227: 'Are We Horses or Are We Coal', with Rachel Riopel

About this episode

Rachel Riopel discusses the challenges of enterprise transformation in the AEC industry and offers insights on operationalizing technology effectively.

Rachel Riopel joins the podcast to talk about why enterprise transformation keeps failing in AEC and what it actually takes to make it stick. We explore the gap between running pilots and operationalizing technology across an organization, why the industry's obsession with productivity as the primary metric is a race to the bottom, and how cybersecurity is quietly becoming one of the biggest friction points in AEC collaboration. This episode is especially relevant for firm leaders, digital practice directors, and technology strategists who are tired of watching transformation initiatives stall out after the initial push. If you're wrestling with how to move technology from a siloed initiative to something embedded in your firm's business strategy, or if you're trying to figure out what to actually measure beyond speed, Rachel's framework for organizational readiness will give you a sharper lens for the work ahead. To learn more about Rachel Riopel, see the full show notes with links at https://trxl.co/227 To get more great conversations with AEC technology leaders on the TRXL podcast please visit https://trxl.co _____ Episode Sponsors: AVAIL AVAIL's content management system…

People in this episode

Host: Evan Troxel

Guest: Rachel Riopel

Topics covered

• enterprise transformation
• AEC industry
• technology operationalization
• productivity metrics
• cybersecurity
• organizational readiness

Keywords

• enterprise transformation
• AEC
• technology
• productivity
• cybersecurity
• organizational readiness
• firm leaders
• digital practice directors

Sponsors

AVAIL

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Confluence Events & Podcast, AEC

More episodes of TRXL

• 231: 'Architects: Reclaim Control in CA', with Jack Sadler · June 9, 2026 · 1h 8m
• 230: 'Rooms for Storytelling', with Keith Gerchak · May 19, 2026 · 1h 23m
• 229: Campfire Series - 'The CGarchitect Story', with Jeff Mottle · May 6, 2026 · 1h 24m
• 228: 'What Did You Actually Do Today', with Steve Burrows CBE · April 28, 2026 · 1h 24m
• 226: 'Think Slower to Move Faster', with Charles Portelli · April 7, 2026 · 1h 50m
• 225: 'A Nuclear Bomb Moment', with Antonio González Viegas · March 31, 2026 · 1h 17m