nPlan Raises £11.9M Series B, AI Agents Lack Evals Crisis, WhatsApp Dominates 90% Site Communication
"Most AI Agents Will Die" - Why This CTO Is Terrified About What's Coming
In this episode of Bricks, Bucks & Bytes, hosts Owen Drury, Martin, and Patric Hellermann sit down with some of construction tech's boldest builders who aren't holding back. Fresh off massive funding rounds and hard-won lessons, they reveal what's really happening behind the hype.
What we cover:
- nPlan's £11.9M Series B - Alan Mosca (CTO) explains why they accidentally solved molecule generation while building scheduling AI
- Factors' $56M raise - How they're financing $250-300M of construction work annually (and the "trick" banks don't want you to know)
- The AI agent apocalypse - Why lack of evaluation frameworks will "kill off most agents"
- WhatsApp is eating construction tech - 90% of site communication happens here, and smart founders are finally paying attention
- Smart glasses revolution - Why this could be as transformative as mobile phones on construction sites
- AI consultancies without humans - The controversial future of PM firms charging on outcomes, not hours
- Why one founder stopped fundraising - "Customer money is the best capital" and why raising is a "massive distraction"
- 5 accelerators, 5 lessons - Prakash Senghani (Navatech) on contradictory advice and what actually works in the Middle East
- Regional pricing secrets - Why per-user pricing fails in the UAE and what to do instead
Key Quote:
"I think we're getting to a stage where AI is going to become like the internet, right? You don't tell people that my app runs on the internet. That's obvious. You're going to get to a stage where your app has AI. Yeah, that's obvious, right? What are you doing with it? What's the outcome?" - Prakash Senghani
Featuring: Alan Mosca (nPlan CTO), Nitin Bhandari (Planera), and Prakash Senghani (Navatech)
🎧 Listen to the Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3P7JkiN9X3N4Kh6jlDsOgi?si=91JP5nxvQbKStkp8AQdAOg
📩 Subscribe to the Bricks & Bytes Newsletter: https://bricks-bytes.beehiiv.com/
🌐 Visit our website: http://bricks-bytes.com/
📲 Follow us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bricks-bytes/
Twitter: https://x.com/bricksbytespod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bricksbytes/
Sponsors:
BuildVision - streamlining the construction supply chain with a unified platform - www.buildvision.io
Archdesk - “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies - Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com
Enjoying the insights? Hit that Subscribe button to stay ahead in construction tech, AI, and the future of how we build.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:12 Introduction and Guest Introduction
04:61 Funding News and Company Growth
08:03 Technological Innovations in Scheduling
10:40 Generative Models and Unexpected Discoveries
13:31 Developing Custom Models for Specific Tasks
16:24 The Importance of Data and Research
19:08 Convergence of Machine Learning Techniques
22:13 AI Skepticism and Misuse
24:52 The Future of AI in Construction Tech
28:08 Collaborative Scheduling and User Experience
30:57 Evaluating AI Performance
33:36 Insights from Nitin on Data Center Construction
36:32 Planera's Unique Approach to Scheduling
39:28 The Role of AI in Scheduling
42:20 Lessons from Past Collaborative Tools
45:18 The Future of Scheduling Technology
46:33 Introduction and Context Setting
47:25 Navigating Growing Pains in Business
48:17 The Role of AI in Business Operations
49:44 Understanding the Product and Its Impact
51:14 Practical Applications of AI in Safety
54:45 Target Customers and Market Strategy
55:48 Shifting Gears: The Future of Construction Tech
1:00:17 The Evolution of Software and Company Structures
1:04:09 Current Business Climate in the Region
1:06:13 The Rise of Construction Tech Startups
1:10:05 Experiences with Accelerators
1:15:39 Pricing Strategies for Startups
1:18:41 Conclusion and Future Outlook
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.