Confluence

About Confluence

The Confluence podcast is the director's commentary track for AEC industry software. Go behind the scenes with us to learn how and why decisions were made in the creation of your favorite software for the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. It's a collaboration between Randall Stevens of AVAIL and Evan Troxel of TRXL.

Publisher

Evan Troxel & Randall Stevens

Category

arts · education · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Sept 2023

Latest episode

17 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

26 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   17 Jun 2026

   The "Golden Thread": Fixing AEC’s Information Sprawl

   Carl Veillette, Chief Product Officer at Newforma, joins Evan Troxel and Randall Stevens to talk about the data problem hiding underneath every project. Anchored by the new Confluence Tech Stack Survey, where the tool count per project jumped from about 15 a few years ago to 84, Veillette argues the real issue is not the number of tools but the broken connections between them. He makes the case that a single source of truth does not exist, and that the goal is a single view across systems like Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, ACC, ProjectWise, and Procore. They get concrete about the golden thread, governance and retention, and why Newforma's job is to free the data from the files rather than host it. This episode is especially relevant for CIOs, digital practice leaders, and project information managers wrestling with data sprawl, litigation risk, and AI adoption. Veillette walks through practical AI use cases, from mining the inbox for project records to agentic workflows for code compliance and lessons learned. The throughline is blunt and useful: AI is only as good as the data behind it, so the value lives in the record, not the model. Episode Links: Connect with the guest Carl Veillette, Chief Product Officer, Newforma (https://www.newforma.com/); co-founder of BIM Track (https://bimtrack.co/) The survey Confluence Tech Stack Survey (2025) (https://confluence.getavail.com/2025-survey) — the report behind the 15-to-84 tool sprawl discussion Tools and systems mentioned Microsoft Teams (https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams), Procore (https://www.procore.com/), Autodesk Construction Cloud (https://construction.autodesk.com/), Bentley ProjectWise (https://www.bentley.com/software/projectwise/), Egnyte (https://www.egnyte.com/), Panzura (https://panzura.com/), Miro (https://miro.com/) AI and code compliance UpCodes (https://up.codes/), Archistar (https://www.archistar.ai/), Workorb AI (https://www.workorb.com/), Knowledge Architecture (https://knowledge-architecture.com/) Standards and regulation ISO 19650 (https://www.iso.org/standard/68078.html), ISO 9001 (https://www.iso.org/iso-9001-quality-management.html), UK Building Safety Act 2022 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/30) Watch this episode on YouTube (https://youtu.be/f2Ne25KZYvA). ----- The Confluence podcast is a collaboration between TRXL and AVAIL, and is produced by TRXL Media. Learn more about them at https://trxl.co/media (https://trxl.co/media) and https://getavail.com (https://getavail.com/) Learn more about the Confluence podcast at https://confluence.getavail.com/podcast (https://confluence.getavail.com/podcast) Learn about the Confluence events at https://confluence.getavail.com (https://confluence.getavail.com/)

2. 

   4 Jun 2026

   Why Digital Twins Need an Intelligence Layer

   Michael Jansen and Dr. Prasanta Bose join Evan Troxel and Randall Stevens to talk about what it takes to put an intelligence layer on top of a digital twin. Bose traces the idea back through reinforcement learning, Lockheed Martin satellites, and Starbucks before explaining why a real twin needs both a sensing layer and a cognitive one. They get specific about the decisions behind TwinMaster: refusing to build another design authoring tool and instead embedding their Arch-e copilot inside Revit, Archicad, and MicroStation; building a semantic, systems-oriented model so the AI can reason about a wall as more than two planes; and tuning existing models with context rather than training their own. This episode is especially relevant for design technologists, BIM leads, and AEC software teams weighing how AI actually fits into established tools instead of replacing them. Jansen makes the case that architects, who create the original twin, could sell and maintain it as an ongoing service and move past one-time fixed fees. You will come away rethinking where the value sits after the drawings are done. Episode Links: Connect with the guests Dr. Prasanta Bose, CEO and co-founder — LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/prasanta-bose-b7226810/) Michael Jansen, Chief Business Officer and co-founder — LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-jansen-466ba78/) TwinMaster Website (https://thetwinmaster.com/) and company LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/thetwinmaster) Arch-e joins the Bentley Ecosystem (https://www.constructionowners.com/press-release/twinmaster-joins-bentley-ecosystem-with-arch-e) TwinMaster: ChatGPT for Architects, in 3D (AEC Business) (https://aec-business.com/twinmaster-chatgpt-for-architects-in-3d/) Tools and ecosystems mentioned Autodesk (Revit, AutoCAD) (https://www.autodesk.com/), Bentley (MicroStation, iTwin) (https://www.bentley.com/), Graphisoft Archicad (https://graphisoft.com/), Trimble (SketchUp, Connect) (https://www.trimble.com/), McNeel Rhino (https://www.rhino3d.com/), Nemetschek (https://www.nemetschek.com/), Chaos (https://www.chaos.com/) People and ideas referenced Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton, 2024 Turing Award (https://awards.acm.org/about/2024-turing), Santa Fe Institute (https://www.santafe.edu/), Falkonry (https://falkonry.com/), Cityzenith (https://cityzenith.com/), Gaussian splatting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaussian_splatting), regenerative design (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_design) Watch this episode on YouTube (https://youtu.be/3s84Ar41flg). ----- The Confluence podcast is a collaboration between TRXL and AVAIL, and is produced by TRXL Media. Learn more about them at https://trxl.co/media (https://trxl.co/media) and https://getavail.com (https://getavail.com/) Learn more about the Confluence podcast at https://confluence.getavail.com/podcast (https://confluence.getavail.com/podcast) Learn about the Confluence events at https://confluence.getavail.com (https://confluence.getavail.com/)

3. 

   20 May 2026

   How AECOM is Revolutionizing Reality Capture

   Welcome to season 3 of the Confluence podcast! In this episode, AECOM’s Matthew Anderle joins Randall Stevens and Evan Troxel to break down how AECOM is pushing reality capture forward with custom-built robotics—rovers for “old dirty basements,” pipe crawlers for long culverts, and aquatic platforms for below-water inspections. They discuss layering environmental sensing on top of LiDAR point clouds, why digital twins must be operational (not just “great existing conditions models”), and what it means to help deliver LA28 as the first Olympics delivered in BIM. This episode is a tour through AECOM’s “mobile autonomous reality capture” toolkit, purpose built to extend scanning into places people can’t (or shouldn’t) go. They discuss: Why AECOM built a robotics program for reality capture: safety, access, and repeatability in harsh/confined environments “Sensorium” point clouds: humidity, temperature, air quality/particulates, and other context layered onto spatial data Hardware + workflow highlights: wireless FPV, safety tethers, modular payloads, off-the-shelf tool batteries, and custom electronics The “fiducial arm” problem: how to create registration targets inside smooth pipes so 500’ scans actually align Makerspaces, trains, and hands-on fabrication as a pipeline for future STEM + AEC careers LA 2028: transforming ~60 venues on an immovable deadline, and what it means to run the program’s common data environment Links from the episode AECOM: https://aecom.com/ (https://aecom.com/) Matt Enderle on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/matthewanderle) LA28: https://la28.org/ (https://la28.org/) Digital twin (overview): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_twin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_twin) ----- The Confluence podcast is a collaboration between TRXL and AVAIL, and is produced by TRXL Media. Learn more about them at https://trxl.co/media (https://trxl.co/media) and https://getavail.com (https://getavail.com/) Learn more about the Confluence podcast at https://confluence.getavail.com/podcast (https://confluence.getavail.com/podcast) Learn about the Confluence events at https://confluence.getavail.com (https://confluence.getavail.com/)

Reach and audience

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

YouTube views

4,940

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 67 / 100

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

Quality

81

Social presence

0

YouTube

74

Engagement

60

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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