With an architect mother and mechanical engineer father, AEC Lab's advisor Hans Ehrnrooth was born into the world of design and construction -- although it took him a little while to find his way back to the field.Raised in Finland, Hans began his career in business development with a paper machinery supplier. Next, he spent a decade at telecommunications giant Nokia helping them restructure and expand into Chinese markets.It wasn’t until 2003 that Hans immersed himself in the world of construction. Finnish-based structural engineering software company Tekla hired him to grow their business in the US, and Hans quickly became fascinated by the untapped potential for collaboration he saw in the space.These days, Hans is a highly sought-after growth strategy consultant. Hear his thoughts on the merits of big data, the impact tablets are having on construction sites, and why “real techies” use Android.
I have seen the players showing more willingness to collaborate with one another. In the past, one of the big challenges was that there are so many different contributors to one project, and getting these contributors aligned has been a problem. Technology has helped these different areas understand one another and be willing to collaborate. We’re a long way from getting there, but that’s what BIM is about. The focus on big data, in general, is healthy. Everyone can use one collection point for the data so the coordination between the different parties and the project can actually happen.
The slow adoption of technology. It’s hard to get someone to change… that’s what I’m experiencing in the business I’m involved in now. We’re talking about scaling up and our biggest challenge is to get people to embrace the new technology and reap the benefits of it. One reason maybe is that the technology hasn’t been prevalent in the construction business. We have a lot of people involved who have no tech education and don’t necessarily want to play with technology.That has changed with the iPad and tablet -- people have started using them in their homes, so they’re more at ease with technology when the user interfaces are so simple. It’s been easier for them to embrace it in the work environment. But still, when you go onto a construction site, you see a lot of people who are technology-adverse.
It’s worthwhile remembering that Apple hasn’t really been inventing new technologies. They’ve been perfecting the use of technologies.
I’ve always been interested in technology. I worked for a long time with technology especially when I was working with Nokia and building telecommunications strategy for the future. That’s something that I was living every day at the time. Imagining how everything would be in the future of mobile phones. In 1995 we called it a communicator. We had emails coming into mobile phones already at that time.I’m technically inclined when it comes to motor technology, tinkering with cars, boats etc.. When I was choosing a profession, I had to make a choice between medicine and technology. The entrance exams were on the same day. And I picked the technology side. I have never looked back.
Get rid of lawyers! Jokes aside, the issue about technology is that it’s worthwhile always remembering that Apple hasn’t really been inventing new technologies. They’ve been perfecting the use of technologies and building them into personal and business applications. The issue is how do you combine the technologies to create something that’s worthwhile to use and scale it. That is how you become successful.I would also love to see people be more responsible for their own health and taking care of themselves in a better way. If there was a way to get people to manage their own health in a simple way, that’s one thing I would love to see.
Our biggest challenge is to get people to embrace the new technology and reap the benefits of it.
My background was mobile phones so we used to have our own proprietary systems within Nokia. Then came Android and iOS and for the longest time, I still was stuck with the Nokia because of being related to them on the business side. But the business system Apple built was the one that swayed everyone over with ease of use. Real techies use Android because it’s “easier” to build apps on and it’s a more flexible environment for the developer, they claim.Want to hear more from Shadow Labs advisors? Check out our other innovator interviews or join the community.
