London Build Expo 2024 was an event to remember. The two-day event was packed with insightful presentations and discussions on the latest trends and innovations in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry.
If you couldn’t make it, here are some of the key sessions that took place and my takeaways from them:
Data is fragmented and needs to be stitched together to deliver value. Different software, reports, and teams working on one project make this even more valuable.
The benefits here are enhanced collaboration and improved efficiency supporting work across teams as part of the design-build process.
The need to upskill new generations and pass on expertise from retiring generations creates even more of a use case for efficiencies gained.
The latest Construction Skills Network (CSN) report provides insights into the UK construction economy and its future labour requirements. The report highlights a significant skills shortage in the construction industry, predicting that an additional 251,500 construction workers will be needed by 2028 to meet the expected levels of work.
The skills shortage means the industry will face substantial recruitment and training challenges over the next five years. This shortage is driven by the need for workers in major sectors such as private housing, infrastructure, and repair and maintenance.
The need to upskill new generations and pass on expertise from retiring generations creates even more of a use case for efficiencies gained.
The key to utilising AI will be moving into the Proof Of Concept (POC) phase quickly once envisioning sessions are completed and high-value use cases are identified.
Given how cost-constrained the industry is, organisations are looking for use cases that will drive clear ROI. There’s so much complexity, but even simple examples that drive efficiency on-site will do the trick. Transparity, have seen this in our partnership with BMT where we built out their bid management solution. While transformational projects are often mentioned, being practical and building a POC that delivers ROI is more realistic.
Stay tuned for more Construction AI use cases in future blog posts.
Incredibly relevant to our work at Transparity was “Cracking the Code: How Data-Led Construction Will Shape the Built Environment’s Future,” a panel which highlighted several key points:
London Build Expo 2024 was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the latest trends and innovations in the AEC industry. The AI & Digital Construction stage, in particular, provided valuable insights into how AI and digital technologies are shaping the future of construction. I look forward to applying these learnings to our projects and continuing to drive innovation in our industry.
Look out for more updates and insights as we continue to explore the potential of AI and digital technologies in construction!
Friday 22nd November wrapped up the end of another fantastic Microsoft Ignite event and what a spectacle it was, so much to digest!
This year, it was great to be back in person in Chicago alongside 14,000 other attendees, to witness the latest groundbreaking advancements across the Microsoft technology stack.
With around 80 new products and features announced and more than 800 sessions, demos and expert-led labs to choose from, I thought it would be useful to summarise 5 of my favourite announcements and sessions for those who couldn’t attend the live event and are looking to catch up on demand. I also include useful links to where you can find further information.
From experimental pilots to enterprise deployments, Copilot momentum is everywhere. Microsoft shared that nearly 70% of the Fortune 500 now use Microsoft 365 Copilot, highlighted here with more than 200 customer stories of AI Transformation.
There were many announcements across the Copilot stack focused on adoption, extensibility and ROI.
Enables real-time speech-to-speech interpretation in Teams meetings so each participant can speak and listen in the language of their choice. Available for Public Preview in Q1 2025.
Generate an up-to-date summary of important information hosted on SharePoint sites, including key insights and comparing documents.
Makers can now build agents that work on their behalf, without having to prompt the agent, saving human hours and increasing efficiency.
Viva Insights will now be included in Microsoft 365 Copilot at no additional charge as part of the new Copilot Analytics. Find out more on Copilot Analytics here.
You can download a helpful overview of these announcements in a single document here, or I recommend checking out this session – “GS05 – Unlock the Value of Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio”.
A unified application platform to design, customise, and manage AI solutions. There’s SO much to unpack!
I really recommend checking out Asha Sharma’s session called “Azure AI Foundry unlocking the AI revolution” else, you can also find out more here and watch it in action here.
Some of the key features include:
Satya opened Ignite by saying “Purview is the product of the conference because in the age of AI, Data Governance takes on an even more critical, central and important role”
With this in mind, I recommend catching up on session BRK317 – ‘Secure and govern your data estate with Microsoft Purview‘ to see the launch of the new security and governance capabilities that can help you to accelerate your AI transformation.
Here are some of my highlights:
Learn more about all these new capabilities in the announcement blog post here.
Microsoft made some significant commitments to Security with the launch of the Secure Future Initiative (SFI) last year – prioritising the integration of secure by design, secure by default, and infusing secure operations principles into everything they do. We expected to see a number of announcements at Ignite as a consequence, and we weren’t disappointed!
One of the biggest bits of news – referenced in Satya’s keynote – was the general availability of Security Exposure Management. This is a tool we’ve been using internally at Transparity for some time that we’re excited to be able to position with confidence to our customers. Exposure Management provides a unified solution to assess and reduce cyberthreat exposure. It consolidates data for a comprehensive view of the attack surface; providing ongoing assessments and prioritised recommendations to enhance security posture.
Brjann and Tomer’s session – “Proactive security with continuous exposure management” (BRK234) was outstanding, and well worth a watch for those wanting to learn more. You can also read about the announcement and learn (quite a lot) more in the release blog post available here: Unlock Proactive Defense: Microsoft Security Exposure Management Now Generally Available
Alongside the Exposure Management and Purview updates I’ve already mentioned, Ignite also saw a host of other SCI related enhancements. This short summary doesn’t do justice to the immense capability being added, but you’d do well to check out “Transform your security with GenAI innovations in Security Copilot” (BRK307) for a snapshot of some of the functionality and integration work that Microsoft is doing to unify and enhance the experience and workflow for Security stakeholders – largely via Security Copilot.
Here are some of my highlights:
Again, you can read more in the launch blog posts: Transforming Security with Microsoft Security Copilot, and also check out some of the other related sessions including “One goal, many roles: Microsoft Security Copilot use cases for all” (BRK316) and “Optimize with Security Copilot: Real-world insights and expert advice” (BRK308).
Ignite 2024 was a testament to Microsoft’s commitment to AI innovation and security, with a plethora of new features and updates that promise to transform the way we work and interact with technology. I, for one, can’t wait to get back home to start trying these new capabilities out!
Want to see all the announcements from Ignite? Check out the handy Microsoft Ignite 2024 Book of News.
