The ConTech Exec

AI is everywhere.
But are we actually thinking about what it’s doing—or just letting it run?

In this episode of The ConTech Exec Podcast, I’m joined by Alex Issakova, a former Silicon Valley AI insider and the voice behind The Long Signal.

We dig into the parts of AI nobody wants to talk about:

• Why large language models don’t actually reason

• How bad data creates confident, wrong answers

• The real environmental cost of AI (energy, water, data centers)

• Why AI mirrors our worst human behaviors

• And why “faster” isn’t always better—especially in construction and business

This isn’t anti-AI.
It’s pro-thinking.

If you’re an executive, builder, or operator trying to figure out where AI helps—and where it absolutely doesn’t—this episode is required listening.

🎙️ Listen now and decide where AI belongs in your business.

Patrick Murphy didn’t come back to construction quietly—he came back with fresh eyes, a stack of financials, and one big realization:

Estimating and Takeoffs were eating 50–60% of overhead.

In this episode of The ConTech Exec, Patrick breaks down how Togal.AI was built to solve that exact choke point.

We get into:

• Why takeoffs still look like they did 30 years ago—just with a mouse instead of a scale ruler
• How Togal trained millions of plans using 25 architects and engineers to label data with surgical precision
• Why mid-market contractors shouldn’t waste years trying to build AI workflows from scratch
• The real future: predictive assemblies, automated drywall takeoffs, and full plan sets generated from a prompt
• The danger of companies “pencil-whipping” data and expecting AI to magically fix it
• Why the firms who adopt AI will 10x output—and the ones who don’t will get left behind.

We also hit the bigger picture:

compute constraints,

data center pushback,

water and power fights,

workforce shortages,

and why AI is about to reshape every knowledge job in construction.

Listen in if you want the real story—not hype—on where AI is taking precon and what leaders should be prioritizing right now.

Want to be on the show or run your AI Readiness Score?

Email me [email protected]

To Contact Patrick:

Visit https://www.togal.ai/

or reach out on Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-e-murphy-79318832b/

Why does safety tech fail on the jobsite?

Because it’s built for the office, not the field. In this episode, Robert sits down with Gabe Guetta, CEO & Co-Founder of Salus, to unpack pencil-whipping culture, broken safety processes, field adoption challenges, and why construction needs tools that feel as easy as paper. If safety is supposed to protect people—not paperwork—this conversation will hit home for every contractor rethinking their tech stack.

Gabe Guetta – LinkedIn
• LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabeguetta (CEO & Co-Founder, SALUS)

Salus – Company Website
• Official website: https://www.salussafety.io – Safety management and digital field compliance platform built to streamline construction safety operations.

Your schedule isn’t behind — it’s been lying to you from day one.
In this ConTech Exec episode, Robert sits down with Alex Teplitxky of SmartPM to dismantle one of construction’s biggest myths: that our schedules are accurate, honest, or even interpretable without serious help.

SmartPM analyzes schedule data at a forensic level—revealing compression, risk, integrity issues, rework indicators, and the optimism bias that quietly destroys profit. If you’ve ever stared at a CPM update and thought, “This feels like creative writing,” this episode is for you.

• Why 88% of baseline schedules fail basic quality checks

• Why CPM isn’t the problem—our inputs are

• How SmartPM surfaces delay risk before it becomes expensive

• Why optimism bias is the most expensive drug in construction

• What executives should be asking when reviewing schedule health

• Why “bad data” is the real reason tech adoption failed for years

• How contractors can start fixing scheduling culture one metric at a time

• Groundbreak conference stories, AR safety demos, and the “pucker factor” at 300 feet

• Why incremental improvements matter more than moonshot claims

• The unicorn-fart test of schedule realism (yes, it came up)

This is a tactical, practical deep dive into the real-world messiness of schedules, data hygiene, project controls, and the future of digital construction.

SmartPM: https://smartpm.com
Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexteplitxky/

Construction. Technology. Real talk—without the buzzwords.
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Construction isn’t losing money on materials — it’s losing money on redundancy. In this episode of The ConTech Exec Podcast, Robert Zimmerman sits down with Eric Helitzer, Founder & CEO of SubBase, to unpack why a $20 box of materials routinely costs contractors $65 in administrative overhead before it ever hits the jobsite.

From field-to-office misalignment, to outdated ordering workflows, to the six-to-eight people who touch every PO, Eric breaks down why procurement is still construction’s most expensive blind spot — and how the right digital tools can finally fix it.

🔥 What You’ll Learn

• Why manual procurement destroys subcontractor margins

• The real cost of redundant workflows & admin overhead

• How digital procurement cuts waste, errors, and delays

• Why AI and analytics are becoming essential to buying smarter

• What “digital maturity” looks like for contractors in 2025 and beyond

If you’re a subcontractor, GC, estimator, or operations leader, this episode shows you exactly where the money leaks — and how to plug them.

#ConstructionTech #Procurement #MaterialsManagement #SubBase #DigitalTransformation #ConTechExec #AIinConstruction

Most contractors capture thousands of photos… and then never look at them again.
(Yeah, I know — hurts to admit.)

In this episode, I sit down with David Swider and N.K. Chaitanya from Track3D, two guys who realized the jobsite already HAS the answers — we just never bother checking the back of the book.

We get into:

• Why “take pictures and pray” is not a workflow

• How Track3D turns casual walk paths into hard production numbers

• Why AI shouldn’t replace people — it should replace the stuff people hate doing

• What deviation detection looks like when it’s actually usable

• The moment NK realized most 360° captures are viewed zero times

If you’ve ever walked a jobsite and thought,
“Someone should be tracking this… but it ain’t gonna be me,”
this episode will hit home.

This is construction. It’s messy, loud, unpredictable — and Track3D is trying to give us something rare: clarity without more work.

👉 Follow the show for more no-BS conversations about tech that actually helps builders build.

Contractors are sitting on mountains of data… and most of it is about as useful as a broken laser level.

In this episode, Robert Zimmerman digs in with Dave Knowles, founder of TopBuilder and Contractor BI, to break down the real problem:
Contractors don’t have a data shortage.
They have a visibility problem.

We get into the messy stuff no one likes to admit out loud:

• ERPs, job-cost systems, estimating platforms, and spreadsheets that don’t talk to each other.

• Inaccurate reports that executives are forced to “trust anyway.”

• Why builders still run multi-million-dollar companies with tools that can’t track a cost code without breaking a sweat.

• How a real single source of truth can uncover trends long before they turn into cost overruns.

Dave explains how Contractor BI helps contractors finally see:

• Real-time job performance

• Profit fade before it becomes profit loss

• Labor + materials trends

• Forecasting gaps

• Cash flow exposure on new bids

If your dashboards look like ransom notes made from four different systems, this episode is your fix.

Link In with Dave: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-knowles-8936259/

Find out about ContractorBI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/topbuilder-solutions-llc/posts/?feedView=all

Welcome to the only “bank” that never meant to exist — The Subcontractor Bank & Trust.

In this episode, Robert Zimmerman sits down with Joseph Leiva, PE, CEO & Co-Founder of Kaster, to talk about why subcontractors keep playing banker while everyone else collects interest.

Joe grew up in a family-owned construction business, lived through the 90-day payment cycle, and decided enough was enough. He built Kaster to automate the paperwork, payroll, and compliance chaos that keep subs waiting for their own money.

💬 What’s inside:

• Why subs float millions while chasing invoices

• How compliance red tape and certified payroll drain cash flow

• The real-world cost of one bad paycheck ($900 and counting)

• How automation and AI finally put the paperwork on autopilot

• Why a simple phone call still solves more problems than email ever will

If you’ve ever financed a job you didn’t own — this one’s for you.

🌐 Learn more about Kaster → https://www.kaster.app
🔗 Explore ConTech Exec → https://www.contechexec.com

Albert Bou Fadel returns to break down what’s real and what’s just hype in construction AI. We talk Groundbreak, educated buyers, field-first technology, automation myths, and why contractors keep trying to solve problems they haven’t actually defined yet.

If you want straight talk about tech, adoption, process, and jobsite reality—this episode delivers.

Topics Covered:
• AI confusion vs. AI value
• Field adoption and why it still lags
• The automation trap
• Construction egos (yes, we go there)
• Why processes matter more than software
• What’s actually coming next for ConTech

Smart, blunt, funny, and full of stuff you can use Monday morning.

In this episode of The ConTech Exec Podcast, host Robert Zimmerman sits down with Mike Powers, Founder & CEO of BuildVision, to dig into one of construction’s biggest black holes: the procurement process.

From chillers and switchgear to financing and factory capacity, Mike breaks down how AI and structured data are helping contractors, OEMs, and suppliers finally see what’s really happening in the supply chain.

We talk about:

• Why lead times are a terrible indicator of reality

• How $830 billion gets tied up in construction finance

• What “verticalizing the supply chain” really means

• How BuildVision turns chaos into capacity planning

• The role of AI in cleaning unstructured construction data

If you’ve ever wondered why you’re still waiting on equipment that was “in stock” six months ago, this episode is your therapy session.

🎧 Listen on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts

Buildvision Website

📩 Contact: [email protected]
🌐 More insights: www.ConTechExec.com