Wired to Build

Field Notes 02 | What It Takes To Be Ready

The industry knows the barriers. Community opposition. Workforce gaps. Power constraints. Access. Everyone in the room at DICE this week could name them. But naming barriers isn't the same as being ready to clear them. In this Field Note, Nick Caravella [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickcaravella/] breaks down what readiness actually requires in data center construction — and why the industry keeps confusing hitting a schedule date with actually being prepared to finish the work. Readiness isn't a milestone. It's a condition. And until we stop using the schedule as a substitute for that condition, we'll keep handing over buildings that aren't done — we just ran out of time to pretend otherwise. Three conditions this episode examines:— The schedule problem: why the date gives you somewhere to hide— The workforce problem: people don't fall from the sky— The community problem: they're not an obstacle, they're a condition of completion Field Notes. No guests. Just what the work is teaching us.

Guest Intro - Jeff Sample

Why does construction technology keep landing wrong — even when the tools are better than they've ever been? Jeff Sample [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ironmanofit/] has spent years traveling the industry as a host of the ConTech Crew [https://thecontechcrew.com/] and, more recently, as head of global industry strategy at Bluebeam [https://www.bluebeam.com/]. He's been in more contractor offices, job site trailers, and conference rooms than almost anyone in the construction technology space — which gives him a rare view of how technology actually behaves inside real companies and real teams. In Part 1, Jeff and Nick cover: * How Jeff's path from IT architect to ski resort technologist to construction tech leader shaped how he reads the industry * Why people, process, and technology have to happen in that order — and what breaks when they don't * The shift from evangelist to facilitator: why you can't preach adoption and what actually creates room for change * What the industry gets wrong about RFIs — and what that reveals about how we handle expertise and risk Part 2 picks up where this leaves off: culture beyond the company, grassroots adoption versus leadership alignment, and what it means to build an industry that's greater than the sum of its parts. Support the show! * Make sure to like, subscribe, and share your thoughts. * Visit our founding sponsor at www.avicado.com [www.avicado.com]

AI Doesn't Know What Good Looks Like. You Do. | Marcus Turner @ Constructrr

Most conversations about AI in construction focus on what the tools can do. This one focuses on what it actually takes to use them. Marcus Turner [https://www.linkedin.com/in/iammarcusturner/] has been building with AI tools in real construction and knowledge-work contexts for years. He is not predicting the future of AI. He is living in the present tense of it. In this conversation: * Why domain knowledge is the multiplier and AI only amplifies what you already understand * What "context engineering" means and why most people are still using AI like a search engine * How builders can start experimenting today without feeling like they are already behind * What a personal AI agent stack looks like when someone actually builds one The industry is not short on AI opinions. It is short on people who have gotten their hands dirty with it. Marcus is one of them.

The Field Isn't Rejecting the Tech. It's Rejecting the Slowdown. | Rob Sloyer @ KAST

Most conversations about construction technology focus on what the tools can do. This one focuses on what they actually do — to the people using them. Rob Sloyer [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-sloyer-9937111b/] is VP of Innovation and Strategic Services at KAST Construction [https://www.kastbuild.com], a Florida-based multifamily builder with over two decades building at scale. He's been close to BIM since before most companies knew how to spell it — and he's watched enough hype cycles to know that technology without purpose doesn't just fail to help. It actively makes things worse. In this conversation: * Why BIM shifted problems earlier in the process instead of eliminating them * The three-part test for whether a tool actually belongs in the work * What AI adoption is getting wrong — and why it's hitting the same walls as every wave before it * The workforce shortage, rework as a safety multiplier, and why the field pushes back We never have time to do it right, but we always find time to do it again. This conversation is about changing that.

Field Notes 01: The Work Isn't Done Until It's Documented

Last week on site, a quality program manager said something I can’t shake: “The work isn’t done until it’s documented.” In this first Field Note, I unpack what that actually means — not as paperwork, but as protection. When documentation is embedded in the act of building, it changes behavior. It protects craftsmanship. It reduces rework. And it shifts QA/QC from a phase at the end to a design decision at the beginning. This isn’t about binders. It’s about building work that’s defensible. Field Notes are short dispatches from the field — observations from job sites and real conversations across the industry. If you’re in construction, ask yourself: Is documentation something you assemble later — or something designed into the way you work? Wired to Build is supported by Avicado [www.avicado.com]— helping owners and project leaders design smarter systems for capital programs.