Innovation In Construction Episodes

Construction leaders spend a lot of time talking about budgets, schedules, productivity, and technology. But what if those aren't the real challenge? In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Casey Bell, CEO of Aecore and Co-Founder of Buildzen, to explore a different perspective: What if the biggest challenge in construction is the construction experience itself? Drawing from his experience building both a commercial general contracting company and a constructi...

The construction industry has a changing workforce. But are the ways we recruit, hire, and develop people changing with it? In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Bryce Batts, Co-Founder of Career Collective and a recruiter with 20 years of experience in the AEC industry, to explore a different question: Can construction really hire its way through a changing workforce? Bryce has watched the AEC recruiting and talent landscape shift dramatically over the past two d...

For years, sustainability has often been framed as a choice between doing what's right for the planet and doing what's right for business. But what if the fastest path to climate action has nothing to do with asking people to sacrifice? In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Josh Dorfman host of Supercool and co-founder and CMO of Plantd to, explore sustainable construction, climate innovation, building products, and the human side of change. Together, they unpack ...

Affordable Housing Starts With Better Questions | Purpose, Community & Construction Affordable housing is often framed as a construction challenge, with conversations focused on cost, speed, and supply. Yet behind every housing project is a deeper question about community, purpose, and the people those spaces are intended to serve. In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Rory Rubin, Founder and CEO of SI Container Builds, to explore her unique journey from socia...

For over 20 years, the construction industry has discussed prefabrication, modular construction, and industrialized construction as solutions to labor shortages, productivity challenges, and project inefficiencies. Yet, adoption has been slower than many expected. Why? In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Josh Mensinger, President of Integrity Built Texas and Prefab, to reveal a hard truth often overlooked: The biggest barriers to prefabrication aren't technical—...

In this bonus episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Tom Raftery—speaker, sustainability strategist, and host of the Resilient Supply Chain and Climate Confident podcasts—to explore how global energy disruptions are reshaping construction, supply chains, and the future of resilience. Using lessons from the 1970s energy crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and today's geopolitical uncertainty, Ryan and Tom examine what happens when critical systems become ...

In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, we explore a hard truth about construction: we’re not just facing a labor shortage—we’re facing a productivity problem. If the construction industry is “busy” every day, why are projects getting slower, more expensive, and harder to deliver? This conversation challenges the idea that we’re solving problems and reveals how often we’re just firefighting symptoms like rework, delays, and inefficiency. Ryan Ware sits down with Wayne Larsen, CEO of PT Blink...

What happens when architects and construction leaders stop accepting the limits of traditional building materials—and start asking better questions? In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Allison Dring, CEO and Co-Founder of Made of Air, to explore how discomfort drives curiosity, innovation, and change in the built environment. Explore how biochar is becoming a key tool for sustainable building practices and climate action in the construction industry. With the con...

In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Vikas Murali, Co-Founder and CEO of Offsight, to explore why limited visibility inside prefab factories remains one of the biggest barriers to scaling offsite construction. As contractors and manufacturers expand into prefabrication, modular construction, and industrialized manufacturing, many still rely on manual processes and disconnected systems that create uncertainty around progress, quality, and delivery. This lack of real...

Construction leadership development today requires more than toughness—it demands a human-centered approach to leading change. In this episode of Activating Curiosity™, Ryan Ware sits down with Ed DeAngelis, CEO and Founder of EDA Contractors, to explore how trust, emotional intelligence, and curiosity are reshaping leadership in the construction industry. As the AEC industry faces workforce challenges, change resistance, and increasing complexity, Ed shares why “humanity as a strategy” is not...