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What if the firms that win the next decade aren't the ones with the best AI tools, but the ones that invested in people who know how to keep learning?

In this September takeover episode of KP Unpacked, guest host Tyler Sellhorn sits down with Nora Swanson, Principal at Trinity JBNB and one of Crain's Notable Women in Tech, ahead of her appearance at AEC Summit on October 19th at The Weylin in Brooklyn. Nora leads her firm's innovation, knowledge, and learning platforms, including AI tools built in-house. Her take: technology is increasingly accessible, anyone can build right now, and that means the real differentiator is no longer which tools you use. It's how quickly your organization can learn, adapt, and apply what it knows.

The conversation covers why "yet" and "imagine if" are the two most important words in a growth mindset culture, how Trinity JBNB is embedding AI as infrastructure (not just a resource or a coworker), what it means to redefine expertise when AI handles production, and why this moment gives engineers and builders the chance to focus on the problems that actually matter. The energy crisis. The housing crisis. Carbon reduction. These are the big issues that get unlocked when the small stuff gets automated.

Key questions answered:
-What is the most important thing firms should be investing in that isn't technology?
-Why are curiosity, adaptability and learning becoming more valuable than software skills?
-What are the three phases of AI evolution: resource, coworker, and embedded infrastructure?
-How is Trinity JBNB using AI to automatically update Revit models and notify engineers?
-What does "yet" have to do with building a growth mindset inside an engineering firm?
-Who is Carol Dweck and what is the Power of Yet?
-Why does context matter as much as technical expertise right now?
-How is the definition of team expanding in AEC?
-What does it mean to define a profession by purpose rather than production?
-How do you keep humans in the loop when AI is embedded in workflows?
-Why are the big engineering challenges more accessible now than ever before?

What does re-teaming with agents actually look like in practice?
If you're leading innovation at an AEC firm wondering where to focus beyond the technology, a young engineer trying to figure out what skills will matter most in five years, or just curious what AI as embedded infrastructure actually looks like in a real engineering workflow, this episode will show you why the firms that invest in people right now will be the ones that win.

Listen now.

Catch Nora live at AEC Summit on October 19th at The Weylin in Brooklyn.

Want more discussions like this? You can connect with KP Reddy at https://kpreddy.co/ and follow him on LinkedIn LinkedIn: kpreddy!