Giannis Antetokounmpo shared a lesson for Construction Digitalization

It’s no secret that the digitization of construction processes are behind every possible trend. Are we failing?

As you probably witnessed, when a reporter asked Giannis Antetokounmpo if he saw this year as a failure, his response went mega-viral.

Numbers matter, but communication matters as well. Giannis’ mindset and composure can teach us all a lesson.

The construction industry has been slow to adopt new technologies, partly due to the fear of failure. However, Giannis’ mindset can be a game-changer when applied to construction technology adoption.

Innovation, much like competing for a championship, doesn't always guarantee success - sometimes the numbers don't add up, just how the trophy remains out of reach. Instead of viewing failure as a reason to abandon the pursuit, we should view it as an opportunity to learn and improve.

Giannis showed frustration, but he remained and communicated in a calm way.

The most important thing is that you never give up, that you always try, that you always learn.

By learning from our mistakes, we can refine our methods and continue pushing forward, ultimately achieving greater success in the long run.

Construction Innovation & Digitization teams must embrace failure.

The key to applying Giannis’ wisdom in the construction industry is to cultivate a mindset that embraces failure as a necessary part of the innovation process.

The timing has never been better.

The adoption of new technologies no longer costs millions and years to implement. Software companies are providing leaner, value-driven pricing. Service providers like Sektor.build, provide fast, flexible, and risk-free digitalization services.

Fostering a culture that values continuous learning and improvement can accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the way we build.

Is this a Gamechanger? 3D printed neighborhood now underway in Texas

Icon, an Austin-based construction technology company, is now constructing a 3D-printed neighborhood for the homeless.

“The world’s housing crisis has been exacerbated by rising construction costs and labor shortages," - Jason Ballard, CEO of Icon.

Icon has managed to reduce costs by 30%, creating homes that are both cost-effective and quick to build.

Their 3D printer (called Vulcan) can produce a 400-square-foot house in just 24…HOURS.

First of all, that speed is astonishing.

Although there are no metrics for it yet, I can imagine waste reduction, currently wasting $500 Billion per year to be reduced to a minimum. Just put this into scale.

These homes are built to withstand extreme weather events and have a projected lifespan of at least 50 years

The implications of 3D-printed homes extend far beyond addressing homelessness. It wasn’t too long ago that 3D printing seemed like a pipe dream.

Innovation takes time. Solar panels have been around since the 1950s despite their rapid popularity over the last decade.

A revolution of the entire housing market may be happening right before our eyes, offering an affordable and sustainable solution for communities worldwide.

Harvard review: How Frank Gehry Creates Masterpieces Without Breaking the Bank

Harvard Business Review recently published an article about how Frank Gehry, also known as the architectural Genius behind some of the world’s most iconic buildings, manages to deliver these complex masterpieces on time and within budget. Here's a shorter, friendlier version of the lessons we can learn from Gehry's success.

Embrace Technology and Innovation

Digital Project Management enables the firm to identify and resolve potential problems in the design phase.

Frank Gehry is known for being tech-savvy, and his firm developed Digital Project. This software helps them create precise 3D models of every building element. With this, they can avoid expensive mistakes and streamline construction.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

This keeps everyone aligned and enables rapid decision-making.

Gehry ensures open communication and collaboration between architects, engineers, and construction teams. Weekly meetings help everyone stay on the same page and make quick decisions.

Putting Clients First

The key is to...deliver on those priorities while creating a design that stands out.

Gehry is dedicated to understanding and addressing his client's needs, which helps him deliver projects that meet their expectations without sacrificing his unique design.

Be Flexible and Adaptable

They replaced some custom-made elements with off-the-shelf alternatives that didn't diminish the building's visual impact.

Gehry has mastered the art of being agile and adjusting his plans as needed, ensuring he stays on track without compromising his vision.

Conclusion

None of these are breakthrough ideas. Innovation, teamwork, client focus, and adaptability, are not exactly mind-blowing concepts. What sets Gehry apart is his commitment to them. Being committed for that long and having the masterpieces to show for it, is truly mind-blowing, and it’s something that we can all do.

Will Your Construction Tech Go Out Of Business?

It has been an interesting couple of years in construction tech with the common theme in 2022 being: Much fewer fundraising announcements, no crazy valuations, some closures, some big-name drops in valuations, a lot of rumors.

So, should you be fearful that the construction tech company that you are utilizing on your project is going out business? I would say that you should certainly be vigilant, especially so in 2023.

No one believes it, talks about it, or even wants to believe it until it happens, usually without warning.

The current situation is that quite a few Construction Tech companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in 2021, when Venture Capital was at peak-investment-mode for the decade, at unrealistic valuations. What this means is that these companies had/have an increasingly large burn rate (money loss), which is totally normal for startups, but when you couple that with an industry that has razor thin profit margins, low R&D budgets (usually the first to get scrapped), increasing interest rates slowing down demand, you don’t paint a pretty picture.

Although Construction is a massive industry ($11Trillion annually), Construction Technology only stands at $9.6 billion, growing at 8.5% annually. This means that room for revenue growth in this industry is fairly limited. Startups operate on a 24 month runway basis on a best case scenario, so as a rule of thumb I would look out for the construction tech companies that have raised a lot of money in 2021, have significantly increased their headcount, and have not fundraised in 2022 or 2023. Chances are that incoming revenues are not enough to sustain them.

The construction industry is not in trouble in my opinion, and, most likely, neither is your data. The fact is that construction is severely underdigitized and behind on productivity metrics. What will most likely happen is that companies that have great products but have run out of money will be acquired by one of the bigger players (Autodesk, Oracle), and some companies with no great product, and thus low adoption, will wind down operations, even if they fundraised well previously. The truly passionate ones may even choose to slow down and have a second go at it going forward.

As the old proverb goes “trust, but verify”.

Saudi Arabia’s Massive New Airport

As expected, the numbers are MASSIVE.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman International Airport will soon join the world’s largest airports, as it aims to become one among them. Currently, the world’s largest airport by area is King Fahd International, which is also located in the kingdom.

The new Airport will be 57 kilometers squared, which makes double the size of Dubai’s airport, currently standing at 28 kilometers squared.

What is staggering however is the number of passengers that the airport is being designed to handle:

By 2030, the airport aims to accommodate up to 120 million travelers and 185 million travelers, with the capacity to process 3.5 million tons of cargo by 2050.

Currently, the busiest airport in the world by passenger capacity is Hartsfield–Jackson in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), with 75 million passengers annually. Dubai isn’t even in the top 10 by comparison, sitting at #27 globally with 29 million passengers.

Building a massive airport is one thing. Getting people to use it is another. I can only guess that they are targeting Africa’s fast rising middle class, where the population is double that of Latin America (600million in LATAM vs 1.2 billion in Africa), which is the greatest contributor to Atlanta’s numbers.

Lead designer is Foster + Partners, which seems to have found their way in the Middle East, given that they also won the competition for the Red Sea Development airport, and I love how stunning both look.

The new King Salman airport is going for LEED Platinum, bringing sustainability at the core of this initiative, just the way it should be.

What The h*** Is ChatGPT?

You may have run into a post (or a thousand) of ChatGPT on your SM feeds. In short, it’s an online Chatbot that has been trained on Artificial Intelligence (AI), by openai - an Elon Musk founded Artificial Intelligence company. It’s actually surprisingly good, but it’s not perfect.

What excites most people about it must be how human-like it sounds.

For instance, when asked about The future of Construction here’s what it came out with:

“Difficult for me to predict” and “it will depend on a number of factors” is a common theme, however, I’m still impressed by the answers.

I’d be willing to be there are industry leaders about the same subject who did not come up with such sophisticated answers (that I agree with).

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