AI in Construction: Adapt Now or Fall Behind

About this episode

This episode discusses the practical implications of AI adoption in construction and the necessary mindset shift for contractors.

AI is already changing construction. The real question is whether your company is keeping up or quietly falling behind. In this episode of Bridging the Gap, Todd Weyandt sits down with Shel Waggener, Chief Customer Officer at Lumber and former construction company president, to break down what AI adoption actually looks like inside a contractor’s business today. This is not a future-focused conversation. It is a practical look at how AI is already showing up in the back office, in the field, and across workforce management. Shel shares why AI cannot be treated like just another tool, how “agentic AI” is eliminating administrative work, and what it really takes to build AI into your operations as a core capability. The biggest shift is not technology. It is mindset. Contractors must move from doing the work to orchestrating it. If you are not actively building AI into your workflows, your competitors will. You'll Learn Why AI in construction is happening faster than most leaders realize What “agentic AI” actually means in real workflows The most practical back office use cases you can deploy today How field data, computer vision, and site capture reduce rework Why AI should be…

People in this episode

Hosts: Todd Weyandt, Todd

Guest: Shel Waggener

Topics covered

• AI in construction
• workforce management
• agentic AI
• back office use cases
• field data

Keywords

• AI adoption
• construction technology
• administrative work
• feedback loops

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Lumber

Books & works: Bridging the Gap

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