Inventing Construction

The construction industry is moving faster than ever. Digital twins. Information management frameworks. AI-assisted workflows. Data-driven decision-making. Asset-focused delivery. Clients demanding structured data, not just drawings.
Meanwhile, universities operate in three- to five-year curriculum cycles, shaped by accreditation requirements, professional standards, and institutional governance. So the question isn’t provocative for the sake of it. It’s necessary:

Can academia keep up with a rapidly changing construction industry?

That is the topic of today's episode. We've invited Professor of Information Management Sarah Davidson from the University of Nottingham to help us answer this question.

What you'll learn from today's episode of Inventing Construction:

- Information as a deliverable
- Academia vs. Industry: What’s actually different?
- Is academia out of date?
- Can curriculums change fast enough?

You can also listen to Inventing Construction on these platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aAxc0iqOe2JJly3jCh9jV?si=8db208888a9a4e4c
Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inventing-construction/id1629403210
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmFqJlVzEa6Lc_7LOTjvac2oTbRRk9HdK

We would love for you to continue the conversation with us on LinkedIn:
Ross: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-griffin-kosmos/
Elia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliaarquitectatecnica/
Sarah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-davidson-a6378334/?originalSubdomain=uk
KOSMOS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kosmos-dk

Thanks for listening!

The construction industry has a people problem. 
Across markets, firms are struggling to hire and retain building surveyors, quantity surveyors, project managers, and estimators. The demand for construction is growing, regulation is increasing, risk is rising, and yet more people are leaving the industry than entering.

In today's episode we're talking to Phil Chell, CEO and Co-founder of Chiron.ai, to explore a controversial but necessary question:

What if the solution isn’t hiring more surveyors, but replacing parts of the role altogether?

What you'll learn from today's episode of Inventing Construction:

- Where have all the surveyors gone?
- Why AI is needed in these professions
- Efficiency vs hiring more people
- How far behind construction really is..

You can also listen to Inventing Construction on these platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aAxc0iqOe2JJly3jCh9jV?si=8db208888a9a4e4c
Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inventing-construction/id1629403210
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmFqJlVzEa6Lc_7LOTjvac2oTbRRk9HdK

We would love for you to continue the conversation with us on LinkedIn:
Ross: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-griffin-kosmos/
Elia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliaarquitectatecnica/
Phil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philchell/
KOSMOS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kosmos-dk

Thanks for listening!

Thinking about concrete as a sustainable material might sound a bit weird. But when you look past the headline statistics regarding its carbon impact, you start to see a material that is undergoing a quiet, chemical revolution.

In this episde we explore this topic with Andrea Charlson, a Senior Sustainability Specialist and Circular Economy Lead at The Concrete Centre in the UK. With a career spanning major infrastructure projects and strategic policy roles, Andrea brings a wealth of experience to the conversation about how concrete is evolving to meet a net-zero future.

What you'll learn from today's episode of Inventing Construction:

- Why is concrete everywhere?
- The sustainability story of concrete
- Concrete and the circular economy
- Carbon/concrete benchmarking
- The future of concrete

You can also listen to Inventing Construction on these platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aAxc0iqOe2JJly3jCh9jV?si=8db208888a9a4e4c
Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inventing-construction/id1629403210
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmFqJlVzEa6Lc_7LOTjvac2oTbRRk9HdK

We would love for you to continue the conversation with us on LinkedIn:
Ross: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-griffin-kosmos/
Elia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliaarquitectatecnica/
Andrea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-charlson-aaa55520/
KOSMOS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kosmos-dk

Thanks for listening!

The real competitive advantage in construction isn’t technology, contracts, or delivery models. It’s people. It's highly competent people that enjoy and experiences meaning in the work they do everyday. 
In this episode Elia is joined by Antonio, Director at KOSMOS, to a conversation about why he joined KOSMOS and how construction companies can stop offering “jobs” and start building careers – and why that shift can be business critical.

What you'll learn from today's episode of Inventing Construction:

- Why Antonio chose KOSMOS
- What it's like being a quantity surveyor in Denmark
- Why everyone should seek a mentor
- How to overcome the challenge of bad employee retention
- How standardisation can change your projects

You can also listen to Inventing Construction on these platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aAxc0iqOe2JJly3jCh9jV?si=8db208888a9a4e4c
Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inventing-construction/id1629403210
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmFqJlVzEa6Lc_7LOTjvac2oTbRRk9HdK

We would love for you to continue the conversation with us on LinkedIn:
Ross: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-griffin-kosmos/
Elia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliaarquitectatecnica/
Antonio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-contegiacomo-msc-frics-73a8951b/
KOSMOS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kosmos-dk

Thanks for listening!

Talking about data in construction might sound like a technicality reserved for IT departments. But when you look at how projects are actually run—the "headless chicken" scenarios on-site, the reactive decision-making, and the billions lost to inefficiency—you realize that data isn't just a tool; it is the foundation of the industry’s future - but we have to do it right and remain in control.

In today's episode we've invited Sara Mehrabi, Vice President of Data Analytics and Decision Intelligence at COWI. As an engineer by training, Sara has seen firsthand how the industry struggles to bridge the gap between traditional engineering and the rapid evolution of data science.

What you'll learn from today's episode of Inventing Construction:

- The real reason data is powerful
- How to define relevant construction data
- The major issue and potential of AI in construction
- The risks and responsibility of using data to progress our industry

You can also listen to Inventing Construction on these platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2aAxc0iqOe2JJly3jCh9jV?si=8db208888a9a4e4c
Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inventing-construction/id1629403210
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmFqJlVzEa6Lc_7LOTjvac2oTbRRk9HdK

We would love for you to continue the conversation with us on LinkedIn:
Ross: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-griffin-kosmos/
Elia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliaarquitectatecnica/
Sara: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsaramehrabi/
KOSMOS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kosmos-dk

Thanks for listening!