What To Build: Robert Kipp (General Superintendent Delta CM Team Laguardia Airport)
By: Fang Yuan
Tags: Construction, Robotics, AI, Technology, Startup

Conversation with Robert Kipp, General Superintendent Delta CM Team Laguardia Airport. We chat about what’s important to him when he looks for startup partners, his hesitations around AI, and what types of people the industry strongly distrusts.

1. Tell us about yourself, where you currently work, and your path on getting there.

I am currently the General Superintendent and Director of Field Operations for Delta’s $3.8 billion renovation at LaGuardia Airport.

My bachelor’s degree is in Criminal Justice and I had aspirations for a career in law enforcement, but after 9/11 I requested an active duty assignment and served two tours in Iraq. During my time in the Army was when I discovered I had a knack for logistics and managing complex teams. I really enjoyed my experience in the military and wanted my next career to have similar qualities. After some deep research on what industries fit the team work and problem solving profile that I was exposed to in the army, that naturally lead to construction management when I returned from my second tour. I worked for Clark Construction in Washington DC before coming up to New York City to work on the United Nations and Hudson Yards before the Delta LaGuardia project. I have settled into a little niche in the market building complex mega jobs in NYC.

2. Tell us about your role and what your mandate is and how this specifically relates to working with startups?

As the General Super I handle all on-site coordination, logistics, quality control, labor relations, safety, and security, which is especially difficult when building an airport around an airport that serves 30 million passengers a year, and keeping it entirely operational in one of the busiest cities in the world.

Throughout all of those aspects I focus on my staff and their performance and development. Construction, at its core, is a competitive team sport, and I want my team to perform at the top level. Technology, especially construction software, can be a force multiplier for my field staff, to ensure they have accurate, wholistic information at their fingertips as soon as possible.

I keep my eye out for startups have the potential to be useful to my staff to increase efficiency and streamlines the flow of information. For me to spend time working with a startup I have to believe in their team and that their mission is going to make my day job easier. I will not work with teams that think they have all the answers because it stifles learning and growth if you believe you know everything already.

3. What are some of the interesting types of projects that you’re currently doing with startups?

I have two way NDAs as part of the way I do engagements but I can list companies that I have worked with previously, such as Apple, Amazon, Bose, Plangrid, Rhumbix, and others.

4. What number of these projects move into production? By what criteria? One of the challenges we see startups facing is how to move a customer from pilot to production.

Of the technologies we have looked at to adopt on site the biggest determinate factor is adaptability.

What makes-or-breaks adopting a technology is determined during the rollout process. Is it simple and user-friendly? Does it simplify or decrease the time spent on that task? Does the software or website have a lot of bugs? The initial trial is where you learn about all of the hiccups and road bumps, and while every technology will have some, how easy or difficult it is to work through will determine whether or not the user will sign on for production.

Construction is an old school environment, where guys are used to doing things the way they have for 20, 30, 40 years — if the user interface makes it more difficult or harder to navigate, it simply won’t be used. Startups need to listen to problems that need to be fixed and fix them without giving users a workaround.

5. What are the major challenges in your industry these days, and specifically ones that you think can be addressed by the right type of AI and or robotics application? Can you give some detailed examples?

a) We have a severe shortage of personnel influx into the industry. What the industry needs, and what technology can help achieve, is cutting out the administrative waste. A field engineer can spend hours each week collecting daily reports, consolidating the information, running them around to the superintendents to sign, and hunting down missing ones.

A coordinated, conformed drawing set on an iPad can save a superintendent hours just by eliminating running back into the trailers to check hard copies, or flipping between uncoordinated sets and RFI responses and submittals. All of the ways in which field staff spend time on administrative tasks can be completely eliminated and thereby add up lot of saved time, time that could be spent in the field and solving real issues.

b) The capabilities of AI remain to be seen. Before AI can be useful we need big data on operations to analyze. In order to have big data on operations we need the resources to gather that information. Right now the question is: what do we need answers on and how do we go about collecting that data? How is that scalable within each job, and how does it extend across projects? Then, how do we tailor that big data to provide useful analysis to each individual site? For example, if we want data on access control we first need to set up the hardware to detect when people access the site and where they’re working. As a project builds and changes phases — from civil work to foundations, to coming out of the ground structure to interiors buildout — will that hardware be able to continuously give you the information you need? Will you have to change or relocate the hardware frequently? What are the specifics of your job site that need to be accounted for in the analysis of your operations? Across all aspects of the job AI has the potential to foresee major logistics or coordination mistakes before they happen, provide solutions, analyze operational efficiency and provide actionable data for superintendents to execute on in the field.

c) We’ve seen robots automate and accelerate some interesting tasks, but the key to the future for robotics will be how adaptable they can be to an environment. So far there are a lot of robots that need a clean, clear, and pristine work space to function, which is the exact opposite of a construction site. Construction sites are dynamic and active with materials moving and work being put in place. Robotics startups need to look at how to have their technology adaptable to different environments, and be robust enough not only to handle change but also dust, dirt, and a few bumps and bruises. Construction is an industry that breaks things on a regular basis, and any tool that we use needs to be durable enough to hold up in our environment.

6. What type of startup would you be most excited to see?

There are a lot of great startups out there that excel in one or two aspects of the job. What’s needed is a central hub that can integrate into each of those pieces to cross reference data, streamline the flow information, and act as a central site so that I don’t need to sign into one account to do NCRs and another account to do daily reports and another account to look at submittals.

If you think about it, there are only three things you need to build a building: time, material, and workers to put that material in place. The value for those in management positions comes solely from the information we have and how we share it. A tool belt that has all of that information and efficiently gets each piece to everyone who needs it, without inundating each user with too much information, is the next key to success.

7. What should startups know about your industry before going in? What nuances or details about the industry are not so apparent from someone looking in?

Construction is an old school industry, and unless your technology passes the dweeb test and works well from the moment it’s picked up, it will not be used. We might be dirty and sweaty but you are only going to get one shot at a first impression. We hate strongly distrust sales people and tech people so tread lightly, and remember we had a full time job before you brought me your new shiny box.

Other advice: Before you do anything, spend some time on a job site feel it, see it, smell it. Look for solutions to real problems. Don’t solve problems that we don’t have. Make it quick and to the point. Construction is time = money so please never waste our time. Work just as hard as us. If I need tech support for your product and I can only call from 8am–4pm, then that’s not going to work for me.

8. Lastly, any recommended resources / reading (ex. Industry conferences, publications, experts to follow, etc.) for startups looking to build in your space?

ENR future tech, Autodesk university, Ground Break, and World of Concrete are all shows you should check out.

Talk to people that are really in the field not the folks who just want to talk about strategy.