Polestar's Designer Found Construction's Blind Spot, £3bn Burned on the Wrong Thing, + Incoming Safety Report

Seven men carrying one 140kg steel bar, on the biggest infrastructure project in Britain. The founder of Laing O'Rourke saw it and concluded that in fifty years, nothing had changed. This week's Executive Briefing is about the man he hired to fix it.

Chetan Kotur designed cars at Volvo, launched Polestar globally, then spent three and a half years examining construction with fresh eyes. At a private fireside in London, he shared his diagnosis on the record for the first time.

Key Insights from the Briefing

• The contrast between industries that innovate daily or die, and construction's fear that innovation might be harmful
• Why construction rarely benchmarks competitors—and how Polestar took a different approach
• Musculoskeletal injuries account for 56% of construction injuries, a figure no other industry tolerates
• Hinkley Point C’s precision rebar factory that compressed a month's work into a single shift
• The rise of physical innovation testing grounds across Europe, including Laing O'Rourke's lab, Bouygues' Scale One, and Vinci’s hired field
• Investor Patric from Foundamental explains why tech targeting just 2% of construction costs was always insufficient
• Two key questions that reveal a weak technology vendor in five minutes
• A preview of the upcoming State of Construction Safety Tech report showing incidents cost 4 to 6% of project budgets in a tight-margin industry

About This Episode

This briefing offers a unique perspective from an outsider who has bridged automotive design and construction innovation. It highlights longstanding inefficiencies and safety challenges within construction, while spotlighting emerging solutions and the evolving landscape of technology adoption. The discussion also previews an important report on safety technology impact and costs, providing valuable insights for industry leaders and innovators.