Connect to the Future
With Gannett Fleming’s Kevin Switala 

Gannett Fleming’s Chief Technology Officer, Kevin Switala, talks with BST Global’s Chief Executive Officer, Javier A. Baldor, about expectations for the AEC industry in the age of AI.  

Kevin is particularly excited about AI’s potential to connect inexperienced yet tech-savvy new employees with the knowledge and skills of retiring professionals. With the aid of AI technologies, a digital mentorship could help young professionals become proficient faster and would help close the knowledge gap forming as Baby Boomers leave the workforce. 

Kevin also discusses the practically endless opportunities to connect emerging technologies for “hybridized breakthroughs.” For example, we could see computer vision and natural language learning come together in an application that allows robots to assist with hazardous location inspections. These types of hybrid AI applications will make it possible to take on projects that would otherwise be too dangerous or simply impossible for humans to complete. 

On the data side of the conversation, Kevin explains some of the ways the AEC industry is already insulated against certain AI-related risks. He cites the industry’s operational foundation of calculating, recalculating, validating and verifying everything as a natural failsafe when it comes to working with AI-generated assets.  

Catch the full episode to hear what else Kevin has to say about these and other topics.