Inside Mortenson’s $10.8B Business: The Bet on In-House Innovation | Gene Hodge

A few years ago, Mortenson's own leadership group told them they were treating innovation "kind of like a hobby".This year they're No. 10 on ENR's Top 400, running a 90,000 sq ft R&D facility and about to launch a joint venture with Goldbeck.So we asked Gene Hodge, their VP of I4 and Innovation, how he proves the ROI on all of it:"I think anyone asking what's the ROI on innovation is not interested in innovating, most likely."CFOs, we'd love to hear you push back on this one.#construction #constructiontech #aec #ai #bricksandbytesOur Sponsors:BreadCrumb- 50,000+ projects globally. All running safer, faster, with Breadcrumb. – breadcrumb.coAphex is the multiplayer planning platform where construction teams plan together, stay aligned, and deliver projects faster – check out aphex.coArchdesk –  “The #1 Construction Management Software for Growing Companies – Manage your projects from Tender to Handover” check archdesk.com00:00 – Teaser00:43 – Intro01:36 – Who is Gene Hodge & Mortenson Overview02:31 – Quick-Fire Questions: Builder vs Technologist03:10 – Sponsors06:19 – Is Most Construction Tech Worth the Money?06:49 – How Has the Jobsite Changed Since 2005?07:43 – The Reality of AI on the Construction Site08:29 – Autonomous Equipment & Robots in 5 Years09:30 – What Actually Moves the Needle on Projects10:04 – Mortenson's In-House R&D & Innovation Spending11:39 – Data Sovereignty: Which Tech Mortenson Refuses to Buy12:33 – Goldbeck Joint Venture & Industrialised Construction14:57 – Real-Time Jobsite Visibility vs Manufacturing16:03 – Standardisation vs Bespoke Client Architecture17:27 – Data Centres & the Hyperscaler Effect18:56 – Industrialised Construction Across Resi & Defence21:19 – Day-to-Day Role & The ROI of Innovation23:04 – 30 Years After VDC: Why Has Productivity Stagnated?25:35 – Lessons from 2003: 18,000 Punch List Items on Paper28:29 – Precast Duct Bank Innovation30:24 – Building a Corporate Culture of Innovation32:38 – BLUvera: Scaling Offsite Manufacturing34:38 – Redesigning the Jobsite Trailer & Field Wellbeing36:41 – AI Hype vs Real Jobsite Workflows38:46 – Machine Learning in Pre-Construction & Estimating40:44 – Measuring AI ROI & Enabling Growth41:49 – How to Pitch Tech to Mortenson42:57 – What Keeps an Innovation VP Up at Night45:19 – Cross-Industry Collaboration & The Future Contractor Model48:19 – The #1 Tech for 2035: Generative Design & Real-Time Costing