Angelo sits down with Kris Lengieza, Field COO at Procore, for a no-hype conversation about the real state of AI in construction. They dig into why the industry has digitized but never truly transformed, the workforce cliff sending nearly half the trades into retirement this decade, and the “knowledge extinction event” that comes with it. Kris makes the case that the barrier to change is no longer the technology — it’s imagination and adoption — and lays out how leaders can empower their people to use AI responsibly before they’re forced to.

Key topics covered

• Why we’ve digitized construction but haven’t transformed it

• The BIM era as a parallel to today’s AI moment

• “Optimistic pessimism” — what executives are excited about and what they fear

• The three buckets of AI benefit, starting with a normal 40-hour week

• The workforce cliff and the knowledge extinction event

• Capturing field knowledge with voice agents and reimagined daily logs

• Reframing the daily log from a CYA record into a legacy

• People, process, and technology — what has to go right

• Automation vs. augmentation, robotics, cobots, and agentic AI

• Guardrails, data hygiene, and responsible adoption

• The one thing executives need to hear about AI

Guest bio

Kris Lengieza is the Field COO at Procore. He began his career in the field as a project engineer and spent 20 years in construction operations before moving to Procore, where he led the Future State of Construction research and now works with executives worldwide on AI, automation, and the future of how contractors build.

Links & resources mentioned

• Procore — procore.com

• Procore Innovation Summit (referenced, June)

• Procore Future State of Construction report

• Procore’s acquisition of DataGrid (AI agents for submittals, RFIs, takeoff)

• To learn more about the Procore AI and the embedded Datagrid experience: https://www.procore.com/press/new-procore-ai-experience-embeds-datagrid-into-procore

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