AEC Business

In this episode of WDBE Talks, Daniel M. Hall, Assistant Professor at TU Delft, talks about circularity and how to boost it with digital technologies and industrialized construction. Daniel is a keynote speaker at WDBE 2023. In the interview, Aarni Heiskanen and Daniel Hall discuss How big a challenge and opportunity is circularity in the built environment Why Daniel has extended his focus from th...

In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Dr. Gerald C. (Jerry) Kane talks about digital transformation that’s taking place across industries. He argues that this transformation is about making your business adaptable in a digital world, which may or may not involve technology at all. Furthermore, transformation is not a one-time change but an ongoing process. In the podcast, Aarni Heiskanen an...

In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Fernando De los Rios, CEO and co-founder of Hyperion Robotics. The Finnish technology company was formed by experts in engineering, construction, 3D printing, and robotics. Their mission is to bring automation and sustainable practices to the construction industry. Fernando has been building start-ups to disrupt the constructi...

In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Jarkko Sireeni, CEO and Founder of xD Visuals. They discuss new ways of managing and sharing built environment information visually. xD Visuals is a startup with a pedigree in visual data management. Jarkko has over 25 years of experience in using 3D, VR, AR, BIM, and VDC for planning, design, and construction workflows. His c...

Shehzan Mohammed is Director of 3D Engineering and Ecosystems at Cesium. In this WDBE Talks podcast interview, he discusses with Aarni Heiskanen the innovations in geospatial technology, game engines, and the value of open standards to the developer community. The discussion topics include: Shehzan's career pathHis visionShehzan's most significant achievements so far at CesiumWhat have been his bi...

How do you successfully digitalize a construction business and gain a competitive advantage? Aarni Heiskanen discusses these and other topics on WDBE Talks with Per-Erik Åstrand, Business Development Executive at SoftwareONE. Per-Erik started as a civil engineer and moved to the software business. At SoftwareONE, he drives the digitalization of the AEC industry. The interview covers: Per-Erik’s jo...

Achim Menges is a world-renowned innovator of architecture and construction. He’s Aarni Heiskanen’s guest on WDBE Talks, discussing digital fabrication and the future of the construction industry in a world facing enormous environmental and social challenges. Achim is a registered architect in Frankfurt and a professor at Stuttgart University, where he is the founding director of the Institute for...

Reid Senescu, Vice President of Product Management at Doxel, is Aarni Heiskanen’s guest on the WDBE Talks podcast. They discuss digitalization, the use of data, and situational awareness in construction. The interview covers these topics: What has inspired Reid most during his careerWhy Ben chose to join DoxelWhat kind of digitalization would give the highest ROI in constructionWhy do many constru...

Dr. Ben Guy, the founder and CEO of UC 3D Planning Technologies - Urban Circus - is Aarni Heiskanen's guest on the WDBE Talks podcast. They discuss the use of 3D visualization technologies to bring a human scale to urban development and construction. Ben is a keynote speaker at WDBE 2022. Urban Circus is a family-owned, 20-years-old Australian business. Examples of their work include videos, stori...

Aarni’s guest on this episode of WDBE Talks is Damon Hernandez, co-founder of the AEC Hackathon and an extended reality expert. Damon attends the 90 Day Finn program by Helsinki Partners. The three-month residence allows him to explore Finnish business and technology ecosystems and create new connections with built environment trailblazers. Damon has worked with various industries regarding web-ba...

Niknaz Aftahi is the CEO and co-founder of aec+tech (aecplustech.com), an all-in-one innovation platform and community connecting AEC/O professionals with the latest tools and technologies. In this WDBE Talks interview by Aarni Heiskanen, Niknaz discusses construction sector innovation and technology and how she helps AEC professionals discover the right tech solutions. Our discussion covers Nikna...

I had the pleasure of meeting with Jacqueline Rohrmann to discuss the digitalization of the construction sector, her experiences as a design manager at Tesla, and the industry's future. We also touched on the themes of her upcoming keynote speech at the WDBE 2022 conference. After completing her research project on Generative Design, Jacqueline kick-started her career with a job at Tesla. Being on...

Two editors of a new Springer book, Industry 4.0 for the Built Environment, are Aarni Heiskanen's guests on the AEC Business podcast. Marzia Bolpagni, Head of BIM International at Mace, and Rui Gavina, Digital Practice Manager at VN2R, talk about the process of making the book, its content, and how Industry 4.0 can transform the construction sector. The discussion topics include: What inspired Mar...

Grant Harris, Director of Business Development at Exyn Technologies, is Aarni Heiskanen's guest on the AEC Business podcast. Exyn provides autonomous aerial robot systems for the construction industry. The discussion topics include: Exyn's backgroundThe challenges and limitations of manually operated dronesWhat added value do autonomous drones provideHow to turn a drone autonomousData that Exyn pr...

Noam Rotem, Founder & CEO of Syracuse, is the guest in this episode of the AEC Business Podcast. Aarni and Noam discuss smart and autonomous cranes and the future where the role of the crane operator could change dramatically. The discussion topics: What sparked Noam to start up Syracuse and what the company offers todayWhat is the business case for an autonomous craneWhat does it take to make a c...

In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Raffi Holzer, CEO of Avvir. The company provides a reality analysis platform that uses reality capture and BIM data to automate construction verification and progress monitoring. The discussion topics include Raffi's "unorthodox" backgroundHow traditional companies can start transforming their business with technologyWhat Raff...

In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Mehdi Nourbakhsh, Ph. D., on his new book, Augment It. The book is a great resource for AEC professionals who want to start leveraging AI in their business. Artificial intelligence is one of the most under-utilized emerging technologies in the AEC industry. When understood and used correctly, it builds efficiency, empowers cre...

In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Omer Keilaf, co-founder and CEO of Innoviz Technologies which provides LiDAR sensors for demanding uses. On the podcast, Omer talks about the benefits and possibilities of LiDAR and how Innoviz has applied the technology to construction cranes. Japanese Obayashi began using Innoviz’s LiDAR on their sites in 2018 and is current...

On the AEC Business Podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Daniel Hall, Jerker Lessing, and Jennifer Whyte on industry 4.0 and how it enables new industrialized construction business models. Daniel, Jerker, and Jennifer are co-writers of the article titled New Business Models for Industrialized Construction for a new Springer book  Industry 4.0 for the Built Environment. There's also a journal paper,...

On the AEC Business podcast, Aarni interviews Jason Perez, the co-founder and CEO of YARDZ, which provides software for tracking rental and owned equipment. Jason shares his experiences as a construction professional and what led him to found YARDZ with another construction industry veteran Josh Schuyler. The discussion topics include How to better management of owned and rented equipment can have...

Aarni's guest on the AEC Business podcast is Harri Majala, founder & CEO at GBuilder. We discuss, among others, the challenges construction technology developers face and how GBuilder has been able to manage them. Our topics include How a construction background helped Harri develop GBuilderHow to get your first customers as a construction tech companyWhy he refuses to start up technology pilot pr...

On the AEC Business Podcast, Aarni interviews Abhishek Kumar Devjibhai, the founder and CEO of Ekotekt, a Helsinki-based construction tech startup. The company uses robotics, 3D printing, and CNC to create prefabricated building elements in a factory environment. They’re especially keen to solve the ever-increasing demand for new housing. Ekotekt can fabricate walls, facades, and slabs. The struct...

Marko Martiskainen, CCO of Zoan, is the guest on the AEC Business podcast. He talks about Cornerstone, Zoan's photorealistic metaverse, where you can buy land with cryptocurrency. Cornerstone is a virtual volcanic island in the middle of the photorealistic metaverse. Its developer is Zoan, a virtual reality studio. In Cornerstone, virtual land is bought and sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cryp...

I sat down with Zachi Flatto, CEO of ConTech. In this episode of the AEC Business Podcast, we discuss how ConTech is advancing the Israeli construction technology startups ecosystem. Our topics include Zachi's path from a licensed civil engineer to becoming the CEO of ConTechWhat ConTech doesThe contech startup scene in IsraelWhy Israel is a good environment for construction tech companiesThe chal...

On the AEC Business podcast, I interview Melvin Newman, the CTO of PataBid. The company is launching an AI-powered estimation platform called PataBid Quantify for mechanical and electrical sub-contractors. It's going to speed up the estimation process dramatically.