Construction powers the world we live in — and it's at a turning point. Here is a first listen to BuiltForward, a new show about how AI, technology, and leadership are reshaping construction and the physical economy.
BuiltForward explores how AI, technology, and leadership are reshaping construction—and the broader physical economy. Host Jason Jacobs, an entrepreneur and investor, learns in public through conversations with the operators, founders, and leaders driving that transformation. Together they dig into how these organizations continuously adapt as technology evolves, what is actually working on the ground, and where the biggest opportunities are emerging.
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Jason Jacobs: Construction is one of the biggest, most important industries there is, whether it's hospitals, universities, data centers. I mean, construction literally powers the world that we live in. Now, I was drawn to it because not only is it an important industry, but it's a fragmented one. There's a labor shortage.
The workforce is aging. There's not enough young people coming in, and the power needs of AI and data centers will only make this shortage more pronounced. Now, to compound that, it's historically been a bit of a tech laggard, meaning that a lot of the knowledge in the industry is still trapped in people's heads.
Now, that's starting to change as technology continues to evolve, as the next generation of owners comes in that's more open to change, and as more competitors adopt this technology. If, if you're a shop that doesn't, you might get left behind. But the stakes are high. It's not an industry with much margin for error.
So I think the key is [00:01:00] it's not just about technology's capabilities, but it's how do you build an organization that is continually evolving and adapting to take advantage of emerging technology, but has the right guardrails at each step so that chaos doesn't ensue. Now, that's what this show, BuiltForward, is about.
I'm Jason Jacobs. I'm a longtime investor and entrepreneur, and I'm setting out to understand what the next decade of construction looks like, how technology will evolve, and how organizations need to evolve to properly take advantage of it. Each week, I'll bring on experts that are on the front lines, whether it's contractors, architects, developers, software companies, startups, incumbents, investors, anyone who's charting the course of where all this is heading so that I can figure out where it's going, and anyone else that wants to come along for the ride can as well.
Again, this is BuiltForward. I hope you'll come with me on this journey. Let's [00:02:00] go.