Believe me or not, I'm in for work. Ok, it's always half work half pleasure, why not. Other than some personal affairs (like finding good bread) I've been busy with reconnecting with the architecture and construction community of this side of the world. When I was young (the good old days) I did spend 9 months here, and I feel it's time to reconnect and expand a bit my connections here.
I gave a presentation at Bouygues Construction at Challenger on how AI can be utilized in construction. A few discussion points were raised:
- the difference in attitude in accepting AI in Asia compared to Europe
- the huge number of ConTech AI startups that swarm to get connected with clients, clients can get overwhelmed
- policies and security concerns, very fair to consider these
- the need for AI literacy and education for professionals and anyone at any stage of their career.
One big question was asked: out of the 1600+ Contech apps out there, how do they even know how to start?! I get it.
I think for clients (developers, contractors, governments) they really don't know what to do with the massive number of AI start-ups that come to them and pitch to them, there are just so many that try to get them to invest, to partner-up. The analogy would be like, you want to buy a two bedroom flat, with big windows, a small balcony, natural light, facing south, bla bla you got your other requirements. Then one hundred landlords start to reach you via your email trying to get you to come and view their flats, each of their flats is unique, has different price points, different features but each of them claiming they can suit you in one way or another. You have no idea where to start. That's why you need a real estate agent.
AAL had become that agent. As I explained to new friends in the Paris Summit which I attended on the same day, the clients want to know where to start, and to find the right match. The AI start-ups want a way into talking to the right people within the system, the decision makers, they also want to know about the culture of different areas. AAL is the bridge.
And then I went to the Paris Summit because I was invited by Bouygues and they were the sponsor. Around 10 startups did a demo (more like recorded demos) and showed each of their capabilites. Curious to see none of the startups guys who presented were ladies and also the judges (because it was a demo competition) were also all guys :/ Looking forward to have more diversity in this male dominant cross section of tech and construction~ (lemme help lol)
Other than Bougyues, some of the sponsors included DELL and Nvidia, so that was pretty cool.
The CEO of Builtworld gave a speech to start.
The next couple of hour were the speakers giving their demos, the investor judges asking questions and then moving on. It was pretty well organized.
When every speaker had their go, the official event ends for the day and people start to network over champagne and small delicates. It was pretty nice, also the venue is not far from Arch de Triomphe.
By the way if you haven't yet joined our whatsapp community, it's growing into a pretty nice vibey international group, and I like it when people ping each other cool knowledge. I try to post an AI tip once a day. You can check it out HERE
Talk again next time
Cheers
Adeline
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