Every building you've ever been in was designed by software built in 1997.

That's the headline a16z used to put the bat signal out to AEC founders — and Joe Schmidt got dragged for it on LinkedIn.

But he's not a tourist. His grandfather invented the concrete pump.

In today's episode of Bricks & Bytes, we had Joe Schmidt from Andreessen Horowitz and got into the three attack vectors for disrupting Revit, why the services layer is the hidden prize… and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ The 3 ways startups are attacking Autodesk's "workflow monopoly" — and which one Joe would bet on today

✅ Why replacing Revit in 5 years is unlikely (and why you don't need to)

✅ The real "why now" for AEC AI — it's not just LLMs

✅ Joe's advice to contractors and designers: adopt fast or get left behind🎧 Full episode out on Spotify and YouTube!

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:20 Introduction to A16Z and Joe Schmidt's Background

05:00 Understanding A16Z's Investment Philosophy

09:29 The Construction Industry's Potential and A16Z's Interest

15:57 Thesis Overview: Innovation in Construction Tech

20:21 The Role of AI in Transforming Construction

25:45 Challenges and Opportunities in Construction Tech Adoption

25:52 The Evolution of Design and Budgeting in Construction

31:34 Incentives and Rework: A Double-Edged Sword

37:38 AI's Role in Enhancing Design Efficiency

42:12 The Human Element in AI-Driven Design

47:51 Navigating the Future of Construction Technology

#aec #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #construction #bricksbucksandbytes #constructiontech #vc #revit #autodesk #a16z

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

Allbirds just pivoted to AI and the stock jumped from $2 to $21 overnight.

This week on Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, Mo (founder of Build Crew, backed by Vinod Khosla) joined us to break down what's actually happening in construction tech right now — and Nitin from Planera dropped in to launch their AI scheduling assistant, Manny.

Tune in to find out about:

✅ Why Allbirds' AI pivot looks like a 1999-style dotcom scam

✅ Mo's unfiltered take on why knowledge graphs are the most overhyped term in AEC right now

✅ Why Palantir's real construction customer isn't who you think it is

✅ How Planera's Manny is codifying decades of scheduling expertise before the industry loses it

Watch now on Spotify and YouTube. Link in the comments!

#aec #construction #constructiontech #bricksandbytes #bricksbytes #bricksbucksandbytes #ai #vc

Our Sponsors:

BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. - breadcrumb.co

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

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:00 Introduction to Mo's Transformation

03:57 The Allbirds Pivot: From Sneakers to AI

07:00 Technological Breakthroughs in Architectural Design

09:50 AI in Construction: The Role of Domain Expertise

12:51 BuildCrew: Mo's New Venture and Its Vision

15:35 Knowledge Graphs: The Future of Construction Documentation

25:11 Integrating Knowledge Graphs in Construction

27:39 The Role of Technologists in Construction

29:18 Palantir's Impact on Construction Technology

31:09 The Future of ERP Systems

34:45 Challenging Industry Norms with Optimism

38:25 Nemechek's Acquisition of HCSS

42:39 Planera's AI Scheduling Assistant

53:27 Current Trends in Construction and AI

The business you build around it is. The AI you buy isn't the advantage

The man who built Facebook's computer vision team says reading a construction drawing is harder than what he was doing at Facebook. That line reframes the whole AI conversation in construction and it's just one of the threads in this week's briefing.

In this episode:

The procurement story we've been building. A number of the research findings that will make commercial construction executives uncomfortable in a productive way. Full report drops 24th April - sign up here.

Shadow AI is your governance crisis. A senior leader at a major US general contractor describes his single biggest fear around AI... and it's not the technology. It's Bob in pre-con. Plus Maryrose Lyons on why your company data is walking out the door via your staff's phones, and nobody's written a policy about it.

Data-readiness is the ten-year moat. Three different AI founders, three different domains — procurement, scheduling, drawings — all saying the same thing. The value doesn't sit in the AI. It sits in the connected data around it. Why the firms pulling ahead aren't buying better AI. They're preparing better businesses for it.

The divergence moment. Opus 4.7 was released this week. But there's a model sitting next to it on the benchmark chart called Mythos, and it's significantly more capable than anything on the market. It's not available to you. It's not available to me. And it's the live, in-the-wild evidence that the AI world just split into two tiers. Why this matters for any construction business thinking about the next three years.

If this briefing was useful, share it with someone in your leadership team who needs to hear it. Drop your take in the LinkedIn comments — I read every one.

This week's sources include:Lubo Bourdev & Hamid, PrimePoint - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDdK18qzQwg

Maryrose Lyons, AI Institute - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev6oPUWYgzA

Nitin Bhandari, Planera - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTnsWQLN4aQ

Bricks & Bytes procurement research report (drops 24 April). https://bricks-bytes.com/downloads/procurement-report/