Shadow Shorts: Gregory Sauter on Innovating Construction's Future

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All it takes is a few clicks for you to make a difference . Welcome to the future and welcome to the Shadow Network with KP Ready .

I'm already having a lot of fun because I am joined by Greg Sautter . He is the president at WGI . We've been talking before we get started . He's in West Palm Beach , florida , and I think the weather here in Indianapolis , where I am , might actually be nicer than West Palm Beach .

So this is like the one day of the year that we can claim that title here in Indianapolis . Welcome , greg , I'm glad you're here .

But there's a lot of technology out there , there's a lot of innovation going on out there , but , as you said before we went live , we're often very slow to adopt that technology . So tell me more about you know , from the point of view of the president of WGI and everything that you look at , that you're paying attention to , that you're working on .

Where do you see that technology and where is it slow and what's the result of that ? Why does it matter that we're slow to adopt the technology ?

So we have to fundamentally change the equation . You know some of the things we do here at WGI . We're a full service engineering company headquartered here in West Palm Beach Last year we worked in 42 states , but also with a , with a significant focus on innovation and technology .

And , in fact , one of the things I find really interesting , we're in the fourth year of our innovation contest and in our internal innovation contest , the in out of the top 10 , we just finished it a week ago , friday .

The top 10 that came in , seven out of the 10 , right , these are our own folks are our pitching ideas on how artificial intelligence is going to change everything we do Right . So it used to be . You know we had this talk with our team , their first time being canoe board early .

You know a few of us zealots out there talking about what that future might look like . Might look like .

And now our folks really , really are starting to drive the conversation that , hey , we can do this differently and that we have to do this differently , right , and especially the younger generation too , and it's no surprise , but they're saying , hey , if there's a better way , that's the way we want to go .

So , but one of the things that can be extremely frustrating because we , you know , we tend to be very conservative and very parochial as an industry when we do have options for something that makes a difference and can really , you know , change the game , we tend to be slow to not very slow to adopt and one of the ones that I was talking about .

You know that I mentioned earlier that I have a particular passion around .

We created a venture arm within WGI to invest specifically in emerging technologies , and one of those companies is a company called Streamline Technologies , found by a guy by the name of Pete Senghoff and who's a guru in the space of stormwater management , and we've been helping them kind of take to firm to the next level .

But you , know , as I said , we were joking about the rain here and it's been raining for three days straight and I think we're supposed to get another two or four inches today In Florida , which is a great example .

We're blessed with all this water , right , but it's also a curse , and but we now have tools that can tell us specifically where the flooding is going to be , right . So typically when we're looking at flooding , we're looking at inundation maps .

When we watch the news on a hurricane and they talk about where the flooding is going to be , they're using very , very blunt instruments , right to come up with those estimates .

But we now have the capability to do real-time flood forecasting and the Streamline tool I was talking about , because of a very advanced and complex hydrologic engine and hydraulic engine that takes into consideration all of the factors , that understands where the rain is going to fall and what's going to happen to that rain and where the flooding is going to be , and

very , very specific . I call it , you know , surgical understanding of flooding at the base elevation , house level , at you know the level at a hospital , a firehouse , on a road , and we can know that in advance . You know one , two , three days in advance .

We know where the flooding is going to occur , which gives us the ability to be much more thoughtful about how we apply resources , how we move people out of harm's way , how we protect our assets .

You know , and it's one of the things again , it's a small part of our business , but I'm so passionate about it because we have solutions now , right , to change the game , to change the equation , and it's still very hard to get folks to appreciate the impact and start adopting these technologies , right , but some of these answers are there today and you know this

is just one of them , but at the rate and pace and change of technology today , more and more of these are going to be out there .

And when we talk about , you know , sustainability , resilience , adaptation , it's tools like this that allow us , you know , to be more adaptable , to be more efficient and to make our infrastructure more resilient over time , and that's what it does .

So , you know , again , in this world of thinking about , you know , climate change , sea level rise , the flooding issues we have , there are things that start to change the tide , if you will , pun intended , and we need to adopt this .

Oh , you mean like like BIM , or you mean something , and that's not it at all right .

What we're talking about is innovation in this , in this case , technology that literally shapes the way we design , we build , in the cases that you're talking about , how we , how we keep people safe , how we keep infrastructure safe or , as you said , you know , improvements or investment in , etc .

It literally shapes the built environment and the future of how we live , where we live , etc . And that that's one of the things that really gets me excited about these types of conversations is what you're talking about could literally save lives . That's right , and you know different aspects of infrastructure , etc .

That's important technology and it just when you brought up the fact that we're slow to adopt it and I know you're right about that it's like how , how , how . This boggles my mind right .

It's a tough job , it's tough to do , right , they typically do have limited resources and we're , all you know , struggling for the same talent , right , and they have the same turnover issues , and you know so . So it's not an easy environment and I get that .

But what we have to , I think , fundamentally change is this this understanding and appreciation that the tools are changing , in some cases changing significantly .

We have to at least be open to it , right , and that's why , again , I get so passionate around these things , because when I see something happen in a city or town or a county that could have been avoided it just you know , I feel like we have a public responsibility to just stand on the rooftops a little bit and wave the flag and say , hey , you know

there's a better way and there's going to be more and more of those . And part of the challenge I think , as an industry too , is , you know , we have to be , we have to get better at that communication and , I also think be a filter for some of it .

Because there is so much happening now , you know we have to bring the pieces together in a way that allows it to be digestible for these , the ultimate consumers of it . Otherwise it can be a bit overwhelming .

Right , they may be developing some technology , or they may be , you know , using technology in a new way , etc . What's what's the call to action here for other other people that are in specifically your position but but also , you know , in a like , from a broader perspective , I guess a firm like WGI yeah , I think there's a few things .

We've been talking about smart cities , right , but what is interesting is the technology is actually starting to get to the point where there are elements of the city that really can be smart , act in a smart way , give us information back to make better decisions and to be much smarter smarter about how we deploy resources . You know so much of this to .

Again , as I was saying before , from a sustainability perspective , I think , as an industry as well , we have a responsibility to find a way to do this more efficiently and effectively . In fact , the numbers are spelled out right .

The level of advancement from an efficiency perspective and almost every other industry , as you probably know , have gotten much more efficient and effective over time , and you know the overall AEC industry has not at the same pace . I know that would surprise a lot of people , but it's a fact .

So we actually have a responsibility to to be able to do more with less , because the resources aren't going to be there .

I think that's a great call to action and for anybody that's out there listening to this or watching this , you know , whichever version , however , you're consuming this , I hope that we take that to heart , because there is there's a lot of talent out there , there are a lot of great ideas out there and and we do absolutely have the ability to shape the way that

we design , that we build , we develop and you know , beyond that , the way , the way people live and survive . So , greg , this was , this was fantastic . I really appreciate you bring your passion to this one , but but also this example . You call it a small example .

It's , it's , it's an example , it's one example that you're working on , but it really has the ability to have a huge impact . So , thanks , thanks so much for joining me and for telling , telling the story here .

So we're the ones who should be investing in that technology , inviting technology into the industry and really leading the way .

It doesn't look like that out the window , by the way , but he's in West Palm Beach , florida , and I'll be back with another guest tomorrow . Thanks , everybody .