Heavy Hitters: The Digital Industrial Podcast

Liz outlines a then and now macro backdrop as to how reindustrialization has only accelerated over the last 2 years since we discussed the topic on Heavy Hitters, details why she and her MIT colleague wrote "Priority Technologies" to frame in six critical focus areas needed to build the innovation and industrial ecosystems that will keep the US secure and drive economic prosperity, shares what it will take to actually scale up these key focus areas long term, and finally takes us back to why the human element underpins all of these efforts needing what she defines as a new kind of worker in our modern industrial labor force – a technologist. 

Gene outlines the when, why, and how a 72 year old premier general contractor setup a formal innovation group, i4 (and associated BLUlabs R&D facility efforts), how Mortenson consciously takes a people-led, inclusive approach to rolling out innovation ensuring talent in the field doesn’t feel like innovation is “happening to them”, why the firm developed a Director of AI role and the architype chosen to lead AI efforts, and finally what Mortenson’s approach to partnerships has evolved into (both industry and technology partnerships).   

Rise of the construction and power rental market is an understatement title for this episode, and Tony helps us unpack the macro and technology shifts underway underpinning this builtworld boom to support the AI race. We discuss how the world’s largest equipment rental company, United Rentals (30 years old, 28,500 employees,1,750 rental locations spanning multiple continents), is approaching this record demand, how his team went about initially forming, and ultimately gaining company buy-in, to execute an AI strategy within a legacy network of IT established systems, and how United Rentals has thrown accelerant behind those technology efforts by forming strategic partnerships with technology giants like Procore and Snowflake.  

We discuss why North America’s largest construction trade show, CONEXPO, is launching a new “Ground Breakers Stage” specifically aimed at spotlighting future innovation ahead, how industry leading trade associations like AEM and ABC took a ‘mixed fleet’ outlook to collaborate on their respective innovation trends and efforts to bolster CONEXPO 2026, how AI-enabled heavy machinery autonomy specifically will be a major point of focus this year (and why that only further emphasizes the critical human element involved in all of this!), and finally why the broader set of digital tools permeating these sectors has moved from optional to a near must-do in your operations.

Mark outlines why the Trimble Dimensions conference last November was the right time to make such a big AI splash in the AECO sectors, details where the company is headed with its expansion of the Trimble Marketplace to create a more open and integrated ecosystem, looks back on lessons from his prior Chief Digital Officer role as to what it has taken both technically and culturally inside Trimble to reach this level of digital maturity (and ultimately AI readiness), and finally gets out the crystal ball for where we’re headed in 2026.   

John walks us through the story on both the ‘Why’ and the ‘How’ a 101 year old general contractor built a single common data environment underneath every business unit (a foundation that has been laid for over a decade now!), shares the cultural alignment required to execute a technology strategy like that, outlines how that common data environment now enables their internal Citizen Technology effort to empower citizen developers embedded within their business units who are closest to their customers pain points, and finally what it all means for JE Dunn’s AI strategy and ability to meet the current AI infrastructure build out underway.

Joe shares the why, who, and how Holman Robotics was launched within a 100+ year old global automotive services business, what it takes to scale robotic automation solutions from pilots to scaled deployments, how Holman succeeded internally with their own robotic automation deployments before launching Holman Robotics externally, and finally how Holman is approaching AI internally and within its robotics solutions externally. 

Alice shares why the firm launched the first AEC-focused accelerator, Formwork Labs, and what the ecosystem gap was it wanted to fill for founders, how her construction operating experience informs her outlook as an AEC investor and what she looks for in founders (hint, industry experience can be a “double edged sword”), details a then and now lookback on the key drivers behind all the current investment and talent momentum entering construction tech, and finally where she views the intersection of construction and supply chain headed.  

Mark shares both his career journey across some of the world’s premier technology companies and how his roots growing up in a Midwest industrial town + degree in operations management gave him a unique vantage point/passion for optimizing some of the world’s premier supply chains for those technology companies, details his lessons learned on what it takes to scale and lead a finance function within a hyper-growth technology company (only amplified if the dynamics of h/w + s/w business models are involved), and outlines his view on this latest wave of AI with his decades of experience watching prior key inflection points in technology. 

Rachael digs into the history behind Zachry’s now >100 years (!) of construction operation, shares a then & now look back on how she has seen Zachry evolve technology and innovation during her nearly 2 decades of service, details why an Ideation and Investments function was stood up, outlines that nuance between ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ construction projects, and finishes with a “What’s Hot and What’s Hype” discussion on the latest technology trends impacting the built world.