AEC Trailblazers: The Founders Files

About AEC Trailblazers: The Founders Files

Building the Future of Construction, One Story at a Time. Join us on AEC Trailblazers: The Founders Files, where we delve into the minds of the brightest stars in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) startup world. Through intimate interviews, we go beyond the elevator pitch to uncover the raw, personal stories behind these innovative disruptors. Forget dry industry jargon. This is where passion meets innovation. Hear directly from the founders who are shattering traditional mindsets and reimagining the built environment. Join our community of passionate builders. Find more content on e-verse.com, aecworks.e-verse.com everse.substack.com (https://everse.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

e-verse

Category

business · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Feb 2024

Latest episode

27 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

67 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   27 Aug 2026

   Eshan Jayamanne of Krane: Fixing the Gaps in Construction Procurement

   Construction supply chains rarely fail because of one major mistake. More often, risk builds in the handoffs: between design and procurement, procurement and vendors, submittals and fabrication, delivery and installation, commissioning and owner turnover. In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, Valentin Noves sits down with Eshan Jayamanne (https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshan-jayamanne-pe-95b85724/), Founder and CEO of Krane (https://www.linkedin.com/company/krane/), to unpack why those handoffs are so difficult to manage and why traditional procurement software often struggles with the realities of construction. Eshan’s perspective comes straight from the field. A third-generation builder and licensed Professional Engineer, he grew up around job sites before moving into civil and structural engineering. That experience exposed him to a recurring disconnect between the people designing projects and the teams responsible for building them, especially when information has to move from engineering decisions into field execution. That gap became one of the central themes of the conversation. Valentin and Eshan explore what makes construction supply chains fundamentally different from more standardized industries. Every project can introduce a different mix of equipment, vendors, specifications, compliance requirements, warranties, lead times, and custom materials. For complex systems such as switchgear, generators, chillers, and air handling units, procurement begins long before equipment reaches the job site. Teams must evaluate availability, lead times, performance, compliance, warranties, and whether vendor bids actually meet project requirements. Then come submittals, product data approvals, fabrication tracking, delivery, installation, commissioning, owner handoff, and ongoing operational information. The material moves through one chain. The approvals and project data move through another. Keeping those two aligned is where things get tricky. Eshan explains why risk tends to accumulate between these stages and why so much critical information still lives across spreadsheets and disconnected systems. That fragmentation makes it harder to maintain visibility from specification through installation and identify problems early enough to protect the schedule. The conversation also examines why off-the-shelf ERP and procurement platforms often fall short. Construction workflows are highly project-specific, spec-driven, and dependent on coordination across multiple stakeholders, making them difficult to fit into generic software models. That is also the problem behind Krane. Drawing on experience across engineering, construction, and major-project material coordination, Eshan is building an AI-native approach to procurement and material management focused on earlier risk detection, better visibility, and a more predictable path from spec to install. For anyone working in construction technology, procurement, engineering, or project delivery, this episode is a sharp look at the messy middle of how projects actually get built. Listen to the full episode of AEC Trailblazers. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com (https://everse.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   9 Mar 2026

   Design Misbehaves: Programming Architecture for High-Performance Cities

   Architecture is often framed as a discipline of icons and authorship. But what if the real story of architecture is not about individuals—but about systems, collaboration, and the tools that shape how we build? In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, host Valentin Noves, CEO of e-verse, sits down with Alexander Josephson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-josephson-946b4425/), co-founder of the globally recognized architecture studio PARTISANS (https://www.linkedin.com/company/partisans/), to explore how architects navigate creativity, technology, and professional identity in a rapidly evolving industry. Josephson’s path into architecture began long before university. As he recalls in the episode, the spark came from a childhood moment—drawing a castle for his first crush when he was six or seven years old. He describes himself as a visual thinker from the beginning, someone who connected with making things by hand rather than excelling in traditional academic settings. That early instinct toward building and visual expression ultimately shaped his career. From that starting point, the conversation expands into a deeper reflection on the profession itself. Josephson challenges the idea of the “starchitect”—the notion that architecture is driven by singular genius. In his view, the world created that narrative, not architects themselves. Today, the reality is far more collective: teams of designers, engineers, technologists, and collaborators working together to shape complex projects. That complexity also exposes tensions within the profession. Josephson describes architecture today as facing something of an identity crisis. On one hand, the profession maintains strict requirements and long educational paths before someone can legally call themselves an architect. On the other hand, the industry often struggles to clearly define or protect the role architects play in broader project ecosystems. Technology becomes another central theme of the conversation. Rather than viewing it as just a tool for efficiency, Josephson shares how technology can fundamentally reshape the value architects bring to their clients. Early in his career, he recognized this opportunity during a major project where teams were still working entirely in 2D CAD. His team proposed something different: delivering the work in BIM with a small group of young architects who could model the project and reveal potential issues before construction. That technological approach didn’t just improve production—it positioned them strategically and ultimately secured them the design mandate. For Josephson, that moment revealed an important insight: technology can be a competitive advantage for architects when it helps them solve problems earlier, faster, and more intelligently than others in the field. Throughout the episode, the conversation moves between personal story, professional philosophy, and broader industry shifts. From architectural authorship to the role of technology in design, Josephson offers a candid perspective on what it means to practice architecture in a world that is increasingly complex, collaborative, and technologically driven. For architects, technologists, and AEC professionals navigating similar questions, this episode offers both reflection and provocation: how should architects redefine their role in the decades ahead? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com (https://everse.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   23 Feb 2026

   Building Before Disaster: AI, Risk, and the Future of AEC with Ben Gilliland, Chairman of Future Proof

   What happens when 37 million homes are projected to be at extreme climate risk over the next 20 years? In this episode of AEC Trailblazers, Valentin Noves, CEO of e-verse, sits down with Ben Gilliland (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-gilliland-ba8978290/) — Founder and Chairman of Future Proof Property Intelligence (https://www.linkedin.com/company/future-proof-property-intelligence/about/) — to unpack one of the most urgent challenges facing the built environment today: how to proactively retrofit and finance resilience at scale before disaster strikes. Ben brings more than five decades of experience across construction engineering, software, structured finance, and venture capital to a conversation that reframes climate risk as a design and systems problem — not just an insurance issue. The numbers are staggering. Roughly 37 million U.S. homes are expected to face extreme exposure over the next two decades. That translates to nearly 100 million people directly affected. And much of the existing housing stock was built using technologies and standards that are 60 to 75 years old — long before current climate volatility was imaginable. Rather than waiting for insurance markets to collapse or premiums to skyrocket, Future Proof is building an AI-driven platform that combines: * Multi-peril extreme weather analytics * Address-level historical weather data dating back to 1950 * Long-range climate forecasting through 2100 * Engineering-based remediation planning Through partnerships with IBM Climate Intelligence and The Weather Company, Ben’s team integrates predictive modeling with granular property data to create actionable remediation strategies — not theoretical risk scores. This episode explores why remediation — essentially large-scale, engineered retrofitting — may be the only viable response to systemic climate exposure. Ben explains why floods in Asheville, North Carolina, and expanding wildfire zones in states like Colorado are signals of a broader structural shift in risk geography. More importantly, he challenges the AEC industry to act. If resilience becomes a measurable, financeable input into the building lifecycle, contractors, architects, engineers, insurers, and policymakers must collaborate differently. This is no longer about reactive rebuilding. It’s about proactive upgrading. For professionals in AEC, construction tech, proptech, and climate intelligence, this episode offers a grounded look at how AI, engineering, and capital markets intersect in the next phase of the built environment. Because the future of AEC may not be about building new — it may be about fixing what already exists. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit everse.substack.com (https://everse.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Who has been a guest on AEC Trailblazers: The Founders Files

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Leah Ellis
• Shreesha Ramdas
• Tim Sperry

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

62

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

60

Contact AEC Trailblazers: The Founders Files

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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