I Stopped Trying to Hire a Developer and Just Built It Myself w/ Nick Heim

"What if the firms falling behind on AI aren't the ones that tried it and failed, but the ones still waiting to understand what has already changed?"

Most engineering firms are still treating AI as something to evaluate from a distance. The conversation inside the industry remains focused on readiness, risk, and the right time to start. Meanwhile, a smaller group has already moved past that question. They are building internal tools, automating workflows, and rethinking how engineering value is delivered when intelligence becomes available on demand.

In this episode, Owen sits down with Nick Heim, PE, Structural Engineer and Technology Advisor at StructureCare and Trinovate, and host of the AEC AI & Tech Strategy Podcast. With over 100 episodes interviewing engineers and firm leaders across the AEC sector, Nick has one of the clearest views of where firms actually sit on the adoption curve and what separates the ones moving fast from the ones watching. They cover what AI agents actually mean for engineering workflows, why building your own tools is now realistic for any engineer willing to experiment, and how field capture technology is quietly transforming inspection and reporting.

What emerges from this conversation is that the real differentiator is not software. It is curiosity and leadership. The firms compounding advantage right now are led by people who are personally in the tools, building intuition through experimentation rather than delegating innovation downward and waiting for a strategy to arrive. If you are an engineer, firm leader, or technology builder trying to understand where the profession is actually heading, this episode shows what practical progress looks like.

Key Takeaways:

• The engineering profession is splitting into firms building with AI and firms still observing. The gap between them is widening faster than most realise.
• AI agents combine language model reasoning with deterministic tools like code and calculators. The engineer's role shifts to directing, contextualising, and verifying outputs, not replacing judgment.
• Before automating anything, fix your data and map your workflows. The firms getting real results from AI have usually sorted those two foundations first.
• Domain expertise is now a build advantage. Engineers who understand the problem can use tools like Cursor and Claude to build internal apps without a software development team.
• Curiosity is the compounding advantage. The firms moving fastest are not necessarily the largest. They are led by people who experiment hands-on, build intuition early, and iterate quickly.

Timestamps:
[00:00] - Episode Highlights
[02:43] - Welcome and Introduction
[03:45] - Nick's Background and Journey
[09:00] - The Firm Adoption Gap
[11:27] - Intelligence on Tap: The Business Model Shift
[16:37] - What AI Agents Actually Are
[21:26] - Engineers Building Their Own Apps
[27:18] - Tool Stack for Curious Engineers
[31:05] - Data and Workflow Fundamentals
[34:18] - Automating a Small Engineering Firm
[37:32] - Field Capture and Inspection Technology
[43:09] - Curiosity as the Competitive Advantage

🔗 Guest: Nick Heim, PE
Structural Engineer & Technology Advisor at StructureCare / Trinovate
Website: https://trinovate.ai/
LinkedIn (Company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/structurecare%C2%AE/
LinkedIn (Nick Heim): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasheim/

🎧 Host & Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owenrkeenan
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7vcBFpl87NcqpLf0seIRaW
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE9Ax8jAJl2x0QQp3cO8vrw
VoiceInspect.ai (AI for inspections): https://www.voiceinspect.ai

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