Transcript 0:00 Talk to me. Information, news and entertainment on demand. WS Radio.com [on-hold music] 0:14 Welcome to the Peggy Smedley Show, the voice of IoT in our connected world, with your host, Peggy Smedley. Welcome back to the Peggy Smedley Show. I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:26 I w-- like to welcome back our guest, Alex Schwarzkopf, who is the CEO of Pillar Technologies. Alex, welcome back to the show. Hey, Peggy. Thanks again. Hey, Alex. 0:38 Before the break, we were kinda discussing a little bit about kind of that changing behavior of construction companies as well as, um, kind of this combined data sources. 0:48 But I-I'd actually like you to talk a little bit about that because I think we're seeing this kind of changing with the construction companies of being a little bit more proactive versus reactive. 0:59 And I think for construction companies, that is a change of behavior because with technology, that's completely different how contractors and GCs in general work at the job site. 1:12 Can you tell us how technology is really helping them when you think about what you guys are doing right now and giving them kind of this real-time information to data that they've never had before? Yeah. 1:24 I-I would have to agree with that. Um, i-it's interesting. So the, the, the industry, as you mentioned, um, very reactive, so things happen, how do we adjust? 1:33 How do we, how do we re-strategize so that we can, you know, re-plan and re-execute? 1:40 Um, with-- I think with, with this data specifically around the environment, what it allows them to do, [clears throat] excuse me, is adjust to the conditions before they become an issue. 1:51 So it's the idea of, you know, if we need to put more equipment in this place, um, and, and allow, you know, the, um, the work to, to either be re-refocused somewhere else in the building where it's more con-conducive to that type of work, um, and while we condition the space, um, that allows you to plan on the go. 2:10 You know, you're not slowing the process down. You're actually moving, moving the project forward while, uh, adjusting on the fly. 2:17 It's a, uh, an approach that allows you to stay on schedule, um, and maintain, uh, your current workflow. Um, [clears throat] excuse me. 2:26 We've, we've actually, we've actually learned that in order to do this, um, this behavioral shift, since it's new, it's, it's, um, something... it's a new way of doing things, it needs to be very approachable. 2:39 And so we've taken a lot of time and energy and, and put it into how we design a product, uh, a technology such as this, which can be fairly complex, um, you know, on our end as technologists. 2:51 We needed to make it so simple and easy to use, easy to engage with. It can't be a, a hindrance to your daily routine. And, um, that's what we've really tried to do with the, the sensors themselves. 3:04 I mean, they have multiple mounting methods built right into them, so they're easy to move around as workers are working in the spaces, and the sensors need to move. 3:13 Um, the dashboard is very intuitive and self-explanatory. And like I mentioned before, you really don't have to look at it. 3:19 So it's, you know, all of the work we're doing on the back end to make sure that, you know, the contractor doesn't have to really focus on this system. It's there for peace of mind. 3:29 Um, and I, I think other technologies that we will start to deploy on the job site should keep this in mind. 3:34 Um, right now, we need to, to show them how to work with technology, you know, where, where-- how the industry needs to work with technology rather than try to all of a sudden change the way things are done. 3:46 Um, I, I don't think we're there yet. I think we're at the very, the very beginning stages where the technology needs to complement the work that's already being done in, in very intuitive and easy-to-use ways. 3:58 You know, Alex, you raise a good point because if you have a dashboard that's very low touch and you're enabling them to be- Yes. 4:04 -a little bit easier to apply, doesn't that make them have a little bit more of a comfort zone to actually adjust and make that transition from, I don't wanna say low to-- low tech, but e-easier touch, that feel of saying, "I think I can use this. 4:21 I can apply this from one location, from my office to my field," and feel that concept of saying, "I know what I do in the, in the office. 4:29 Now when I'm at the field, I understand the transition of making this multi-connected world to which we want at the job site now." Yeah. 4:41 I-- We found that, um, the, the easiest way to, uh, to introduce ne-new technology on the job site is to make it, um, very similar to what they've already used in the past, um, just because it's familiar. 4:55 Um, you know, when we go and, and chat with contractors, you know, often the first thing that comes up is, you know, "How is this different from my, my handheld meter, um, you know, that I'm walking around with?" 5:04 And we basically say, "Well, think of your handheld meter and think about now putting one in every single room. Um, and now think about that data all coming back to you without having to walk around." 5:17 Um, it's this idea of framing the, the argument, um, in... or not the argument, but the technology in a way that, that is easily understood. 5:26 Um, I mean, when, when we have these, these conversations, just like you and I are talking right now, um, it's the idea of taking a very complex system, um, and putting that, the, the complexity in on my side, right? 5:39 As a, as a service provider, I really need to make sure that I'm taking care of everything in the background to make sure that you have a seamless experience using my service because that, that makes you, um, better at your job. 5:55 You know, it makes you more effective. But it also has a lower learning barrier, barrier to entry in terms ofHow am I affecting your daily routine? 6:04 If I'm not intrusive, if my technology doesn't, you know, need you to change the way you've done things immediately, um, people are much more, um, uh, open about trying new things, right? 6:16 If they realize that they can get comfortable with it. They don't have to just dive in and commit. 6:21 Um, and, and in that way, it's actually we've seen some really cool things happen because contractors will come back to us and say, "Hey guys, we just realized we can use your system in this way." 6:32 And that's, that's incredible when we get that feedback because then we're like, "Wow, that's, that, uh, something we never thought about. 6:38 And, you know, well, let's-- how do we roll this out into, um, you know, a, a release of a new feature or something like that?" 6:45 So it's a very organic growth, and it starts with making the product simple enough for the user so that they can have a great experience with it and then help you, you know, make your product or service better. 6:56 That's, that's, I think the, the core of it. Doesn't it go even a step further because you talked about this, these data sources, but doesn't it now take the technology further? 7:07 Because you talked about that relationship that the user's having, but now it expands that relationship between, let's say, the contractor, the GC, the owner and the insurer, because now you're really using technology to its fullest in expanding relationships that maybe were never there before. 7:26 Because that's how technology is really used to its really best because it's, it's really showing how connected devices are really sharing of information and data sources. Yeah. 7:38 I think it has to do a lot with, um, how the unique sets of data from various different, um, either pieces of software or sensors or human inputs, um, can combine to provide value to different, to different experiences, um, different, different parties who, who have, um, you know, a, a stake in the game, so to speak. 8:00 Um, just in-- if on our side of things, we're looking at, um, you know, how we can incorporate, uh, weather data, you know, publicly available weather data with, um, some, some factors that affect, uh, the, the GC in terms of, um, you know, where they are in the project timeline, what, what the budget is currently, and if they're on track, on budget, um, how we look at all these factors and, and understand, you know, these are the unique insights from the environment that we can tie into the weather data that we're reading from, you know, um, weather.com, and, and this is where you are in the schedule. 8:37 And according to, you know, what we've seen in the past, this is what we think could happen. 8:42 So here's how you take preventive action, or here's some insights, um, in terms of, you know, you know best, but we want to be able to provide, uh, more information. 8:53 As I mentioned before, I think it's about better, better information, more information to make the best decision. Um, 9:01 so I mean, if, if you wanna go, you know, and talk about the industry in general, I mean, we've seen... 9:06 So for example, Autodesk, um, Procore, PlanGrid, these guys are all working in, uh, project management, um, project lifecycle management. So they have an incredible amount of data, right? 9:17 And so they're gonna be start pulling in in-information, um, you know, I, I would imagine hopefully from us as well. 9:24 Um, but scheduling data, estimating data, um, you know, budget tracking, site logistics data, um, and even worker safety. And how does this-- how do these all affect each other? 9:36 Um, I'm not really sure anyone knows right now, but I think that once we do and once we start to ask those questions, we can go to the building owner and say, "Hey, if we build like this, you'll have a project, you know, done fifteen percent faster, um, and with less waste." 9:52 We go to a contractor with this information, we say, "Here's how we improve your processes and make you more competitive when you're bidding jobs." 9:59 Um, and then you go to the insurance company and say, "Hey, this is how we save you money. Um, you know, you can price more competitively." So there's a lot of information out there. 10:09 Um, we're focused on just a little piece of it, but I think it's gonna be really exciting when, um, when it all starts to come together, um, and, and you create a full picture of an industry through data. 10:22 And, and you and I get that and, and my concern right now is we still see a construction industry that's still a little bit... 10:29 And, and even most industries on the Internet of Things that we're talking about, it's still slow to respond, so we gotta kind of gotta prod them. 10:36 And what I'm excited about is you're going to be at the, uh, Conexpo-Con/Agg in March seventh through eleventh in twenty seventeen, correct? You're gonna be at the tech experience, and people can see some of what- Yeah. 10:48 -you're talking about. Is that correct? Yeah, definitely. So we're pretty excited to be a part of that. Um, it's incredible experience for us. Um, w-we're gonna have some, some toys to play with. 11:00 Um, we're gonna have a, a live demo, uh, set up there. 11:04 I can't specifically say what yet, but, um, we're looking forward to having people engage with us, uh, on a very, you know, real level, coming up, asking questions, um, learning about what we're up to. 11:16 I think that we actually learn the most through these conversations because we're getting feedback. 11:22 Um, there's-- it's just so important to maintain a really, um, close presence with the people that are actually using your technology. And so I'm really excited for, for the feedback that we're gonna get. 11:34 Um- Alex, we're out of time. But quickly, what's your URL so our listeners can go up and learn more about you guys? Sure, sure. It's, uh, pillar.tech. So www.p-i-l-l-a-r dot t-e-c-h. All right, Alex, thank you so much. 11:51 All right, listeners, we're out of time. 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