The Blue Collar Narrative Podcast with Matt Desmond

Matt Desmond, President of AGTEK, recently sat down with the Blue Collar Narrative at Apple Podcasts to talk about how AGTEK’s construction estimating software is helping change the construction industry. Here’s an excerpt from Matt on the value AGTEK brings to the market.

“For those not familiar with AGTEK, we make software for the heavy construction industry. AGTEK’s dirt simple solutions can help contractors win more work and get it done more efficiently. We’ve been around for over 40 years. We were here before Silicon Valley was established, and before software was mainstream.

In construction, you need to be able to quantify the lengths, areas, counts, and volumes of everything on your job site. AGTEK measures all the required quantities and then tracks them as they go in the ground. We track against the bid, which acts as our scorecard. We start with the takeoff, understand the unit quantities, measure or build a model, and then create a feedback loop that shows if you were more or less efficient than expected. Our tools provide a way for contractors to be more competitive with less risk.”

He adds, “In construction, you want to get down to bare ground, so you want to remove the bulldozer, the excavator, the pipe that’s laying around. We launched an Artificial Intelligence product at CONEXPO that does the clean-up for you, called REVEAL. You get to bare ground quickly and you can do a fast comparison of existing conditions versus your drone flight. It can tell you how much you’ve moved by comparing a flight to the final surface you’re working toward, illustrating how far you have to go on the project, which makes your control of the construction much more tangible.”

In his role as AGTEK’s President, Matt says, “I Listen to customers, hear what their problems are, and try to find new ways of solving them using technology. At AGTEK, we democratize technology for someone who doesn’t have to be a specialist. We’re designed for a generalist. You don’t have to have a college degree to use our solutions-users can pick up our products and make really sensible decisions to drive their construction business.”

When asked about how to get into the construction field, Matt says, “Often you don’t need a college degree. There are lots of jobs in the industry like layout and grade checking where can get started and you get to use some cool technology like drones, GPS receivers, or total stations to lay out foundations for buildings and set up excavations on construction sites. It’s a great place to start and you get to understand how to work in the industry.”

He adds, “The trades offer a lot of opportunity. There will be a revolution in how construction jobs are run and managed, and technology will be increasingly used. It’s really cutting-edge. Get into it!”

To hear Matt’s entire interview, click here.

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