AEC Tech Journeys with Mayur Mistry

Mayur speaks with Bastien Dolla, CEO and co-founder of Rayon, about the engineering choices behind a cloud-based architecture design tool and how AI is changing product development and design workflows. Dolla explains why Rayon began as a 2D-first product, what its hard-won reliability and scaling lessons taught him, and why human judgment and domain expertise still matter as AI takes on more design work.

 

Keywords

Rayon, architecture software, interior design, product engineering, AI agents, CAD, Rust, collaborative design tools

 

key topics

Rayon's all-in-one cloud-based design workflow for architecture and interiors, from ideation to construction documentation

Why the team chose 2D first, CAD compatibility, a high-performance Rust and WebAssembly engine, and real-time collaboration

A major storage architecture change: moving model data from a database to S3-backed files to support gigabyte-scale projects and one terabyte of new model data per week

The trade-off between fast direct manipulation and the precision users expect from professional CAD tools

Data-loss safeguards, offline syncing, and a Cloudflare outage that mistakenly rate-limited users in Brazil

 

Chapters

00:00 What Rayon does for architecture and interior design

01:16 Why Rayon chose 2D and CAD compatibility first

05:01 The costly lesson of storing models in a database

07:38 Balancing direct manipulation with professional precision

09:08 Protecting user work through sync failures and outages

13:56 Using AI to ship faster without lowering engineering quality

16:31 Flexible roadmaps, milestones, and the risk of feature bloat

22:40 Connecting design work to AI assistants and MCP

27:39 Why architecture still needs interfaces and human judgment

33:37 Why Rayon is bringing 3D into its 2D workflow

35:07 How listeners can support Rayon

 

💡Learn more about Rayon here: https://www.rayon.design/ 

 

📞 If you are exploring ai in construction or need support in GTM for your construction tech startup, book a discovery call using this link : 

https://calendly.com/mayur-mistry7/consultancy-discovery-call  

 

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In this episode, Håvard Høiby shares his journey from aspiring jazz guitarist to AI engineer, and how his experiences at Spacemaker and Solvera are shaping the future of construction technology. Discover insights on rapid iteration, AI-driven design, and building impactful software in the construction industry.

 

Keywords

AI engineering, construction tech, software development, rapid iteration, Spacemaker, Solvera, daylight analysis, optimization, generative AI

 

key topics

Håvard Høiby's journey from music to AI engineering

Lessons learned at Spacemaker and Solvera

The role of rapid iteration and experimentation in software development

AI's impact on construction and urban planning

Multi-objective optimization in building design

The importance of context-aware AI in architecture

Organizational scaling and team building in AI startups

The role of generative AI in engineering and design

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Håvard's background in engineering and AI

04:03 First job in banking software and joining Spacemaker

05:56 Highlights and learnings from eight years at Spacemaker

07:53 Impact of daylight analysis and multi-objective optimization

09:43 The Pareto principle and focusing on high-impact efforts

11:10 Learning from infrastructure rebuilds and platform shifts

13:11 Iterative approach to product development in AI

21:31 Introduction to Solvera and its vision for construction engineering

23:50 The role of AI in solving complex physical and optimization problems

27:33 AI agents, learning, and system architecture

30:11 The importance of human-AI interaction and incentives

32:35 Rapid fire questions: Håvard’s influences and personal insights

 

💡Learn more about Solvera here: https://www.solvera.ai/ 

 

📞 If you are exploring ai in construction or need support in GTM for your construction tech startup, book a discovery call using this link : 

https://calendly.com/mayur-mistry7/consultancy-discovery-call  

 

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Felipe Polido, co-founder and CTO of Reframe Systems, shares insights on revolutionizing construction with robotics and software automation, drawing from his experience at Amazon Robotics. Discover how advanced technology is making home building more efficient and flexible.

 

Keywords

construction automation, robotics, software, manufacturing, housing industry, AI, LLM, innovation, Reframe Systems

 

key topics

Construction industry fragmentation and inefficiency

Reframe's software automation for building design and manufacturing

Use of robotics in framing and sheathing

Impact of AI and LLMs on construction processes

Challenges and opportunities in construction automation

Reframe's microfactory model and project pipeline

The role of CTO in a tech-driven construction startup

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Felipe Polido and Reframe Systems

02:34 Reframe's approach to software automation in construction

05:34 Impact of AI and LLMs on construction challenges

10:51 Robotics innovations in framing and sheathing

12:51 Overview of Reframe's capabilities and projects

14:39 Advice for robotics founders in construction

15:48 The evolving role of CTO with AI advancements

17:11 A day in the life of Felipe during factory delivery

18:26 Rapid fire: personal favorites and travel bucket list

19:10 Closing thoughts and invitation for factory tours

 

💡Learn more about Reframe Systems here: https://www.reframe.systems/ 

 

📞 If you are exploring ai in construction or need support in GTM for your construction tech startup, book a discovery call using this link : 

https://calendly.com/mayur-mistry7/consultancy-discovery-call  

 

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In this episode, Francesco Iorio, Co-founder & CEO of Augmenta, shares insights on how AI and generative design are transforming construction, focusing on electrical and building design automation. Discover the milestones, challenges, and future potential of AI in construction technology.

 

key topics

AI's role in construction and design

Milestones achieved by Augmenta

Challenges of AI in large-scale construction

The difference between language and geometry problems in AI

Benchmarking AI models in construction

Future of AI in construction and design

Keywords

AI, construction, generative design, electrical engineering, building automation, Augmenta, BIM, construction tech, digital twin, spatial reasoning

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Francesco Iorio and Augmenta

00:45 Francesco's journey from manufacturing to construction

04:55 Building design as a geometry problem, not a language problem

11:54 Benchmarking AI models in construction

18:10 Milestones achieved by Augmenta

21:08 Overview of Augmenta's platform

25:29 Project types and their challenges

29:13 Focus areas and future plans

34:17 Advice for construction tech founders

40:41 Rapid fire: personal insights

 

💡Learn more about Augmenta here: https://www.augmenta.ai/ 

 

📞 If you are exploring ai in construction or need support in GTM for your construction tech startup, book a discovery call using this link : 

https://calendly.com/mayur-mistry7/consultancy-discovery-call  

 

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In this episode, Abyl Ikshanov, co-founder and CTO of Volve Technologies, shares insights into building AI-driven solutions for the construction industry, from early career highlights to technical challenges and future expansion plans.

 

key topics

AI and knowledge graphs in construction

Technical challenges in building AI products

Product development and iteration with customer feedback

Market expansion and industry-specific insights

takeaways

Understanding the importance of structured data in AI models

The significance of evaluation and grounding in AI features

Iterative development driven by customer feedback

Challenges of building industry-specific AI solutions

Keywords

AI, construction tech, knowledge graph, product development, startup journey

 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Abyl Ikshanov and his background

01:36 Meeting co-founders and initial idea research

02:09 Identifying inefficiencies in construction documentation

03:29 Tech stack and architecture considerations for AI in construction

04:35 How the product works: from scope items to work packages

07:25 Most challenging technical feature and proudest achievement

08:52 Importance of evaluation and grounding in AI features

09:40 Proudest moments and iterative development process

10:43 Lessons learned and industry-specific insights

12:02 Supporting the mission and future expansion

 

💡Learn more about Volve Technologies here: https://www.volvetech.com/about 

 

📞 If you are exploring ai in construction or need support in GTM for your construction tech startup, book a discovery call using this link : 

https://calendly.com/mayur-mistry7/consultancy-discovery-call  

 

📩 Don’t miss future episodes. Subscribe: https://aiaecdigest.substack.com/