Please tell us a little bit about your role and responsibilities in your current company. How did you arrive at Togal.AI?
I grew up in a family business, Coastal Construction, where I had the chance to work in various capacities. I learned estimating from my grandfather 25 years ago and the process has basically been the same since; humans manually drawing polygons, coloring and counting various objects. That all changed with Togal.AI when we had the idea to use deep machine learning to automate this manual process. Originally we planned on keeping the capabilities inside Coastal, but quickly realized this is the largest piece of overhead for most construction companies globally and we would be better served to spin it out and let everybody have access to this breakthrough technology.
Could you tell us more about Togal.AI and what are your core offerings?
Togal.AI uses proprietary AI algorithms to automatically and accurately detect, label, and measure project spaces, walls, and objects within seconds with one click. Additionally, Togal.AI compares drawing versions and provides an instant quantitative analysis of all changes or modifications. Togal. AI supports all drawing formats and allows for collaboration between team members. Togal reduces the takeoff process from days to seconds.
You are among the pioneers of AI-powered SaaS-based platforms for the construction industry. Could you tell us more about the benefits of bringing AI to this industry?
According to a recent study in the NY Times, productivity in the construction industry has remained flat while other industries have seen an average increase of 290%. Based on this, there is a higher ceiling and more opportunity for the use of AI to improve the speed, quality, safety and efficiency of construction and the real estate industry at large.
There is a tremendous amount of data available from previous jobs that goes unused and underutilized on each new construction job. Thanks to AI, and especially generative AI/ GPT breakthroughs, we can now use LLM’s (large language models) to tap into previous schedules, pricing estimates, safety records, change orders, warranty issues and other critical pieces of information to prevent delays, cost overruns, safety hazards and building deficiencies.
Tell us more about your recent funding. How do you plan to accelerate AI product development?
With this recent funding round, we plan to invest heavily in our development team and bring on more AI data engineers to further advance our roadmap. We are continuing to hire the best in brightest in the AI, data and construction fields.
What’s your take on the role of generative AI and conversational AI platforms that have gripped the interest of every AI researcher today? Do you think tools like GPT4 and Stable Diffusion would have a big role to play in your industry?
Yes, construction is no different than every other industry that is going to see major disruption and change from generative AI and the like. Since construction has been slow to adapt and change over the past 50+ years, I believe the changes will be more dramatic in construction/ real estate. There is a wealth of knowledge in previous construction documents (plans, schedules, budgets, change orders, safety, warranty issues, etc) that can now be readily accessed, analyzed and used to improve and prevent these issues which will result in a better and more affordable built environment.
What should CEOs do to bring more clarity into the way they use and promise AI capabilities to the customers?
In my experience with leveraging AI for the construction industry, it is critical to have achieved at least 97% accuracy before launching and promising the functionality to customers. Earning trust and gaining that user approval is everything with AI. If the AI is constantly showing accurate and fast results, the customer will learn to trust it and use it.
Your take on the future of AI-powered apps in industries related to construction business – real estate, manufacturing and customer support:
I think we will see a continued increase in productivity and efficiency in all industries thanks to AI, and we’re still in the early innings! Thanks to the ability of AI to process significantly more data, I would expect to see faster, more accurate, accessible and usable information in these industries and many others.
Thank you, Patrick ! That was fun and we hope to see you back on AiThority.com soon.
