest,
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Pankaj Srivastava.
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Pankaj is the CEO of Podium.io,
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company trying to lead us into transforming
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the world of architecture, engineering, and construction.
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So welcome, Pankaj, and thanks for joining the podcast.
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Let's start with your background,
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because you've got quite an impressive
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but eclectic background.
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You were in AI before anybody thought you should be in AI,
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studying AI at MIT in the really early days.
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And you've worked at consulting firms,
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you worked at big companies like Cisco,
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and you've also worked for small startups.
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So why don't you tell us a little bit
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about your journey to get to Podium.
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Oh, absolutely, Bill, thank you.
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Look, I've been writing software
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since I got my first Apple IIe in 1983.
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And I am in love with how much software can disrupt industry.
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I call software the universal catalyst
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for disrupting industries.
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And it is data that software produces,
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a universal solvent.
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I always look for those opportunities.
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When I finished my computer science degree at MIT,
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my first job was building neural nets for hedge fund trading.
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And we were writing them in C++ and pulling out our hair,
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but we knew that we were onto something.
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Unfortunately, infrastructure, data, all of that wasn't ready.
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Took a lot, but all hedge funds today
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are powered by neural nets,
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long before neural nets and CNN and deep learning
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was a household name in recent years.
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So that got me hooked.
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I left that and I went to the e-commerce world
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with some consulting companies and software startups
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to really bring that power of AI to e-commerce.
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And I was a Netscape bigot.
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If anybody was in the first internet wave,
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I was building on the Netscape platform,
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which was the first truth and client platform
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until Microsoft disrupted that with the Internet Explorer.
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But for me, e-commerce was massively disruptive.
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In fact, the early days of digitalization
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was about really how you bring digital value to the backend
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through exposing everything that happens
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to big companies onto the customer.
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People just couldn't connect to their customers
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without e-commerce.
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So I was caught up with that
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and then joined a few startups.
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One of those startups, of course,
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Bill was acquired by yours.
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And we almost went public before the dot-com bust.
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And that was a lot of fun.
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We were trying to disrupt the market of enterprises
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and how they go to their customers
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by bringing e-commerce technology.
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So my journey has always been a common theme is,
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look, I think software continues to democratize.
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I am not a guy who builds core technology
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as much as I apply it.
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And I think if you understand it and you apply it,
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it can help transform and catalyze whole change.
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Good software, good software understanding.
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I've been applying AI, internet, e-commerce, cloud.
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And with Bill at Cisco,
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we started disrupting the industry,
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the actual sector with IOT.
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And so we were the first, in fact, you remember Bill,
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you were one of the first people out there
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bringing the idea of IOT to life, Internet of Things.
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And then you took that forward with GE with Predix.
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And that's what I've done.
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And after Cisco, I was in the genomic space
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because precision medicine
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is going to disrupt healthcare as well,
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where we're not all gonna be bombed by the same chemicals.
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Medicine will quickly understand who we are
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down to our genome and our cell structure.
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I was in that space having a lot of fun.
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And then Bill recruited me to the property industry.
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One thing I learned over the years
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in all these different roles, big and small,
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is big companies, small companies,
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is if you wanna innovate,
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you have to bring something very disruptive.
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Let's offer some new kind of technology to a new space.
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You have to find the right space
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because you can't disrupt something
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that's working pretty well.
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You've got to pick places that are really not moving
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as fast as they should.
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And you've got to find a way to scale.
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And what I thought until Bill recruited me to lend lease,
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to build podium with him,
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I thought that the healthcare industry
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was the largest industry in the world, $10 trillion.
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Turns out that the property industry
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is a $20 trillion industry
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that's been barely touched by technology.
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The largest software players products
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are still primarily using desktop and on Windows software
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as opposed to on the cloud.
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And so this was an industry ready for disruption.
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Really Bill, when you and I looked at it at lend lease,
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we realized that it's not just something
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lend lease can do for itself, we can transform the world.
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And 10 of the $20 trillion is spent
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in property development, design and construction.
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What another trend, the other 10 is spent
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in managing the properties once they're up and running.
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In that $10 trillion, there's barely any software,
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enterprise grade, crowds grade, AI, anything.
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In fact, billions of dollars on each project
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are managed by Excel, Outlook, EDF and PowerPoint.
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So this whole industry runs on what I call
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circa 1999, these digital technology.
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And they've all missed the boat.
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So this is why I've been at podium.
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And this is why I've been pursuing the vision of podium
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and at lend lease and now we've spun it out.
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We're very excited because I think we're about
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to disrupt the industry.
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What is it about our industry that makes transformation
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and digitization so hard?
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And is it really possible to disrupt in this industry?
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Yeah, no, absolutely Bill, it's a great point.
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And not only, I think the other thing
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that's very compelling, interesting
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about the McKinsey study is not only are we
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at the bottom of the stack, maybe above hunting and fishing,
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but our productivity metrics keep going down.
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And why is that?
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Because it takes about three to five years
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to build out projects, a project being any large development
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and then turn it operational.
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And a lot of that is caught up in manual processes
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and outsourcing and contract risk management
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to general contractors and architects.
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And essentially managing it financially
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as opposed to realizing that a building
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and a place that you're putting the building on is a system.
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It's a system that you're putting in
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that in a system that once up and running
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will be populated and inhabited,
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you have to sustain it and you turn it into money.
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So whether it's computer, whether it's a chip,
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whether it's a plane, whether it's a human being,
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everything else has been digitized to be treated
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like a system that you can maintain, manage and design.
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We don't treat the building
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as one integrated holistic system.
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We fork it out to all the specialists
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and hope eventually that it comes together
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and we do a lot of rework.
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So productivity is one of the biggest issues
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and the downward trend of productivity is a bigger issue.
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It's compounded by the fact that there are a lot of tailwinds
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as we emerge out of COVID and other things,
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the time is now because every region,
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except for a few that are struggling like China right now,
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is trying to get back, trying to meet its growth,
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population growth demands with sustainable properties
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and new kinds of places to meet the needs of its industry,
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its people and how they work, live and play.
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And they can't keep up because they don't apply technology,
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they don't treat buildings as a digitized system.
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So productivity and so cost keeps ballooning up,
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it keeps going up and concrete is one of the largest
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drivers of carbon emissions.
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So as these properties are built out,
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every industry that is taking it on in every region
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has to team up with the public sector,
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which is driving sustainability metrics.
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So the property developers now have charters and targets
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on sustainability and productivity
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and it's compounded to the fact that
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it is causing more and more issues
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and with interest rates high, it's reducing profitability.
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The industry is facing a crisis.
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It's facing a crisis,
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they haven't looked at technology at all to fix it.
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The real issue then is you've got several forces
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that are beginning to act upon our industry
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to make the change.
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So it's affordable housing, sustainability, profit levels,
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complexity, quality, everyone's gonna be forced
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in the next decade to begin to embrace the technology
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in order to address these challenges.
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Though wasn't BIM supposed to solve this problem
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decade, two decades ago?
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And where does BIM fit into this?
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Yeah, BIM was supposed to,
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but all BIM really did is create a standard model
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to allow 2D CAD drawings to go 3D
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and still live on the desktop of architects
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and structural engineers.
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It didn't bring the idea of how you create
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a connected model, how you design the whole building,
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how you drive outcomes.
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So outcomes is what the industry is looking for.
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BIM was supposed to encapsulate that,
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but it's missed the mark because it's essentially upgraded
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2D drawings to 3D drawings.
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And if you look at Autodesk,
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who's a key partner of ours, investor and industry leader,
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they're also trying to drive the industry to go beyond BIM
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because BIM caps out with its information models
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and things at essentially data standards.
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It's not just about data, it's about models,
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it's about system advising things,
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it's about connecting all the other dimensions of activity
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that make up a multi-dimensional system like a building.
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Now, I look back and I joined this, I said,
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it was in the early 90s that Boeing designed the 777
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as a complete digital system
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on a early version of the digital twin.
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Why can't we have a true digital twin of a building
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that becomes the simulation point, the AI point,
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the model point?
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And that's what BIM fails to do.
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It doesn't let you build a whole building system model.
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So tell us a little bit about then podium.io
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and what you're trying to do.
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No, absolutely, Bill.
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When we looked at Podium and you were heavily involved
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with this at LendLease as well,
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we realized that in this industry,
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unlike any other industry,
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software does not serve the people
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who control the business.
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It serves the specialists.
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So CAD and BIM just create better tools
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for the architects and designers.
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But the building is a business and a living system
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that is commissioned by a property developer
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that who is taking massive risk
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and tying up billions of dollars over five years
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in the hopes and the plans of making a huge profit,
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huge return or huge annuity
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once that building system goes live.
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And it's becoming harder and harder for them to do that
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without the technology.
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So we looked at all the industries.
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We built Podium as a platform with a data lake
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and a data model across the spectrum
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of property management construction.
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And we really honed in the product market fit
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on the biggest issue facing us.
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And I'll just give you an example of it.
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If you look anywhere, you're in Bozeman
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or if you're in Hunter B,
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you look at a large building that costs a billion dollars
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to build.
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It usually takes three to five years to build.
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Off the billion dollars,
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about a hundred million is spent on architecture
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and design fees.
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A hundred million dollars on essentially creating PDFs
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and Excel reports on the fact that the building's ready.
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And not only that,
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that design phase of getting that building design
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commissioned takes about 12 to 18 months
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of that three years before you put any ounce of concrete
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on the ground.
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And then when you put concrete on the ground,
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because your model is only design perfect,
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but it's not treated as a system, you have a lot of rework.
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So that's where we focused in Podium.
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And we said, look, let's disrupt this
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because this is the place where you can actually encapsulate
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what most of what architects and designers do,
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especially the things that are repetitive
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and help create repeatable designs and save time,
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save an enormous amount of time
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and get to the act of building the building
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that these property developers need.
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So that's been the focus of Podium is,
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we've built a platform that truly disrupts the workflows
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that are involved, that are all manual today
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up to point where construction begins.
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We're also focused on bringing the power of vertical AI
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in the form of agents, we call them solvers,
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that come together to really capture the intelligence
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and the algorithms and heuristics
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of what an architect designer does on a daily basis
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to automate most of the process.
335
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So our focus is automation and in the thinking
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and automation of the collaboration
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so that you can actually reduce the cycle time
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of what it takes to get a building.
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We think we can actually take 30 to 50% or more
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off what it takes in the design time of a building,
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which is 40% of the total time constructing a building.
342
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Well, if you can achieve that over the next decade,
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that's a game changer.
344
00:15:35,500 --> 00:15:39,020
A lot of technology exists to build solvers.
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So what's really different from the way
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00:15:43,460 --> 00:15:45,020
people have been building solvers, say,
347
00:15:45,020 --> 00:15:50,020
for the last five years to what you're really providing
348
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that differentiates it or provides greater value?
349
00:15:53,580 --> 00:15:54,420
No, absolutely, Bill.
350
00:15:54,420 --> 00:15:57,900
Look, everybody has built their bite-sized technology
351
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and then where does that sit?
352
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It sits on their desktop.
353
00:16:00,940 --> 00:16:02,500
It sits in their environment.
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00:16:02,500 --> 00:16:05,660
It sits in a way that they can create a better answer
355
00:16:05,660 --> 00:16:07,140
for their customer, the property developer,
356
00:16:07,140 --> 00:16:08,940
but it doesn't serve the property developer.
357
00:16:08,940 --> 00:16:12,020
What we've done is we've created a common cloud.
358
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We run it today on the Google Cloud.
359
00:16:13,580 --> 00:16:16,820
It can run on any cloud where you can bring your model,
360
00:16:16,820 --> 00:16:18,300
your building model to life.
361
00:16:18,300 --> 00:16:19,140
Why on the cloud?
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00:16:19,140 --> 00:16:21,620
Because these models are large.
363
00:16:21,620 --> 00:16:24,700
They contain a lot of data, not just design data,
364
00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:26,580
but financial data, regulatory data.
365
00:16:26,580 --> 00:16:29,740
They also tap into what's happening in the region
366
00:16:29,740 --> 00:16:32,540
in terms of the views, the sunlight.
367
00:16:32,540 --> 00:16:34,420
We bring all that together into models
368
00:16:34,420 --> 00:16:36,500
and then we plug the algorithms in there
369
00:16:36,500 --> 00:16:39,900
and then we invite everybody to bring their solvers
370
00:16:39,900 --> 00:16:41,060
onto it as well.
371
00:16:41,060 --> 00:16:43,940
The suppliers bring their solvers, the architects,
372
00:16:43,940 --> 00:16:47,540
and what you do is you get a holistic building model emerge.
373
00:16:48,420 --> 00:16:51,420
The best way to describe it is it becomes a true digital twin
374
00:16:51,420 --> 00:16:54,740
of a building that actually encapsulates not just the design
375
00:16:54,740 --> 00:16:57,180
and the details that the architect cares about
376
00:16:57,180 --> 00:16:59,700
and the the illities that the structural engineer
377
00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:03,380
cares about, but it also incorporates all of the analysis
378
00:17:03,380 --> 00:17:07,060
and lets you scale it up and share it, share it back.
379
00:17:08,820 --> 00:17:11,420
It's one thing to have one model in the cloud.
380
00:17:11,420 --> 00:17:13,780
We also wrap it with workflows that can work
381
00:17:13,780 --> 00:17:16,380
not just within the architecture firm
382
00:17:16,380 --> 00:17:19,060
or the engineering firm or the property developer,
383
00:17:19,060 --> 00:17:21,780
it can work across them and the regulatory agencies
384
00:17:21,780 --> 00:17:25,460
to submit all that as one model to the industry.
385
00:17:25,460 --> 00:17:27,060
Regulators say we're ready.
386
00:17:27,060 --> 00:17:30,540
We're ready in record time with better quality
387
00:17:30,540 --> 00:17:34,820
and better vetting and we're not going to have conflicts
388
00:17:34,820 --> 00:17:36,420
between what our architects design
389
00:17:36,420 --> 00:17:39,740
and our structural engineers analyze.
390
00:17:39,740 --> 00:17:42,780
It all comes together as one synthetic model
391
00:17:42,780 --> 00:17:44,380
that can drive the process faster.
392
00:17:44,380 --> 00:17:47,540
And we do it in the cloud and so that is the key.
393
00:17:47,540 --> 00:17:51,260
That's, we become the place, the platform where you can collect
394
00:17:51,260 --> 00:17:52,580
and build all the solvers.
395
00:17:52,580 --> 00:17:54,620
What does platform mean to you
396
00:17:54,620 --> 00:17:57,340
and what you talk about the podium platform,
397
00:17:57,340 --> 00:17:58,980
what exactly is it?
398
00:17:58,980 --> 00:18:01,180
And if I'm using the podium platform,
399
00:18:01,180 --> 00:18:03,140
what benefit is it to me?
400
00:18:03,140 --> 00:18:06,940
Absolutely, so look, I think at the heart of the platform,
401
00:18:06,940 --> 00:18:11,940
what we're talking about is as a platform is a common place
402
00:18:12,540 --> 00:18:16,140
for the ecosystem of a property developer,
403
00:18:16,140 --> 00:18:20,620
a supplier, their suppliers, their architects, designers
404
00:18:20,620 --> 00:18:23,540
and their regulators to whom they're submitting
405
00:18:23,540 --> 00:18:27,180
their proposals can all come together and collaborate.
406
00:18:27,180 --> 00:18:29,940
So we provide that and it's powered by a set of workflows
407
00:18:29,940 --> 00:18:32,620
and deliverables that are dynamically coming out
408
00:18:32,620 --> 00:18:34,140
because everybody's working at this.
409
00:18:34,140 --> 00:18:36,180
At the heart of this, the nucleus of this
410
00:18:36,180 --> 00:18:39,220
is that synthetic building model.
411
00:18:39,220 --> 00:18:42,060
That holistic building model which captures the best
412
00:18:42,060 --> 00:18:44,020
of what the architects have asked for,
413
00:18:44,020 --> 00:18:46,420
what the system has simulated on their behalf,
414
00:18:46,420 --> 00:18:49,180
the structural analysts have asked for
415
00:18:49,180 --> 00:18:52,300
and the structures calculated on their behalf.
416
00:18:52,300 --> 00:18:54,900
What the suppliers are bringing in terms of their catalogs
417
00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:56,580
and what the system has factored in
418
00:18:56,580 --> 00:18:59,100
as the best possible parts for the price points
419
00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:01,940
that are available comes together,
420
00:19:01,940 --> 00:19:05,660
but it's a dynamic platform in the sense that that model
421
00:19:05,660 --> 00:19:08,580
and the supporting workflows and the orchestration
422
00:19:08,580 --> 00:19:11,780
across this community is done in real time,
423
00:19:11,780 --> 00:19:14,260
dynamically and an ongoing basis.
424
00:19:14,260 --> 00:19:18,940
Today, an average cycle time of getting a new scenario
425
00:19:18,940 --> 00:19:22,460
built, a property commissioned by a property developer
426
00:19:22,460 --> 00:19:24,980
can cost thousands of dollars and weeks.
427
00:19:24,980 --> 00:19:26,260
I'll give you an example.
428
00:19:26,260 --> 00:19:29,380
We were doing a project with Podium and Lend-Lease
429
00:19:29,380 --> 00:19:33,260
in the Bay Area and the customer decided they wanted to go
430
00:19:33,260 --> 00:19:36,820
from mass timber to steel frame on the structure
431
00:19:36,820 --> 00:19:39,140
on the building in the Bay Area.
432
00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:41,860
Well, it was sent back to the architect structurally.
433
00:19:41,860 --> 00:19:44,180
It was three weeks before they came back.
434
00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:47,820
They charged another 50 to $80,000 through that analysis
435
00:19:47,820 --> 00:19:49,060
and gave them a set of PDFs.
436
00:19:49,060 --> 00:19:51,060
All that can be done dynamically.
437
00:19:51,060 --> 00:19:53,380
So the platform has a lot of technology
438
00:19:53,380 --> 00:19:55,740
to make this possible, but it's a business platform.
439
00:19:55,740 --> 00:19:57,740
It's a multi-sided platform on one side,
440
00:19:57,740 --> 00:20:00,660
but most importantly, it's a collaboration platform
441
00:20:00,660 --> 00:20:05,300
where all the participants in a project that's about to go
442
00:20:05,300 --> 00:20:07,100
live or is getting commissioned or planned
443
00:20:07,100 --> 00:20:09,940
can participate and look at it and touch it.
444
00:20:09,940 --> 00:20:12,700
It's very much, you know, I look at this industry
445
00:20:12,700 --> 00:20:15,500
and I said, as Podium comes to life,
446
00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,100
Podium will do for this industry
447
00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:19,060
what Boeing and others do for their industry.
448
00:20:19,060 --> 00:20:21,220
And you guys did this at GE.
449
00:20:21,220 --> 00:20:23,980
Locomotive engines are designed by GE,
450
00:20:23,980 --> 00:20:26,420
but all their ecosystem and their buyers
451
00:20:26,420 --> 00:20:27,420
are all looking at it.
452
00:20:27,420 --> 00:20:29,140
Similarly, big planes are.
453
00:20:29,140 --> 00:20:31,060
They're all working on that common model
454
00:20:31,060 --> 00:20:32,420
that's dynamically evolving
455
00:20:32,420 --> 00:20:34,580
and scenarios are happening every day
456
00:20:34,580 --> 00:20:36,300
and you don't lose time.
457
00:20:36,300 --> 00:20:37,500
So that's what Podium is doing,
458
00:20:37,500 --> 00:20:40,540
is creating that platform for the ecosystem of glares
459
00:20:40,540 --> 00:20:45,180
that have to work today on the basis of Excel,
460
00:20:45,180 --> 00:20:48,260
PowerPoint and conference calls to solve these problems.
461
00:20:48,260 --> 00:20:51,060
We're saying it can all be done in the cloud
462
00:20:51,060 --> 00:20:55,060
with every constituent and every expert factored in,
463
00:20:55,060 --> 00:20:55,980
in real time.
464
00:20:55,980 --> 00:20:58,740
To me, that is where, that is the idea
465
00:20:58,740 --> 00:21:01,500
of a universal catalyst in software.
466
00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:03,060
So you developing all the solvers,
467
00:21:03,060 --> 00:21:05,180
are you developing all the workflows
468
00:21:05,180 --> 00:21:08,460
or can all of these participants do that?
469
00:21:08,460 --> 00:21:11,380
And is there some form of data control?
470
00:21:11,380 --> 00:21:13,260
I'm a supplier, I don't put my data on,
471
00:21:13,260 --> 00:21:15,260
I lose control of my data.
472
00:21:15,260 --> 00:21:17,460
Well, those are probably the two things people care about
473
00:21:17,460 --> 00:21:20,020
when they work on a real quality platform.
474
00:21:20,020 --> 00:21:22,260
So how do you address that?
475
00:21:22,260 --> 00:21:24,300
So we talked just now about the business platform.
476
00:21:24,300 --> 00:21:27,780
It becomes a place where all the participants collaborate
477
00:21:27,780 --> 00:21:29,260
and look at each other's work
478
00:21:29,260 --> 00:21:31,260
and get the benefit of it and come in model,
479
00:21:31,260 --> 00:21:33,580
but underneath is a set of technologies.
480
00:21:33,580 --> 00:21:34,940
And so to your question,
481
00:21:34,940 --> 00:21:39,020
what we've done is created a rich set of APIs and tools
482
00:21:39,020 --> 00:21:42,300
that allow not only our software team
483
00:21:42,300 --> 00:21:44,820
to build these algorithms and build these workflows,
484
00:21:44,820 --> 00:21:46,980
which we do to seed the market,
485
00:21:46,980 --> 00:21:48,060
but we make those available
486
00:21:48,060 --> 00:21:49,380
is what the software industry calls
487
00:21:49,380 --> 00:21:51,100
SDK software developer kit.
488
00:21:51,100 --> 00:21:54,820
On the data model, we have a universal standard data model
489
00:21:54,820 --> 00:21:56,300
for this architecture weeks.
490
00:21:56,300 --> 00:21:59,420
Give that data model to suppliers, to architects,
491
00:21:59,420 --> 00:22:00,660
they're able to contribute it.
492
00:22:00,660 --> 00:22:03,540
In fact, our early customers who are property developers,
493
00:22:03,540 --> 00:22:05,300
who have their own in-house architects
494
00:22:05,300 --> 00:22:06,420
and structural engineers,
495
00:22:06,420 --> 00:22:09,140
are now starting to take an industrial building
496
00:22:09,140 --> 00:22:12,140
and create their own format of it, Bill.
497
00:22:12,140 --> 00:22:12,980
And then they say,
498
00:22:12,980 --> 00:22:16,220
I don't want this design shared with my other customers.
499
00:22:16,220 --> 00:22:18,820
So that's the other power of cloud.
500
00:22:18,820 --> 00:22:20,180
Cloud gives us the ability
501
00:22:20,180 --> 00:22:22,380
to be what's called multi-tenanted.
502
00:22:22,380 --> 00:22:25,420
So we then make sure that based on the licensing
503
00:22:25,420 --> 00:22:27,300
and agreements with them,
504
00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:30,100
if they don't wanna share those specializations
505
00:22:30,100 --> 00:22:32,060
of those algorithms and those workflows
506
00:22:32,060 --> 00:22:33,980
and those reconfigurations are all running
507
00:22:33,980 --> 00:22:36,900
in their tenancy or their partition of their cloud.
508
00:22:36,900 --> 00:22:38,380
Think of it as their own cloud.
509
00:22:38,380 --> 00:22:40,660
But some of the customers are saying,
510
00:22:40,660 --> 00:22:42,940
look, I wanna do this, but I want actually a license fee.
511
00:22:42,940 --> 00:22:44,980
I wanna share it with others in the industry.
512
00:22:44,980 --> 00:22:46,980
So they're actually finding an aftermarket
513
00:22:46,980 --> 00:22:49,140
for their designs to be going after others
514
00:22:49,140 --> 00:22:51,940
that may not be in their region, but could benefit it.
515
00:22:51,940 --> 00:22:53,300
So we've got that kind of capability.
516
00:22:53,300 --> 00:22:56,940
Suppliers want to make sure that their catalogs are available,
517
00:22:56,940 --> 00:22:58,380
but they don't want the catalogs
518
00:22:58,380 --> 00:22:59,460
shared with other suppliers.
519
00:22:59,460 --> 00:23:00,780
So we protect that.
520
00:23:00,780 --> 00:23:03,700
But suppliers are also now building their own items
521
00:23:03,700 --> 00:23:05,100
and solvers to say,
522
00:23:05,100 --> 00:23:08,220
how do you make sure that you can factor this
523
00:23:08,220 --> 00:23:10,860
into all the different building types in each region
524
00:23:10,860 --> 00:23:13,980
to be the best fit for, let's say,
525
00:23:13,980 --> 00:23:16,220
a highly sustainable lift core?
526
00:23:16,220 --> 00:23:18,980
Schindler is an example of an investor in this.
527
00:23:18,980 --> 00:23:21,180
So we've had to provide all those underpinnings
528
00:23:21,180 --> 00:23:22,220
because once you're in,
529
00:23:22,220 --> 00:23:25,020
it's just like being on Airbnb or anywhere else.
530
00:23:25,020 --> 00:23:27,260
If you're setting up your property,
531
00:23:27,260 --> 00:23:28,900
you're gonna curate it to your needs.
532
00:23:28,900 --> 00:23:31,340
You're gonna want it to be available for your customer base,
533
00:23:31,340 --> 00:23:33,500
but you're not gonna wanna make everything available
534
00:23:33,500 --> 00:23:35,980
in that to the rest of your market, your competitors.
535
00:23:35,980 --> 00:23:38,300
So that is key to this as well.
536
00:23:38,300 --> 00:23:39,620
Well, it kind of blows my mind
537
00:23:39,620 --> 00:23:43,460
that there's actually multifaceted aspects
538
00:23:43,460 --> 00:23:45,020
of this platform.
539
00:23:45,020 --> 00:23:46,740
You started with a project.
540
00:23:46,740 --> 00:23:50,540
How do I take a big residential project
541
00:23:50,540 --> 00:23:52,060
to make it go faster?
542
00:23:52,060 --> 00:23:56,740
But you actually then have a facet that's,
543
00:23:56,740 --> 00:23:59,700
well, everyone can now put their own data
544
00:23:59,700 --> 00:24:03,260
and their own solvers in and compliment it.
545
00:24:03,260 --> 00:24:05,940
Then you have the ability that it becomes a marketplace.
546
00:24:05,940 --> 00:24:10,220
A marketplace for solvers, a marketplace for designs,
547
00:24:10,220 --> 00:24:13,260
a marketplace for suppliers.
548
00:24:13,260 --> 00:24:16,500
So the architects now have an ability
549
00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:18,140
to get more leverage out of what they do.
550
00:24:18,140 --> 00:24:21,460
The engineers do as well, the suppliers do.
551
00:24:22,940 --> 00:24:24,260
That's right.
552
00:24:24,260 --> 00:24:28,500
Everyone who participates can either create their own value
553
00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:31,180
or acquire value from others
554
00:24:31,180 --> 00:24:33,300
to allow their projects to go faster.
555
00:24:33,300 --> 00:24:37,300
That is exciting because that's a real network effect.
556
00:24:37,300 --> 00:24:41,140
And in transformation, you'll always look for that.
557
00:24:41,140 --> 00:24:44,700
So I think that's quite exciting what you're doing.
558
00:24:44,700 --> 00:24:46,300
So who are you working with?
559
00:24:46,300 --> 00:24:47,300
What are the partners?
560
00:24:47,300 --> 00:24:48,700
What are the investors?
561
00:24:48,700 --> 00:24:49,540
Absolutely, Bill.
562
00:24:49,540 --> 00:24:54,540
So to your point, the Autodesk is a key investor and partner
563
00:24:54,900 --> 00:24:56,620
because they want the market,
564
00:24:56,620 --> 00:25:00,580
they want the industry to evolve from CAD and BIM,
565
00:25:00,580 --> 00:25:04,660
which they helped create, to outcome-based BIM, industry cloud,
566
00:25:04,660 --> 00:25:07,660
where you can connect all the participants
567
00:25:07,660 --> 00:25:08,740
and all the stakeholders.
568
00:25:08,740 --> 00:25:12,100
The really drive value in several key areas,
569
00:25:12,100 --> 00:25:14,220
cost, time to delivery,
570
00:25:14,220 --> 00:25:16,340
net operating income on the project,
571
00:25:16,340 --> 00:25:19,700
affordability, sustainability, and reuse is very key
572
00:25:19,700 --> 00:25:23,300
because it turns out other than a few big iconic buildings
573
00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:24,860
like the Empire State Building,
574
00:25:24,860 --> 00:25:27,740
or if you've been to Singapore, the Marina Bay Sands,
575
00:25:27,740 --> 00:25:31,460
most buildings are actually can be repeatably built.
576
00:25:32,820 --> 00:25:35,620
But every time a building is commissioned by a developer,
577
00:25:35,620 --> 00:25:37,180
which is similar to the last building,
578
00:25:37,180 --> 00:25:38,980
it's actually a completely bespoke building.
579
00:25:38,980 --> 00:25:41,740
So what we're doing is not only creating this environment,
580
00:25:41,740 --> 00:25:44,580
we're creating a data lake of models
581
00:25:44,580 --> 00:25:48,460
that then and parts and supplier configurations and designs
582
00:25:48,460 --> 00:25:50,140
that then can be reused.
583
00:25:50,140 --> 00:25:52,420
This is bringing object-oriented design
584
00:25:52,420 --> 00:25:54,500
and lean manufacturing principles
585
00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:56,300
to the property development industry.
586
00:25:56,300 --> 00:25:59,420
Why can Toyota and Boeing on the same assembly line
587
00:25:59,420 --> 00:26:02,260
manufacture two different vehicles, two different planes?
588
00:26:02,260 --> 00:26:05,020
Because they have the model that allows them to swap in
589
00:26:05,020 --> 00:26:08,260
and swap out parts and keep 60% cost common.
590
00:26:08,260 --> 00:26:13,260
A Toyota Corolla and a RAV4 have the same chassis,
591
00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:16,100
but a building that looks essentially the same
592
00:26:16,100 --> 00:26:17,820
in two parts of the city
593
00:26:17,820 --> 00:26:19,860
don't have the same designs underneath.
594
00:26:19,860 --> 00:26:22,780
So we are creating that kind of architecture.
595
00:26:22,780 --> 00:26:27,460
And that's why the suppliers and the design firms
596
00:26:27,460 --> 00:26:30,300
and Autodesk are so keen,
597
00:26:30,300 --> 00:26:34,420
because once we do that, property developers at scale
598
00:26:34,420 --> 00:26:38,980
can then commission multiple projects at the same time
599
00:26:38,980 --> 00:26:39,900
or plan for them.
600
00:26:39,900 --> 00:26:41,900
I'll give you an example.
601
00:26:41,900 --> 00:26:44,860
Sirbata Jorong is one of our investors,
602
00:26:44,860 --> 00:26:48,180
one of the largest AEC firms in terms of architects
603
00:26:48,180 --> 00:26:49,980
and structural engineers out of Singapore.
604
00:26:49,980 --> 00:26:53,860
They see this as a way to disrupt themselves in the industry,
605
00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:57,020
as a way to create a new class of services,
606
00:26:57,020 --> 00:26:58,740
solutions and services
607
00:26:58,740 --> 00:27:01,540
that allow their largest developer customers
608
00:27:01,540 --> 00:27:04,740
to leverage Sirbata to create properties faster
609
00:27:04,740 --> 00:27:06,740
and rinse and repeat what they wanna do
610
00:27:06,740 --> 00:27:08,420
across a certain kind of property,
611
00:27:08,420 --> 00:27:11,580
let's say a mid-range residential tower.
612
00:27:11,580 --> 00:27:15,860
Autodesk sees this as a way to allow architects and designers
613
00:27:15,860 --> 00:27:18,460
to now connect with the real spenders,
614
00:27:18,460 --> 00:27:19,700
which are the property developers,
615
00:27:19,700 --> 00:27:22,100
and deliver that time to value, the cost.
616
00:27:22,100 --> 00:27:26,020
Take out that $50,000 that took to turn around a scenario
617
00:27:26,020 --> 00:27:28,140
in three weeks, take that out completely.
618
00:27:28,140 --> 00:27:29,780
We are working with some of the largest
619
00:27:29,780 --> 00:27:31,380
property developers in India.
620
00:27:31,380 --> 00:27:33,300
One of the large conglomerates says,
621
00:27:33,300 --> 00:27:35,740
with this, I can transform the industry
622
00:27:35,740 --> 00:27:39,540
where I can actually meet India's growth demand
623
00:27:39,540 --> 00:27:42,700
by bringing hundreds of feasibility studies to life
624
00:27:42,700 --> 00:27:44,180
without much cost,
625
00:27:44,180 --> 00:27:48,460
and I can have the right design partners, such as Sirbata,
626
00:27:48,460 --> 00:27:52,500
help me create the projects in a repeatable basis.
627
00:27:52,500 --> 00:27:54,380
So it brings the ecosystem together.
628
00:27:54,380 --> 00:27:57,820
So our partners are Autodesk and Sirvaj,
629
00:27:57,820 --> 00:28:00,140
and Lend-Lease is already now starting to apply it
630
00:28:00,140 --> 00:28:01,580
into their own markets.
631
00:28:01,580 --> 00:28:03,220
And then finally, in terms of suppliers,
632
00:28:03,220 --> 00:28:07,180
we've also had the privilege of getting Shinlert to invest
633
00:28:07,180 --> 00:28:10,500
because they see this as a way to get in early
634
00:28:10,500 --> 00:28:13,540
on the projects and create a high quality product
635
00:28:13,540 --> 00:28:15,660
and design it and take the time out
636
00:28:15,660 --> 00:28:19,140
that goes into reworking and customizing the lift shafts
637
00:28:19,140 --> 00:28:22,340
and the elevator cores and the escalator systems.
638
00:28:22,340 --> 00:28:24,580
Once construction begins, the cost in them
639
00:28:24,580 --> 00:28:26,180
and the general contractor is huge.
640
00:28:26,180 --> 00:28:28,620
So we've got partners like Sirbata,
641
00:28:28,620 --> 00:28:32,620
architecture firms who want to digitize the processes,
642
00:28:32,620 --> 00:28:35,300
not just the tools that architects use.
643
00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:39,300
We've got Shinlert who wants to bring in these kinds
644
00:28:39,300 --> 00:28:42,740
of high value supplies and components early in the process
645
00:28:42,740 --> 00:28:44,700
so that there's not a lot of rework
646
00:28:44,700 --> 00:28:46,940
and quality issues and safety issues later.
647
00:28:46,940 --> 00:28:48,900
And we've got partners like Autodesk
648
00:28:48,900 --> 00:28:52,260
who are really saying this is the linchpin,
649
00:28:52,260 --> 00:28:55,020
in fact, to outcomes-based bin.
650
00:28:55,020 --> 00:28:56,620
In fact, if people are interested,
651
00:28:56,620 --> 00:28:58,620
they can see Autodesk feature this
652
00:28:58,620 --> 00:29:02,220
at their auto university in October in San Diego
653
00:29:02,220 --> 00:29:04,980
as one of the key tools powered by AI
654
00:29:04,980 --> 00:29:07,660
to bring outcomes-based bin to life.
655
00:29:07,660 --> 00:29:09,700
And very soon, maybe the next episode,
656
00:29:09,700 --> 00:29:12,220
I'll mention some of the customers
657
00:29:12,220 --> 00:29:14,940
that have actually applied this with all these partners.
658
00:29:14,940 --> 00:29:17,980
And we're really, as we go after each of these large customers
659
00:29:17,980 --> 00:29:20,660
that are trying to transform not just one building,
660
00:29:20,660 --> 00:29:22,380
but build hundreds of buildings,
661
00:29:22,380 --> 00:29:24,260
or plan for a hundred and build tens of buildings,
662
00:29:24,260 --> 00:29:25,980
they're actually platformers
663
00:29:25,980 --> 00:29:28,700
bringing all of these partners together with them.
664
00:29:28,700 --> 00:29:30,460
You spun out of Len Lees.
665
00:29:30,460 --> 00:29:35,220
Congratulations on your A round that you just completed.
666
00:29:35,220 --> 00:29:36,380
That was really awesome.
667
00:29:36,380 --> 00:29:38,300
You're headquartered in Singapore.
668
00:29:38,300 --> 00:29:39,140
Why?
669
00:29:39,140 --> 00:29:39,960
Yeah, Singapore.
670
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,620
We're following, you gotta pick,
671
00:29:43,620 --> 00:29:46,980
you can't go after the whole world with technology,
672
00:29:46,980 --> 00:29:49,180
although you know you can disrupt the whole world.
673
00:29:49,180 --> 00:29:52,500
You have to pick your land and expand points.
674
00:29:52,500 --> 00:29:55,140
Jeffrey Moore calls it your lighthouse customer
675
00:29:55,140 --> 00:29:57,780
that helps you cross your chasm.
676
00:29:57,780 --> 00:29:59,580
Others call it the product market fit.
677
00:29:59,580 --> 00:30:01,100
Who is your co-innovation partner?
678
00:30:01,100 --> 00:30:04,340
What we've found is Singapore has had a vision for this.
679
00:30:04,340 --> 00:30:07,820
Singapore has been a BCA organization,
680
00:30:07,820 --> 00:30:09,920
which is their authority.
681
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:13,660
Is a market leader, an industry leader,
682
00:30:13,660 --> 00:30:16,780
in thinking in terms of how this all comes together.
683
00:30:16,780 --> 00:30:19,940
And so they have been driving what's called
684
00:30:19,940 --> 00:30:22,700
a industrialized design delivery,
685
00:30:22,700 --> 00:30:27,700
digital IDD, integrated design delivery framework.
686
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:30,980
And they're actually establishing regulations and policies
687
00:30:30,980 --> 00:30:33,860
and creating systems which allow developers
688
00:30:33,860 --> 00:30:36,320
to work digitally in moving the process forward.
689
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:37,160
Why?
690
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:38,940
Because Singapore has limited space.
691
00:30:38,940 --> 00:30:40,340
It has a growing population.
692
00:30:40,340 --> 00:30:42,860
In the next year, the next couple of years,
693
00:30:42,860 --> 00:30:44,380
they'll go from five to six million,
694
00:30:44,380 --> 00:30:49,220
probably 10 million by the end of this decade.
695
00:30:49,220 --> 00:30:51,660
They don't have more land, but they've gotta build faster.
696
00:30:51,660 --> 00:30:52,740
They've gotta build more.
697
00:30:52,740 --> 00:30:55,460
They've gotta, and all that's been stuck
698
00:30:55,460 --> 00:30:57,220
in the productivity issues.
699
00:30:57,220 --> 00:31:00,140
They've got to bring sustainability to the next level.
700
00:31:00,140 --> 00:31:03,980
They've gotta manage all the cost issues.
701
00:31:03,980 --> 00:31:05,540
So they've established the government
702
00:31:05,540 --> 00:31:07,060
is driving this top down.
703
00:31:07,060 --> 00:31:09,900
And what they've done is they've fired up
704
00:31:09,900 --> 00:31:13,300
their key public developers to follow this process.
705
00:31:13,300 --> 00:31:15,380
So Singapore was a perfect fit for us,
706
00:31:15,380 --> 00:31:17,800
not only because there's such demand,
707
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,900
but there is a strong endorsement and a standard.
708
00:31:20,900 --> 00:31:24,300
And if people are interested, look up IDD by BCA.
709
00:31:24,300 --> 00:31:25,420
You'll find it very compelling.
710
00:31:25,420 --> 00:31:28,320
It's the first time I've found a reference architecture
711
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,760
in an industry that provides product market fit
712
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,600
for disruption, for true disruption.
713
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,140
And I think what Singapore will do
714
00:31:36,140 --> 00:31:38,540
is we'll take smart property development
715
00:31:38,540 --> 00:31:40,640
as a model to the rest of the world.
716
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:42,540
And we're already teaming up with BCA
717
00:31:42,540 --> 00:31:45,260
to see how we can actually bring this message
718
00:31:45,260 --> 00:31:46,380
to other parts of the world,
719
00:31:46,380 --> 00:31:49,220
because every region wants this.
720
00:31:49,220 --> 00:31:52,140
It's just Singapore has a true public-private
721
00:31:52,140 --> 00:31:54,700
partnership model in their business, in their government.
722
00:31:54,700 --> 00:31:56,640
So it was a perfect market for us.
723
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,340
And they gave us a great reference architecture,
724
00:31:59,340 --> 00:32:01,460
and they gave us great reference customers
725
00:32:01,460 --> 00:32:03,860
that actually are trying to espouse the future
726
00:32:03,860 --> 00:32:06,700
of digitization for property development.
727
00:32:06,700 --> 00:32:09,340
So I think it's very smart to be in Singapore.
728
00:32:09,340 --> 00:32:11,980
And then with the Economic Development Board there,
729
00:32:11,980 --> 00:32:16,100
helping to guide and support, it's a great idea.
730
00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:17,920
But you're not limited to Singapore.
731
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:19,220
I hear you working in India.
732
00:32:19,220 --> 00:32:20,780
I hear you working in Australia.
733
00:32:20,780 --> 00:32:22,580
I hear you working in the US.
734
00:32:22,580 --> 00:32:25,040
I assume at some point you get to Europe.
735
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,340
Yeah, it's the land point.
736
00:32:26,340 --> 00:32:27,860
It's the expand point.
737
00:32:27,860 --> 00:32:29,660
It's where we prove the market.
738
00:32:29,660 --> 00:32:32,180
I mean, the one thing also Singapore is very strong about
739
00:32:32,180 --> 00:32:33,220
is repeatability.
740
00:32:33,220 --> 00:32:36,700
They want to bring design for manufacturability
741
00:32:36,700 --> 00:32:39,100
to the property development standard.
742
00:32:39,100 --> 00:32:41,100
In fact, based on their ideas, we
743
00:32:41,100 --> 00:32:44,340
brought that idea of suppliers into the platform faster.
744
00:32:44,340 --> 00:32:47,380
So all we need to do is pick the typologies.
745
00:32:47,380 --> 00:32:51,100
Today we support residential, public, and private,
746
00:32:51,100 --> 00:32:54,340
and industrial, and then just expand to typology,
747
00:32:54,340 --> 00:32:57,100
and then adapt the typologies for each region.
748
00:32:57,100 --> 00:32:58,700
What are the regulatory constraints?
749
00:32:58,700 --> 00:33:00,140
What are the land masses?
750
00:33:00,140 --> 00:33:01,780
What is the geography there?
751
00:33:01,780 --> 00:33:03,780
And also, what are the supplier base?
752
00:33:03,780 --> 00:33:06,620
And so as we go from region to region,
753
00:33:06,620 --> 00:33:09,100
once we have a typology working in Singapore,
754
00:33:09,100 --> 00:33:11,340
it takes us a matter of a month or so
755
00:33:11,340 --> 00:33:14,100
to get ready for the next region with that typology.
756
00:33:14,100 --> 00:33:17,220
And then we work with the local partners and the customers
757
00:33:17,220 --> 00:33:20,900
to say, what additional solvers and algorithms and workflows
758
00:33:20,900 --> 00:33:21,900
do you need for you?
759
00:33:21,900 --> 00:33:24,060
Do you want that made available to all the players
760
00:33:24,060 --> 00:33:26,900
and the participants, or do you want it just in your environment?
761
00:33:26,900 --> 00:33:30,180
So that's why this is truly a cloud platform.
762
00:33:30,180 --> 00:33:33,060
And in that context, I'd like to call out
763
00:33:33,060 --> 00:33:36,940
that cloud allows us to scale to the market.
764
00:33:36,940 --> 00:33:40,100
We want to go anywhere that that $10 trillion
765
00:33:40,100 --> 00:33:42,940
market for property development, design, construction
766
00:33:42,940 --> 00:33:43,940
needs this.
767
00:33:43,940 --> 00:33:46,180
And so we're also partnering with Google Cloud.
768
00:33:46,180 --> 00:33:48,420
What we run in the cloud for Singapore now,
769
00:33:48,420 --> 00:33:50,860
we're setting up with them in the India Cloud,
770
00:33:50,860 --> 00:33:53,180
and we're setting up in the Australia Cloud.
771
00:33:53,180 --> 00:33:54,460
And it's just very easy.
772
00:33:54,460 --> 00:33:56,820
That's an overnight thing to set up
773
00:33:56,820 --> 00:33:58,900
the whole system in the next region.
774
00:33:58,900 --> 00:34:01,260
And then it's another month to get the data and everything
775
00:34:01,260 --> 00:34:04,740
loaded up and the regulations connected in,
776
00:34:04,740 --> 00:34:06,980
and the ecosystem suppliers plugged in.
777
00:34:06,980 --> 00:34:07,940
But you're ready to go.
778
00:34:07,940 --> 00:34:08,940
But only cloud.
779
00:34:08,940 --> 00:34:12,540
And I think I like to use the term cloud speed.
780
00:34:12,540 --> 00:34:15,500
This industry runs at concrete speed.
781
00:34:15,500 --> 00:34:18,460
And the rest of the world has gone to,
782
00:34:18,460 --> 00:34:21,380
takes time to dry concrete is what the industry runs at.
783
00:34:21,380 --> 00:34:23,660
Internet speed came out in the mid-90s.
784
00:34:23,660 --> 00:34:24,940
We're now at cloud speed.
785
00:34:24,940 --> 00:34:26,700
And what's coming next is AI speed,
786
00:34:26,700 --> 00:34:28,620
which kind of breaks all barriers.
787
00:34:28,620 --> 00:34:31,700
So I think at least we're bringing this industry cloud
788
00:34:31,700 --> 00:34:33,620
speed with the power of AI.
789
00:34:33,620 --> 00:34:36,260
And then it will be more adaptive as we go.
790
00:34:36,260 --> 00:34:38,540
You've been a longtime Silicon Valley guy.
791
00:34:38,540 --> 00:34:41,860
You're now running a company headquartered in Singapore.
792
00:34:41,860 --> 00:34:43,260
What do you see as the differences
793
00:34:43,260 --> 00:34:46,500
to be in a Silicon Valley startup versus a Singapore
794
00:34:46,500 --> 00:34:47,020
startup?
795
00:34:47,020 --> 00:34:49,340
Look, I think just over the last five years,
796
00:34:49,340 --> 00:34:50,740
I've seen it converging.
797
00:34:50,740 --> 00:34:53,580
When I first started coming here for this,
798
00:34:53,580 --> 00:34:56,460
there wasn't as much of an emphasis in software,
799
00:34:56,460 --> 00:34:58,340
but there were other key industries.
800
00:34:58,340 --> 00:35:00,700
But I think over the last five, 10 years,
801
00:35:00,700 --> 00:35:03,820
EDB and the government has been pushing for Singapore
802
00:35:03,820 --> 00:35:05,700
to become a leader in software.
803
00:35:05,700 --> 00:35:09,340
You see more and more of the big dot coms from China
804
00:35:09,340 --> 00:35:10,500
being headquartered here.
805
00:35:10,500 --> 00:35:14,780
And that's coming all the big tech firms out of the valley,
806
00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:17,820
establishing this as a center of operations, some R&D,
807
00:35:17,820 --> 00:35:21,220
some sales and marketing as they move out of Hong Kong.
808
00:35:21,220 --> 00:35:25,780
You see a lot of the big unicorns out of India
809
00:35:25,780 --> 00:35:26,540
coming here.
810
00:35:26,540 --> 00:35:30,660
And so you see more and more of a software ecosystem emerging.
811
00:35:30,660 --> 00:35:33,940
Just like we saw Israel become essentially another valley,
812
00:35:33,940 --> 00:35:36,620
and then parts of London become like that for fintech.
813
00:35:36,620 --> 00:35:41,860
And I think Singapore is doing a lot to essentially transform
814
00:35:41,860 --> 00:35:45,140
part of the industry into being a software innovation
815
00:35:45,140 --> 00:35:48,980
center for cloud, AI, and they're bringing consciously
816
00:35:48,980 --> 00:35:51,020
all the different players and inviting.
817
00:35:51,020 --> 00:35:53,140
And it's a very business-friendly environment.
818
00:35:53,140 --> 00:35:56,020
So I think what I find in Singapore, what's different
819
00:35:56,020 --> 00:35:59,980
is that still early days for that high-intensity innovation
820
00:35:59,980 --> 00:36:02,820
culture still needs more of that critical mass of people
821
00:36:02,820 --> 00:36:05,660
like you, me, Bill, and hardcore software engineers,
822
00:36:05,660 --> 00:36:06,580
and more are coming.
823
00:36:06,580 --> 00:36:08,180
But the journey's begun.
824
00:36:08,180 --> 00:36:10,500
But it's a business-friendly environment.
825
00:36:10,500 --> 00:36:11,900
There's a growing VC base.
826
00:36:11,900 --> 00:36:14,340
In fact, my next round, some of my investors
827
00:36:14,340 --> 00:36:17,820
are actually local versus the global VCs
828
00:36:17,820 --> 00:36:19,460
behind this following Autodesk.
829
00:36:19,460 --> 00:36:22,060
So I think Singapore is setting itself up
830
00:36:22,060 --> 00:36:24,140
to be another valley, right?
831
00:36:24,140 --> 00:36:26,380
And you see that in Bangalore now.
832
00:36:26,380 --> 00:36:27,380
You see that in Israel.
833
00:36:27,380 --> 00:36:30,220
You see that in a few other key regions and areas.
834
00:36:30,220 --> 00:36:32,780
And you're starting to see Singapore essentially again
835
00:36:32,780 --> 00:36:34,700
in that government sponsorship model,
836
00:36:34,700 --> 00:36:36,780
starting to create that ecosystem here.
837
00:36:36,780 --> 00:36:40,820
We're early days, but more than half my team is Singaporean.
838
00:36:40,820 --> 00:36:45,580
Any podcasts that you're listening to other than this one
839
00:36:45,580 --> 00:36:48,340
that are influencing you, you'd recommend for others
840
00:36:48,340 --> 00:36:49,860
who are listening on?
841
00:36:49,860 --> 00:36:51,540
I listen to a lot of podcasts.
842
00:36:51,540 --> 00:36:54,660
Look, I will share my favorite podcast right now.
843
00:36:54,660 --> 00:36:56,580
And it's not related software.
844
00:36:56,580 --> 00:36:59,180
My other love is history, new politics.
845
00:36:59,180 --> 00:37:03,060
And so I follow a podcast called Empire by Alan Dallara.
846
00:37:03,060 --> 00:37:04,220
And it's worth listening to.
847
00:37:04,220 --> 00:37:06,620
It talks about how the world has evolved.
848
00:37:06,620 --> 00:37:09,020
And it starts with the first season
849
00:37:09,020 --> 00:37:13,180
being about the British Empire and how the British,
850
00:37:13,180 --> 00:37:16,380
the East India Company was like the early version of Facebook
851
00:37:16,380 --> 00:37:18,100
and Tesla.
852
00:37:18,100 --> 00:37:20,420
And it was a conglomerate that emerged.
853
00:37:20,420 --> 00:37:23,900
So worth listening to, guys, folks, if you're interested.
854
00:37:23,900 --> 00:37:26,260
It's definitely not in this space.
855
00:37:26,260 --> 00:37:28,860
But that's my favorite podcast at the moment.
856
00:37:28,860 --> 00:37:30,620
I will share others if I come back.
857
00:37:30,620 --> 00:37:32,380
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
858
00:37:32,380 --> 00:37:34,380
So last question.
859
00:37:34,380 --> 00:37:37,980
What's your favorite restaurant in Singapore
860
00:37:37,980 --> 00:37:39,980
that if I go, I got to go to?
861
00:37:39,980 --> 00:37:43,260
Singapore, like New York City and a few other places,
862
00:37:43,260 --> 00:37:47,380
London and also Tokyo, is a foodie town.
863
00:37:47,380 --> 00:37:50,220
I actually don't have a favorite restaurant that persists.
864
00:37:50,220 --> 00:37:52,620
I have a favorite restaurant of the month.
865
00:37:52,620 --> 00:37:55,980
So I just went to a place in MBS called My Melos.
866
00:37:55,980 --> 00:37:58,980
It's a new Greek place where you bring in fresh fish
867
00:37:58,980 --> 00:38:00,300
from the Mediterranean.
868
00:38:00,300 --> 00:38:02,260
And they cook it Greek style.
869
00:38:02,260 --> 00:38:02,940
It's great.
870
00:38:02,940 --> 00:38:03,700
They grill it.
871
00:38:03,700 --> 00:38:05,900
And it's quite an experience.
872
00:38:05,900 --> 00:38:09,700
And I'd recommend anybody trying that.
873
00:38:09,700 --> 00:38:10,260
Thank you.
874
00:38:10,260 --> 00:38:12,140
And we've run out of time.
875
00:38:12,140 --> 00:38:14,780
So I'm going to, we'll move on.
876
00:38:14,780 --> 00:38:17,380
And really enjoyed talking to you.
877
00:38:17,380 --> 00:38:21,820
Great progress and any potential partners out there
878
00:38:21,820 --> 00:38:24,820
with a platform like this, they should give you a call
879
00:38:24,820 --> 00:38:27,740
and see what you guys can do together.
880
00:38:27,740 --> 00:38:30,980
Well, that was a very exciting interview with Pankaj.
881
00:38:30,980 --> 00:38:35,100
And his vision for the future of AEC
882
00:38:35,100 --> 00:38:37,660
is certainly transformational.
883
00:38:37,660 --> 00:38:41,260
And the work that he's doing with podium.io,
884
00:38:41,260 --> 00:38:44,420
that platform could become the cornerstone
885
00:38:44,420 --> 00:38:47,660
of what sparked this revolution of disruption
886
00:38:47,660 --> 00:38:50,620
so that we can solve these big challenges
887
00:38:50,620 --> 00:38:54,980
and really address this trillion dollar opportunity.
888
00:38:54,980 --> 00:38:58,300
Now, I just want to call out a few of the key points
889
00:38:58,300 --> 00:39:00,540
that he said, although there's not enough time
890
00:39:00,540 --> 00:39:03,580
to cover everything that Pankaj talked about.
891
00:39:03,580 --> 00:39:07,060
But I think for the listener, the idea that,
892
00:39:07,060 --> 00:39:09,700
starting with this idea that software
893
00:39:09,700 --> 00:39:13,420
has been a universal catalyst for disrupting industries
894
00:39:13,420 --> 00:39:16,180
and that all industries are like dominoes,
895
00:39:16,180 --> 00:39:20,380
that eventually that software disruption occurs
896
00:39:20,380 --> 00:39:24,980
and it changes that industry for the future.
897
00:39:24,980 --> 00:39:29,980
Now, today our industry, which we all love,
898
00:39:30,100 --> 00:39:32,580
because it creates such great product,
899
00:39:32,580 --> 00:39:34,860
it creates such great value in the world,
900
00:39:34,860 --> 00:39:38,820
is still based on a nice Excel world.
901
00:39:38,820 --> 00:39:41,220
And finally, there's a technology
902
00:39:41,220 --> 00:39:43,980
or a series of technologies available
903
00:39:43,980 --> 00:39:46,060
to underpin that transformation.
904
00:39:46,060 --> 00:39:48,380
And that is cloud and gen AI.
905
00:39:48,380 --> 00:39:51,020
But if you're really going to address it,
906
00:39:51,020 --> 00:39:54,100
the technology alone isn't going to solve the problem
907
00:39:54,100 --> 00:39:56,660
because nobody knows how to use the technology,
908
00:39:56,660 --> 00:39:58,460
they don't know how to create the value out of it.
909
00:39:58,460 --> 00:40:02,820
So something like podium.io is necessary
910
00:40:02,820 --> 00:40:04,700
to unlock that value.
911
00:40:04,700 --> 00:40:08,180
And underpinning it is not so much the technology,
912
00:40:08,180 --> 00:40:13,180
it's the idea that buildings need to be treated like systems
913
00:40:13,380 --> 00:40:16,220
in the design phase, in the construction phase
914
00:40:16,220 --> 00:40:18,180
and in the operation phase.
915
00:40:18,180 --> 00:40:21,540
And we have seen this in other industries,
916
00:40:21,540 --> 00:40:25,420
the chip design industry, the airplane industry,
917
00:40:25,420 --> 00:40:29,180
the spacecraft industry, all of these industries
918
00:40:29,180 --> 00:40:33,540
have gone through the systemization of how they design,
919
00:40:33,540 --> 00:40:36,100
how they build it and how they operate it,
920
00:40:36,100 --> 00:40:39,380
leading to the kinds of transformation
921
00:40:39,380 --> 00:40:41,740
that we're looking for in our own industry.
922
00:40:41,740 --> 00:40:45,820
Now, the key to what has happened in those other industries
923
00:40:45,820 --> 00:40:48,100
and what they did is a couple of things.
924
00:40:48,100 --> 00:40:52,020
One is they applied this idea of generative design
925
00:40:52,020 --> 00:40:55,340
where software is used to augment the design process.
926
00:40:55,340 --> 00:40:58,920
They have reusable components that are brought in
927
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:03,300
to simplify those designs based on what really works.
928
00:41:03,300 --> 00:41:07,100
They design for manufacturing automation
929
00:41:07,100 --> 00:41:10,300
and they have collaborative workflow automation
930
00:41:10,300 --> 00:41:13,980
for large teams of disparate people to work together
931
00:41:13,980 --> 00:41:18,980
over a long period of time to generate that end product.
932
00:41:18,980 --> 00:41:23,880
But in the end, a platform is needed as a common place
933
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:26,560
for all those participants to interact,
934
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,540
for all the data to exist.
935
00:41:29,540 --> 00:41:34,020
But at the same time, the platform has to be open
936
00:41:34,020 --> 00:41:37,660
for all the participants to innovate on their own
937
00:41:37,660 --> 00:41:41,360
and to put their own data in, but to own their innovation
938
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,260
and own their data through the whole process.
939
00:41:44,260 --> 00:41:45,700
And I think one of the things
940
00:41:45,700 --> 00:41:48,660
that is truly foundationally game-changing
941
00:41:48,660 --> 00:41:53,540
is for this particular platform is by bringing suppliers in
942
00:41:53,540 --> 00:41:56,100
so that they can participate in the design
943
00:41:56,100 --> 00:41:57,800
is incredibly powerful
944
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:01,660
because that idea of them knowing their products the best,
945
00:42:01,660 --> 00:42:04,460
them innovating to include in the design,
946
00:42:04,460 --> 00:42:08,360
them being able to ensure that what gets put in the design
947
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:11,700
is a real manufacturable product
948
00:42:11,700 --> 00:42:13,940
or the most cost-effective product
949
00:42:13,940 --> 00:42:15,800
for the need for the building.
950
00:42:17,180 --> 00:42:20,700
And that I think creates opportunities
951
00:42:20,700 --> 00:42:24,700
to further enhance this and create a marketplace
952
00:42:24,700 --> 00:42:26,020
for the future.
953
00:42:26,020 --> 00:42:29,300
And that's when we can see real transformational change
954
00:42:29,300 --> 00:42:30,140
in our industry.
955
00:42:30,140 --> 00:42:31,940
And if you look at podium.io,
956
00:42:31,940 --> 00:42:34,500
I think it's trying to tackle
957
00:42:34,500 --> 00:42:38,180
these rocket science level problems
958
00:42:38,180 --> 00:42:41,860
and it's been able to address quite a number of them.
959
00:42:41,860 --> 00:42:45,700
But this is not a game that can be won by any one individual.
960
00:42:45,700 --> 00:42:50,700
It requires working with other folks in the industry
961
00:42:50,940 --> 00:42:51,900
and they're fortunate.
962
00:42:51,900 --> 00:42:55,320
They're working with great partners, investors to build from.
963
00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:59,540
So in technology, Autodesk,
964
00:42:59,540 --> 00:43:01,900
who has led one of these transformations
965
00:43:01,900 --> 00:43:03,260
in the past in design.
966
00:43:03,260 --> 00:43:06,700
Architecture and engineering with Sabrina Gerong,
967
00:43:06,700 --> 00:43:08,860
a global player in this space.
968
00:43:08,860 --> 00:43:10,980
Developers working with Len Lies,
969
00:43:10,980 --> 00:43:15,980
who incubated this idea and suppliers like Schindler.
970
00:43:16,120 --> 00:43:20,140
But they also have another partner that is quite exciting.
971
00:43:20,140 --> 00:43:24,780
And that is a lot of support out of the government
972
00:43:24,780 --> 00:43:26,980
and with industry in Singapore.
973
00:43:26,980 --> 00:43:29,900
And what is exciting and what I learned is
974
00:43:29,900 --> 00:43:32,780
Singapore is an emerging startup leader
975
00:43:32,780 --> 00:43:35,220
and they have all the elements necessary
976
00:43:35,220 --> 00:43:37,260
for startups to be successful.
977
00:43:39,140 --> 00:43:41,540
And with podium.io there
978
00:43:41,540 --> 00:43:44,620
and with a lot of the work being done in Singapore,
979
00:43:44,620 --> 00:43:46,620
it's a great spot for prop tech
980
00:43:46,620 --> 00:43:49,740
and construction tech to be built upon.
981
00:43:49,740 --> 00:43:51,980
Those are some great lessons learned.
982
00:43:51,980 --> 00:43:54,860
And I really believe that that can be a trend
983
00:43:54,860 --> 00:43:57,460
that what Pankaj is doing and Timmons doing
984
00:43:57,460 --> 00:44:00,360
can be a major transformation for our industry.
985
00:44:01,340 --> 00:44:03,260
Now, going forward, this podcast
986
00:44:03,260 --> 00:44:06,220
will have other great transformation leaders
987
00:44:06,220 --> 00:44:08,660
and we'll look at a variety of different approaches
988
00:44:08,660 --> 00:44:11,980
being used to really help our industry
989
00:44:11,980 --> 00:44:14,500
go through this foundational change.
990
00:44:14,500 --> 00:44:19,260
Because now is the time and the place to do this.
991
00:44:19,260 --> 00:44:21,220
So thank you very much and look forward
992
00:44:21,220 --> 00:44:22,860
to catching up with you next time.