In this episode of Wired & Hammered, we explore corporate venture capital with Eliot Jones, Principal at Trimble Ventures. As part of the global technology leader's investment arm, Eliot shares insights on how established corporations are partnering with emerging construction tech companies to drive industry innovation.

Key topics covered:

• Trimble's investment sweet spot: Why Series A startups are the focus
• The shocking reality: Construction represents 14% of global GDP but gets only 1% of VC funding
• How the Construction Startup Competition sources 500+ companies annually
• Building two-sided partnerships between corporates and startups
• The evolving role of CIOs in construction companies
• Interoperability challenges vs. data protection in the AI era
• Why getting construction workers back to the field (not the office) drives product development

Whether you're a construction professional curious about emerging technologies, a startup founder looking to understand corporate partnerships, or simply interested in how innovation happens in traditional industries, this conversation offers valuable insights into the intersection of construction and venture capital.

Summary

In this episode, John sits down with Steve White, General Manager at Civillo, to unpack how spatial data is changing the way civil infrastructure projects are delivered. Steve started his career as a surveyor, and he explains the everyday bottlenecks that pushed his team to build Civillo; a simple, web-based way for engineers, supervisors, managers, and clients to access and work with spatial information without specialist software.

Steve breaks down how Civillo lets teams bring CAD, GIS, BIM, 12D, drone imagery, and underground services into one shared workspace, giving everyone on the project the same view of what’s happening. They talk through real-world impacts: cutting time spent on survey requests, reducing rework, improving communication, and modernising painful workflows like excavation and HotWorks permits.

Steve also shares how Civillo’s adoption grew organically across major contractors like Seymour Whyte, why project-wide access is core to their model, and how digitising permits has become one of the platform’s biggest productivity wins.

A practical, ground-level look at how better spatial visibility improves safety, reduces risk, and helps teams build things right the first time.

In this episode, John sits down with long-time friend and Tekifi Managing Director, Mike Arnold, to break down what “smart buildings” actually mean today; and why we’re only at the start of the curve. Mike explains how modern buildings are becoming more like smartphones: built on a unified digital infrastructure that enables everything from better user experience to major productivity and energy gains.

They dig into examples across Australia, London, and Dublin, including how air quality sensors boost worker performance, how simple changes like mobile access credentials eliminate daily friction, and how AI is reshaping traditional engineering design. Mike also talks through retrofitting older buildings, the myths that hold owners back, and why 95% of the global building stock is where the real opportunity sits.

A practical, grounded look at what’s possible right now, and what’s coming next.

Rory San Miguel, CEO of Propeller, joins the show to discuss building one of the most successful construction technology startups in the world. Propeller's drone mapping platform now operates across 30,000 active sites every month in over 100 countries, processing nearly 300,000 surveys annually.

In this episode, Rory shares the pivotal moment when early customers told them to "leave the drone" and focus on the data platform instead—a strategic decision that transformed their trajectory. We dive deep into how they scaled in an notoriously difficult industry through smart distribution partnerships with Trimble, a viral business model that spreads site-to-site, and early technology bets on cloud-first architecture.

Key Topics:

• The strategic pivot from hardware to data that built a global platform
• How they achieved viral distribution in construction through business model design
• Managing operational complexity at 300+ employees across multiple continents
• AI integration strategy and the workflow revolution coming in 2026
• Leadership philosophy: counting up instead of down and building structural resilience
• Future vision: sensors, robotics, and the construction site of 2035

Rory provides candid insights on the patience and grit required to succeed in heavy industries, the importance of outlasting competition, and why "there's no such thing as overnight success" in construction technology.

About the Guest: Rory San Miguel is CEO and co-founder of Propeller, the leading drone mapping platform for construction, mining, and heavy industry. He's a recipient of the 2025 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award and has built Propeller into a global platform serving 2,000+ companies.

In this episode, John talks with Hani Arab, CIO at Seymour Whyte, about how a civil engineer became the technology leader for one of Australia’s major infrastructure contractors, and what it actually takes to drive technology adoption across field teams.

Hani shares the early moments that pulled him toward tech, from GSM-connected site systems in the 2000s to today’s push toward AI-enabled operations. They dig into the realities of supporting remote projects, why the biggest challenges now are organisational rather than technical, and how Seymour Whyte builds trust with engineers so digital tools don’t feel like top-down mandates.

Hani also explains how they evaluate new tools, the role of enterprise architecture, why customer success matters just as much internally as it does for vendors, and how API-first platforms are shaping the future of design and construction workflows.

They finish with the big one: AI. Hani lays out his goal for the next 12–24 months; 800 out of 1,000 Seymour Whyte employees using AI agents as part of their daily routine, and why broad, everyday gains across documents, meetings, tasks, and workflows will matter more than narrow, high-risk experiments.

A grounded, candid look at what modern tech leadership in civil construction actually requires.

This is Wired & Hammered — the show where we break down how technology is changing the way we build, operate, and run the physical world. From mining and construction tech to infrastructure and real-estate operations.

Each episode we dig into the tools, tactics, and lessons from the people shaping how these industries actually work — from startup founders to site foremen and asset operators.

I'm your host John Naughton.