AI is already changing construction. The real question is whether your company is keeping up or quietly falling behind.

In this episode of Bridging the Gap, Todd Weyandt sits down with Shel Waggener, Chief Customer Officer at Lumber and former construction company president, to break down what AI adoption actually looks like inside a contractor’s business today.

This is not a future-focused conversation. It is a practical look at how AI is already showing up in the back office, in the field, and across workforce management. Shel shares why AI cannot be treated like just another tool, how “agentic AI” is eliminating administrative work, and what it really takes to build AI into your operations as a core capability.

The biggest shift is not technology. It is mindset. Contractors must move from doing the work to orchestrating it.

If you are not actively building AI into your workflows, your competitors will.

• Why AI in construction is happening faster than most leaders realize
• What “agentic AI” actually means in real workflows
• The most practical back office use cases you can deploy today
• How field data, computer vision, and site capture reduce rework
• Why AI should be treated as a workforce multiplier, not a threat
• How to create feedback loops to scale AI across your company

Shel Waggener is the Chief Customer Officer at Lumber, where he helps construction companies reimagine their back offices for the AI era. A former President of American Asphalt, Shel brings real operator experience to the conversation, combining deep knowledge of construction workflows with expertise in cloud, automation, and enterprise systems. His work focuses on helping contractors adopt practical AI solutions that drive efficiency, accuracy, and growth.

• Innovation requires pushing past the industry’s natural resistance to change
• AI success depends on exposing and scaling ideas across your teams
• The future belongs to contractors who think like conductors, not just doers

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What does leadership look like when things go wrong?

In this episode of Bridging the Gap, Todd Weyandt welcomes back Ed DeAngelis, CEO and Founder of EDA Contractors, for a powerful follow-up conversation on Humanity as a Strategy. One year later, the focus shifts from philosophy to reality. What happens when leadership is tested under pressure?

Ed shares how leading with humility, empathy, and emotional intelligence creates stronger teams, better decisions, and more resilient organizations. From high stress jobsite moments to everyday leadership habits, this episode challenges the traditional mindset of construction leadership and offers a better path forward.

If you want to build a culture where people perform at their best and stay engaged long term, this conversation delivers practical insights you can apply immediately.

• Why humility is critical for effective leadership and team performance
• How to stay calm and decisive during high pressure situations
• Why yelling does not drive long term results and what works instead
• How to build trust and psychological safety on construction teams
• Why caring for employees as people improves business outcomes
• How to prepare your team for challenges before they happen
• What the future of leadership in construction should look like

Ed DeAngelis is the CEO and Founder of EDA Contractors, Inc. Ed’s innovative personality has helped position EDA as a leader in the construction industry. He is known for his people-first leadership philosophy, Humanity as a Strategy, which focuses on building strong cultures through trust, empathy, and accountability.

Under Ed’s leadership, EDA Contractors has been recognized for three consecutive years as a Top Workplace in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is passionate about developing leaders at every level of the organization and helping reshape how the construction industry approaches leadership and culture.

Humility allows teams to function at a higher level. When leaders listen, invite feedback, and create space for ideas, teams become more engaged and collaborative. Ego shuts people down. Humility brings them in.

Leadership under pressure is not accidental. It is built through preparation. When teams know their roles and expectations ahead of time, leaders can stay calm and provide clarity when challenges arise.

Caring for employees is not just a cultural initiative. It is a strategic advantage. When leaders genuinely invest in their people, performance, loyalty, and long term success follow.

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Drywall prefabrication is still in its growth phase.

In this episode of Prefab, Unfiltered, recorded live at Advancing Prefabrication, Todd Weyandt sits down with Kiryl Turbal to explore how drywall prefab can scale through tighter BIM workflows, better coordination, and a value stream mindset.

While electrical and mechanical trades have matured in prefabrication, drywall remains an evolving space. Success depends on treating prefab operations as strategic value streams, aligning design and field teams earlier, and acknowledging the real time required for coordination.

This conversation dives into BIM-to-fabrication workflows, communication gaps between modelers and foremen, the role of repetition in building maturity, and how AI and data security may influence future drywall prefab operations.

If you are involved in prefabrication, drywall construction, BIM coordination, modular construction, or industrialized building strategies, this episode offers practical insight into scaling an emerging prefab trade.

• Why drywall prefabrication requires a value stream mindset
• How BIM-to-fabrication workflows can improve drywall productivity
• Why coordination takes longer than most schedules allow
• The communication gaps between modelers and field crews
• How repetition and documented lessons drive prefab maturity
• Where drywall prefab stands compared to electrical and mechanical trades

Kiryl Turbal is Prefabrication Project Manager at TG McCorkney, where he focuses on drywall prefabrication and BIM-driven construction workflows. With a background in structural engineering and more than a decade in design, he brings technical rigor and process discipline to prefab operations.

His work centers on improving coordination, tightening BIM-to-fabrication processes, and building scalable workflows that support drywall prefab growth.

Prefab operations should be measured by throughput and value creation, not overhead. When leadership treats drywall prefab as strategic, scale becomes possible.

BIM-to-fabrication workflows require time and discipline. When coordination is compressed unrealistically, friction follows. Prefab maturity requires honest scheduling.

Drywall prefabrication is still evolving. Capturing lessons learned and standardizing workflows creates repeatability and long-term scale.

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