KP Unpacked

KP Reddy Previews GBA 2025: AI, Innovation, and the Future of Engineering

• KP Reddy

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Join KP Reddy, global authority on tech innovation and AI, as he previews his must-see presentation: “Thriving in the Tech Age: AI’s Role in Shaping A/E and the Changing Role of Consulting Engineers.” 

📅 When: April 24-26, 2025
📍 Where: Savannah, GA

✨ What to Expect:
- Insights from KP Reddy and other distinguished speakers
- Exciting opportunities for learning, collaboration, and networking with geoprofessional leaders from across North America
- A cutting-edge look at the future of AI and engineering...

🔗 View the full agenda and register today at GBA’s website: https://www.geoprofessional.org/

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 2:

Hi, my name is Jeff Eccles. I'm a senior advisor at KP Ready Company, and today I am joined by KP Ready. He's a leading voice in the intersection of technology and business. He's the founder and CEO of both KP Ready Company and Shadow Ventures. Shadow Ventures is a venture capital firm that's focused on investing and building AI and robotics startups, all focused on the built environment. He has a deep understanding of how technology is reshaping industries, especially AEC industries. He's also the author of Creating the Intangible Enterprise. It's a book that explores the critical skills that are needed to thrive in an AI-driven world. Kp emphasizes the importance of human-centric skills like creativity, leadership and emotional intelligence in navigating the changing landscape of work. His insights are particularly relevant for architecture, engineering and the construction industries, which are all undergoing a significant transformation due to advancements in AI and automation. So, kp, thanks for joining me today. It's going to be fun to dig into a talk that you have coming up at the GBA annual conference in 2025 in Savannah Georgia.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, thanks, jeff. No, it's my people right Going to speak to my people.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 2:

And if you're there, um, I I know most of the people that are watching this interview or listening to this interview are familiar with with um, with gba.

Speaker 2:

But if you have happened upon this somehow and you're not familiar with gba, well, gba is a geo-professional business association. So, uh, geo-professional engineers, et cetera I mean I know we talked about this before we got started maybe more scientists than engineers, but it's people that are focused, certainly, on a lot of the things that not only we look at every day, but a lot of the startups that are in the shadow ventures portfolio. So I think this is a great fit for the things that you focus on in your investing, that we focus on in our advising and the work that's going on around the world for designing and building the built environment. So why don't we start with talking about your book Creating the Intangible Enterprise? In your book, you talk about the importance of human skills in an AI-driven world, which may seem like a little bit of a curveball when we're talking about the audience that we're talking about here, but can you share some specific examples of how these skills will be crucial for consulting engineers and scientists in the industry?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean happy to do that. I think, as a little background a lot of people may or may not know is I started off as a geotechnical engineer. So my early, earliest career, straight out of college, was running a soils lab and then became a geotechnical engineer and then did environmental work. So it's been a couple of years, but that's where I started, so to speak, and I think it's you know there's so much that has changed since then, but then there's so many things that have stayed the same. And I think, in a world where you know, for me and my job, you know we went out and drilled holes, analyzed soil logs and came up with you know findings and reports based on what we found in the ground, so to speak. And then now you're seeing AI tools that kind of automatically do that they take boring logs and categorize the soil types, kind of automatically do that they take boring logs and categorize the soil types.

Speaker 3:

We used to have to go do environmental. You know site assessments and we'd walk around with literally a notepad not like today how we think about iPads and all that, but literally a piece of paper, and I'm not sure that that's changed any. And you know doing wetlands, delineations and things like that, and you know all all that stuff is highly automated. Now there's products and technology to do that. There's AI enablement I don't have to know what the different soil types are, the camera on my phone will tell me what the soil type is. So a lot of that field data collection, where I used to go spend days and weeks out in the field, has now really been short-circuited by a lot of the mobility and AI tools that are out there to really support geoprofessionals. So that's an interesting trend that's happening right now. So if you look at that and say, okay, well, when I was doing it in 1994, doing it in 1994. Hey, 30 years ago, Is that right? Yeah, 30 years ago.

Speaker 2:

That's the math.

Speaker 3:

We just all got old. It was just highly manual. But one thing that remained true was we got most of our work through relationships, the longstanding relationships that we had had very little to do with the geotechnical report or the phase one site that was a big, so what it was really applying creativity and helping the client figure out, based on this, what are my options Right, and really collaborating with them. And I think, in many ways, in an AI driven world where so much technology is already doing all of this and if you're not aware of it, I'm going to talk a little bit about you know how these technologies are affecting everything, specifically on the field, data collection and on the report writing and even, to a degree, the analytics that you're not spending hours and days in spreadsheets anymore.

Speaker 3:

So what does that mean you do with that extra time? It really means, if you're a professional, either, your firm brand becomes even more important, and even more so these days is your personal brand, and people forget that. That your personal brand is very important and how you execute on that develop. That is super important. So those are things that are more on the softer side of stuff that I think is really important for the industry to know and I'm going to hit on some of the examples. I'm a big case study person. I'm going to hit on some of the examples. I'm a big case study person. I'm going to hit on some of those examples.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so the title of your talk. You alluded to it a second ago, but the title of your talk is Thriving in the Tech Age AI's Role in Shaping AE the Changing Role of Consulting Engineers. And obviously you're going to draw a lot from your book and a lot of your book is for those that haven't read it. You may read and go okay, this is an AI book, but, as we talked about a little bit, it's like oh, this is a human book in an AI-driven world. So, when your talk mentions thriving in the tech age, what advice would you give to consulting engineers who might be feeling overwhelmed or even threatened by the rapid advancements in AI and technology, especially in the light of what you were just saying about the human side and the business development side?

Speaker 3:

I think part of it is. I think there's a couple things we have to think about. One is how we think about recruiting new talent into the industry. If you recruited someone out of college and handed them a legal pad and said get to work, they'd probably quit the next day. And you also look at the talent that comes out of college. They're not necessarily project-ready, work-ready. They have some theoretical things that they've learned and you have to really mold and shape them.

Speaker 3:

And so I think one of the things is the firms that will have an advantage are the ones that don't take these young people and say, oh, you need to pay your dues and do all this grunt work and repetitive work. It's the ones that say you know what AI can do that repetitive work. Let me spend time with you to build the more advanced aspects of our business instead of the basics. Right, instead of like putting someone in a soils lab which is what I did and sat there and said, hey, all these boring logs, I need you to categorize them all, and I sat there for days and weeks and years categorizing boring logs. Ai can do that Like why do you need me?

Speaker 3:

And it also left me a little disenfranchised. I mean, I was in the industry for five years and went into startup because I'm like this is like brutal grunt work. Why am I here? So I think bringing the best tools to bear is a great recruitment tool to bring new people into the organization. Secondly, I think, from a business perspective, if you're a small or mid-sized firm and your only ability to compete with the big guys, so to speak, is staffing AI, is your answer right. So you know you basically have the ability, if you do it well, to grow infinitely. To grow infinitely. It's not like oh, they have 10,000 people, I have 10 people, how will I ever compete? Well, let me tell you you can and let me show you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, those are great points and you have extensive experience in investing on the startup side. Certainly, but you and I both come from the AEC industry, as you said, working in firms, boots on the ground kind of thing you see out there, whether it's AI or other tech driven. But what's out there that's coming, that's gonna excite the folks that are attending the conference.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean, like you know, we have a company we invested in called EcoBot. They are basically field data collection using AI. I don't need to know what species of plant that is, the AI will tell me. So maybe I'm a strong geologist and a poor not a great botanist. I can get help, and maybe, if I'm a great botanist, I don't know how to differentiate the different soil colors. I can use EcoBot to figure all that stuff out.

Speaker 3:

But the key part there is not just the field enablement but getting that field data back into the office real time as fast as possible so that engineering teams can make decisions faster and therefore serve their clients better. You know, when I talk to owners which I talk to a lot of owners and developers their biggest complaint isn't necessarily costs it's time I hire a consulting engineer. They said they'd get it done in four weeks. I'm now on week six and I haven't heard anything, right? So instead of this linear approach to engaging with the customer, did I have to finish the report and send them a report? How about if you give them information as field data is being collected and being able to give them some insights ahead of time until you finish your final report right, so that's super interesting.

Speaker 3:

Then we have companies like Aaron that do computer vision, so they fly drones over bridges and pavements and roofs and all that, all that, and they take all that video data and AI analyzes the video data to understand cracks and issues and discrepancies and runs engineering analysis automatically to determine what needs to be repaired. So there's amazing things happening. I'm fortunate in my job, my venture capital job. We talk to 20 to 50 startups a week and the rate and pace of interesting things happening that will be disruptive to the industry if the industry does not adopt. I will tell you one thing these founders they're like either the industry will adopt it or we're just going to go straight to the owners. We'll just compete with you, and I think that's something that the industry doesn't necessarily see coming. If they don't move faster than the startups, the startups are eating their lunch.

Speaker 2:

Right, right, it is exciting. We, just as we're recording this, on Friday, just a couple of days ago, we hosted our final virtual demo day of 2024, where we heard from six startups that are all focused on the way that we design, build, operate and live in and work in the built environment. So it's an exciting world. All right, I've got one more question before we wrap this up. If you've been listening, you already know this, but I'm talking with KP Reddy, the founder and CEO of Shadow Ventures. He's going to be speaking at the GBA 2025 Annual Conference, the annual conference for the Geo Professional Business Association. It's coming up April 24th through 26th 2025 in Savannah, georgia. So, kp, we've talked about your book. We've talked about your talk. You were just talking about some of the startups that you've invested in. So, looking ahead, what's one key prediction that you have for the future of the AE industry, or the AEC industry, in the context of AI and emerging technology, and what steps can these consulting engineers and scientists take today to prepare for that future?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think that the biggest thing I'm seeing is everyone is playing in everyone's swim lens. I have I talked to architecture firms that are starting structural engineering departments, structural engineering firms that are starting architectural departments, consulting engineering firms that are now starting environmental firms, and the reason you're seeing that is one it used to be. If I'm a structural engineer, for example, and I want to start an architecture firm, I've got to go out and hire 50 people. What they're realizing is I can hire one or two architects and leverage AI, and then I have the power of a 200-person architecture firm, and so that's happening across the board. So, if you think about value capture from a single customer, the power of a 200 person architecture firm, and so that's happening across the board.

Speaker 3:

So, if you think about value capture from a single customer, well, if all you're doing is environmental permitting for a single customer, maybe you're doing a million dollars a year with them, maybe, right, oh, but if you can go to that same customer and you have a strong relationship and say, oh, it turns out, I can also do your civil engineering work. Oh, it turns out, I can also do your construction management, and then all of a sudden you take that one relationship and expand it to a $5 million revenue customer. That's fantastic, right? So strategically, you have to think about, like, how can I offer new services to the relationships I have and also, at the same time, maybe create net new relationships? Right? So those are the two kind of growth strategies most people deploy. So I think that's the key thing to know is that, like, it is the biggest entrepreneur you know.

Speaker 3:

I think about AI and innovation in our space. It's probably driving the biggest entrepreneurial era of our industry because of these technologies. I mean, you're a recovering architect. If you wanted to go back into architecture, all you need is a customer. You could be a one-person firm doing 10 million a year if you wanted to, right? I?

Speaker 3:

mean you don't like money. That's why you studied architecture.

Speaker 2:

That is what they taught us in school. That is correct. I was in school the same time you were in school, so that was a long time ago. All right, I've been talking with KP Reddy. He is the founder and CEO of Shadow Ventures. He's the author of Creating the Intangible Enterprise the Critical Skills Required to Thrive in an AI Driven World. He will be speaking at the Geo-Professional Business Association's annual conference April 24th to 26th of 2025 in Savannah, georgia. The title of his talk is Thriving in the Tech Age AI's Role in Shaping Architecture and Engineering the Changing Role of Consulting, engineers and scientists. Kp, thanks so much for joining me today and talking about what you're going to talk about. That got a little meta, didn't it?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, no, I'm really excited too. If those of you that know me, I'm not a show up, speak and jump out and leave. I'll be floating around ahead of time, I'll be floating around after the fact. So best way to reach out to me is, you know, follow me on LinkedIn and message me and whatnot, and my email box is constantly full. So just um, follow me on LinkedIn and message me and we can try to find a time to, to to meet up while I'm there.

Speaker 2:

All right, sounds great. Everybody look for KP ready there in Savannah in April.

Speaker 1:

It's also a very beautiful time to be in Savannah Georgia, so enjoy, and KP, thanks for joining me. Thanks for listening to another episode of KP Unpacked. You can connect with KP Ready today at kpreadyco that's K-P-R-E-D-D-Yco and additionally follow him on LinkedIn at wwwlinkedincom. Slash IN slash KP ready Until next time.