The UFC arrives in AEC. And we’re live from the AEC Octagon.

In the very first episode of our brand-new Bricks & Bytes Debates series, we are trading PR statements for sparring gloves. We’re putting two industry heavyweights head-to-head to battle out one of the hottest topics in construction: Has AI actually solved estimating?

In this no-holds-barred contester series, our contenders took the gloves off to represent the extreme Bull and Bear cases for Artificial Intelligence:

• In the Red Corner: Mike "Mighty" Powers (Co-Founder, BuildVision), arguing that LLMs have solved the extraction problem and the industry needs to embrace the "Waymo" era of automation.

• In the Blue Corner: Luigi "The Stinger" La Corte (Co-Founder, Provision), arguing that estimating is more than just counting symbols - and that without 100% accuracy, AI is still just a student driver.

Moderated by the referee of reason, Patric "Praying For Exits" Hellermann, this debate moves through three grueling rounds:

- Round 1: The Tech. Can LLMs actually count and measure complex drawings, or are they just guessing?

- Round 2: The Accuracy Gap. Is 80% accuracy "good enough" to change the industry, or is "trust but verify" just a nice way of saying "do it yourself"?

- Round 3: The Liability. In a world of design-bid-build, who takes the fall when the AI misses a scope gap?

Tune in to uncover:

• The "Waymo" Strategy: Why waiting for perfect AI is a mistake, and how to leverage the "self-driving" mindset to reduce takeoff times by 90% today.

• The Hidden Liability Loophole: Why architects and engineers could solve the estimating crisis instantly by sharing models—and the legal reason they never will.

• Symbols vs. Language: Learn the fundamental technical limitation preventing LLMs from reading 2D drawings like a human, and when we can expect "Visual Language Models" to catch up.

• The Subcontractor’s Dilemma: Why "Design Intent" matters more than counting linear feet, and why subs might actually be wasting time on granular takeoffs.

• A "Bribe" for Better Data: One listener’s hilarious (but practical) suggestion for how to finally get the Revit model from the design team.

Who will deliver the knockout punch? Tune in to decide for yourself.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:48 Introduction to Bricks and Bytes Debates

04:07 Opening Statements and Context Setting

06:51 Technical Feasibility of AI in Estimating

09:57 Practical Applications and Limitations of AI

12:59 Customer Expectations and Accuracy in AI Solutions

15:57 The Role of Human Oversight in AI Estimation

18:43 Future of AI in Construction Estimation

38:23 Navigating the Self-Driving Debate

41:19 The Evolution of AI in Estimating

43:32 Trust and Liability in Construction

46:13 The Role of Liability in AI Adoption

49:22 The Future of Estimators in AI

53:34 Rebuttals and Admissions: A Critical Discussion

59:39 The Current State of AI in Estimating

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

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

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

Here's what we covered:

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

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

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

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

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

Our Sponsors:

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

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

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

Chapters

00:00 Intro

03:46 Introduction to Surface and Founders' Backgrounds

06:48 The Vision Behind Surface and AI in Construction

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

12:45 Current Challenges in Store Development

15:30 AI's Role in Automating Construction Processes

18:32 Efficiency Gains and Time Savings with AI

21:44 The Future of Store Development and Human Touchpoints

24:30 Defensibility and Business Model of Surface

27:25 Funding and Future Plans for Surface

39:13 Investment Insights and Strategic Partnerships

41:31 Customer Engagement and Feedback

44:33 AI in Construction: Transforming Workflows

47:14 Navigating the Go-To-Market Strategy

54:20 Understanding Competition in the AI Space

59:25 Customization and Onboarding Process

01:03:07 Future of AI in Construction

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

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

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

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

Tune in to find out about:

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

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

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

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

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

Watch the full episode now. Link in the comments!

Our Sponsors

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

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

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

Chapters

00:00 Intro

03:48 The Importance of Storytelling in Business

13:32 Navigating the AEC Technology Landscape

21:44 Crafting Compelling Presentations

27:22 Building a Storytelling Framework

31:13 Transforming Customer Stories into Success

37:28 The Human Element in AI

42:11 Understanding Personas in Storytelling

44:26 Frameworks for Effective Storytelling

53:01 Building Conflict and Tension in Stories