As the industry continues to progress into the digital age, it is well worth celebrating those individuals leading the way in contributing to this movement. With some of the brightest minds in the world developing bold new solutions to age-old problems, the value of transformative thinking and decision-making has never been higher. The Mavericks is our attempt to honor those leaders, and, now more than ever, we are excited to announce our 2024 list of Maverick Awards winners! This list highlights 50 individuals who have acted as trendsetters, innovative thinkers, and catalysts of change in their respective fields. From architects and entrepreneurs to industry leaders, technologists to investors, and those developing both off-site fabrication and on-site robotics, we have identified boundary-pushers from leading companies around the world, and across the built environment's vast ecosystem. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we did!
Want to learn more about the Mavericks and their organizations? Just click on their company name to find them in our company directory and see all the analysis we've provided about them. Many of the Mavericks are also members of the BuiltWorlds Network and you can also find out more about them and connect with them in our Member Directory
ENTREPRENEUR
Igor Starkov is an expert in construction process management software solutions. He currently serves as the CEO of the tele-work-as-a-service company Teleworker AI. Igor has extensive experience as an entrepreneur and leader in providing technological solutions in the construction space.
Francis Thumpasery is the Co-Founder and CEO at PermitFlow and received his MBA at Stanford University's School of Business. Thumpasery is streamlining construction permit applications through the PermitFlow management software, with $31 million just raised in Series A.
Steve Dell’Orto is the Founder & CEO of ConCntric, a preconstruction platform that is transforming the fractured preconstruction environment by unifying data, people and processes. As a 26-year construction industry veteran who has lived and breathed the world of delivering preconstruction projects, Steve is uniquely positioned to bring digital transformation to the industry. Steve is the former Executive Officer of one of the largest privately-owned, domestic general contractors in the U.S. with revenues averaging $5-6 billion annually.
George White’s career has been focused on working with stakeholders in the infrastructure and construction industries to bring technology to the forefront in their operations.George was responsible for the development of the Hot Mix Database, a web-based tool used to track and monitor asphalt road construction projects that received the TRB K.B. Woods Award, a top award for construction innovations, as well as the development of Pavement Interactive, the world’s largest online resource for all things pavement.
Robert Mazer is the Co-Founder and President of Flexnode, a digital infrastructure company working to deliver the next generation of distributed, high-performance data center solutions for ‘go-anywhere’ compute capacity. In addition to his executive role at Flexnode, Robert also serves on the board of multiple organizations with a focus on energy and run by young entrepreneurs.
Brittany is a Civil Engineer and Entrepreneur committed to delivering a more sustainable future for all. She is Co-founder and CEO of Qualis Flow, a tech company enabling construction teams to eliminate 100s of hours of work, and £100,000’s of wasted materials, cutting carbon and waste from the construction process.
Leise Sandeman is the co-founder of Pathways, building the data-layer for sustainable manufacturing. She have scaled up a venture in recycling and waste management systems in Indonesia and advised companies on strategy, sustainability and tech at McKinsey & Co. Leise was a part of the Harvard Climate Leaders Program, was on the Danish Crown Prince Fellowship at Harvard and part of Danish Sustainable Change Makers.
Caleb Carr Esq. is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer for Vita Inclinata Technologies, a Denver Colorado based aerospace and industrial company. His work at Vita Inclinata Technologies has won recognition like Forbes 30 under 30 for the Manufacturing and Industry category, Titan 100 CEO winner, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Desert Mountain Region, and has rung the NASDAQ opening bell, among others.
Atsuko Jenks is the Founder and CEO of Japan Accelerator. She helps Japanese corporations and startups leverage the innovation and talent of Silicon Valley. With over 30 years of business experience, she has a deep understanding of both the US and Japanese markets and cultures, and a proven track record of creating value and impact for her clients and partners.
Former Congressman Patrick Erin Murphy serves as CEO and Founder of Togal.AI, overseeing the company's day to day operations. Additionally, he currently serves an Executive Vice President of Coastal Construction, the largest General Contractor in Florida. Patrick was recently appointed to serve on the President's Export Council under President Joe Biden, where he will advise the president on strategies to promote American exports and support job creation through trade.
Leila Banijamali is the Co-Founder and CEO of Symbium Corp, the Complaw company, which she launched in 2019 with her Stanford co-founders. The company is fundamentally disrupting how complex zoning regulations are consumed by the public through its freely-accessible Citizen’s Dashboard. Using Symbium, anyone can understand and visualize what’s possible on a particular piece of property and then apply for a permit, which will be instantly issued because the regulatory checks are performed upfront. Prior to launching Symbium, Banijamali founded businesses in the technology media industries in addition to acting as outside general counsel to hundreds of tech companies.
INDUSTRY LEADER
As Chief Innovation Officer of STO Building Group, Rob's vision and mission is to: Accelerate innovative solutions into business operations to help our teams unlock new and smarter ways to improve the client experience; Build cross-functional teams to elevate operational excellence and drive efficiency and productivity; Explore solutions, new processes, and unique implementation models to solve client challenges and achieve their goals; Create innovative change in the AEC Industry with our clients, partners, and peers.
Jean Marc Frangos is a digital transformation and innovation advisor for Shimizu Corporation. In his role, he participates in Shimizu’s innovation strategy and shares best practice advice from his 25 years of experience as a Silicon Valley Corporate Innovation thought leader, corporate venture capitalist, and startup advisor. Before joining Shimizu, Jean-Marc set up and ran BT's (British Telecom) Open Innovation practice in San Francisco, and he also helped British American Tobacco, Fujitsu and KDDI increase their innovation impact. He is well versed in digital technologies, IT, AI, IoT, 5G/6G, Immersive tech and Construction tech. Cases describing Jean-Marc's innovation methodology have been published by London Business School, INSEAD and Harvard Business School and taught in business schools around the world.ail, and healthcare sectors. There is a rapid momentum for the company, with a projected $1.65 billion of awarded funds to grow their projects.
Dominique Perrault is a French architect and urban planner. He became world known for the design of the French National Library, distinguished with the Silver medal for town planning in 1992 and the Mies van der Rohe Prize in 1996. In 2010 he was awarded the gold medal by the French Academy of Architecture for all his work. He was named as the 2015 Praemium Imperiale Laureate for Architecture.
Will Senner has been with Skanska for over 15 years. He is an established and well respected professional within the construction industry. As leader of the data solutions team, Senner is responsible for guiding the Data Strategy for Skanska USA Building, including leading Skanska's Data Solutions Team.
As a New Orleans native, Wesley grew up in a construction family. He earned a four-year Construction Management degree in three years at Louisiana State University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Before launching WJP, he directly applied his background, education, expertise, and unique insight to over a decade of work, building and managing large-scale construction projects. Wesley also founded RNGD, RNGD takes a multidisciplinary approach to commercial building, infrastructure, and industrialized construction.
Brandon is SVP, Digital & Data Engineering of EllisDon’s Digital & Data Engineering Division. This group drives forward EllisDon’s technology and data strategy, working across the Capital Services, Construction, Energy & Digital Services, Facilities Management and Modular operations.
As part of the Holcim Maqer Venturs Team, Marjorie participates in startup scouting, accelerator program organization, and works on the Next Generation of Readymix Plant. Majorie has worked as a laboratory technician for 8 years after obtaining a DUT in chemistry. She also holds an engineering degree in industrial engineering.
Ryan Maibach is the President and CEO of Barton Malow Holdings. A fourth-generation builder, Ryan spent time in the family business at a young age and chose to pursue a construction engineering degree at Purdue University. Upon completion, Ryan began his career at Barton Malow Company as a project engineer in 1997. In 2011, Ryan was named President of Barton Malow Company. Since that time, he has expanded the enterprise through rapid alignment, strategic growth, and innovation.
Jessica Francisco is Global Head of Sustainability, Global Occupier Services at Cushman & Wakefield, a leading real estate services firm. In this role, Jessica works with large corporate occupiers to ensure their real estate portfolios align with their sustainability commitments and targets. With more than 20 years of sustainability experience, she specializes in developing and implementing ESG goals and strategies for clients across sectors. Jessica has served in numerous leadership positions at major corporations and consultancies. Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, she was Head of Sustainability, North America at Arcadis. Before Arcadis, she served as Senior Director, Energy & Climate Practice at 3Degrees Group, and worked in roles of increasing responsibility at Pacific Gas and Electric Company for seven years prior to that. She received an MBA from Dartmouth College and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.ded as Germany’s most sustainable building by DGNB, with the highest ranked score in the country’s history.
RJ Pittman currently serves as the CEO and chairman of Matterport. RJ has spent the last two decades building Internet software companies to help accelerate the evolution of a commerce-enabled Web. He has applied this experience to the creation many pioneering Internet companies and projects in the field of web search, social networking, e-commerce, payments, and online trading. He has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the companies I have led, founded or co-founded since 1992, participating in three public offerings, and the successful sale of two other companies.
INFLUENCE & EDUCATION
Dr. Cody Paige is the Director of the Space Exploration Initiative at the Media Lab, a team of 50+ students, faculty and staff building and flying advanced technology for space exploration. The Initiative focuses on helping students take their research into space. Cody came to MIT as a Fulbright Scholar and completed her Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. Her research focused on enabling a permanent human presence on the Moon through the development of wearable radiation shielding material and a virtual reality platform for geological surface exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Behind the Hard hat is the construction worker empowerment brand founded by Alaa Abdelhamid featuring videos from the worker’s perspective, original series, and documentaries. Alaa also works at INGENIOUS.BUILD as an Enterprise Account and Customer Success Manager.
Ram is a seasoned Construction professional turned early-stage Angel Investor backing ambitious entrepreneurs working on Construction 4.0 to reshape how built environment assets are designed, constructed, and operated. He is the foundr of C-TrIBE, a community of Construction Tech investors, founders, and market leaders., who help nurture & accelerate innovation, technological development, & digital transformation in Indian Built Environment. Ram also works as an Emerging Tech & Innovation Analyst at McCarthy Building, part of a five-member core team, assisting the Company Leadership in pivoting a 156-Year-old, $4.5 Billion annual revenue, 3000 employees Construction company through the fourth industrial revolution.
Kris Lengieza, the Global Technology Evangelist at Procore Technologies, brings a wealth of experience and passion to the intersection of construction and technology. Kris’s journey began with 15 years in construction, where he embraced technology as an early adopter. His mission? To seamlessly integrate data across all construction solutions, driving progress within the field. As a futurist and construction tech evangelist, Kris now collaborates extensively with industry innovators, tech organizations, and construction companies.Kris has played a pivotal role in Procore’s product strategy, delivering industry and technology insights to improve how Procore’s solutions serve the industry.
Tannis began her career in the construction industry as a teenager, working for her family business. She now works with one of the world's most successful and well-respected EPC firms as a Digital Advancement Executive. She contributes to digital strategy, identify opportunities for digitalization, and scout the most promising digital solutions in the market. Her focus is, and always has been, helping teams move past ‘tech hype’ to discern which solutions will really help them grow.
Chad Syverson is the George C. Tiao Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He has been on the University of Chicago faculty since 2001. His research spans several topics, with a particular focus on the interactions of firm structure, market structure, and productivity.
INVESTORS
Jason Pritzker is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of 53 Stations, an early stage investment firm. He is also the Vice Chairman of The Pritzker Organization. Across both roles, Jason is focused on finding and partnering with great leaders, helping them to achieve their vision. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for Hyatt Hotels Corp, Mr. Pritzker also sits on a number of private equity and venture backed boards that span construction, logistics, industrial services, and consumer products.
Wan Li Zhu is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Suffolk Technologies, a venture capital firm investing in and partnering with startups transforming the built environment. Suffolk Technologies has backed over 30 startups in ConTech, PropTech and InfraTech with focus on AI & automation, data & collaboration, and sustainability. Wan Li also founded and runs MIT Alumni Angels, which has backed over 100 MIT-affiliated startups in technology and life sciences.
From practicing law at an international M&A lawfirm in Madrid to diving into the world of startups across several roles and geographies, to following her passion for technology that has led her to become a venture capitalist.
Johan believes that In the context of climate change, cities will play a pivotal role in providing sustainable, resilient, and equitable living conditions for all. Through URBAN-X, he help startups build and scale technology-driven solutions for the future of urban life. He am passionate about leading multidisciplinary teams, taking early risks in promising ventures, and sharing my deep expertise in product building with founders.
Basma leads NOVA by Saint-Gobain, the corporate ventures team of Saint-Gobain, since 2023. Basma has been in Saint-Gobain group since 2017, and has held strategy and M&A positions as well as General Management positions. Prior to Saint-Gobain, she has spent 7 years in Strategy consulting mostly for industrial groups within BearingPoint France. Basma Master’s degree from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines de Paris, 2 major engineering schools in France.
Erick Melgar is currently the General Manager of Progreso X, the corporate Accelerator of Progreso. He is in charge of co-developing projects with startups from all over the world and Progreso’s business unit through corporate innovation strategies. He has been part of Progreso for almost 13 years, before leading Progreso X he was part of other departments like Innovation and Strategic Projects, Customer Experience, Strategic Marketing, Operational Marketing and Sales.
In September 2023, Kevin Cardona was appointed as Director of Entrepreneurial Innovation, in charge of developing incubation and acceleration programs at Leonard, innovative & acceleration platform of VINCI Group. Kevin Cardona holds an engineering degree in Civil Engineering and Urban Planning from INSA Lyon and a Masters degree in Sustainable Development Management from HEC Paris.
Melissa Cheong joined Blackhorn Ventures in January 2019 as a Managing Partner. In her role, Melissa balances her time between managing the firm’s strategic goals, procedures and policies, creating partnerships and working with talented and inspiring company founders, and developing the firm’s investment strategy for current and future funds. She has been featured by Trusted Insight in 2017 and 2018 as one of the “Top 30 Family Office
Chief Investment Officers” and is a frequent speaker and presenter at events and conferences on social and environmental impact investing issues, as well as on topics related to various family office structures and corresponding approaches to investing.
Jeremy joined IFM Investors in November 2019 and leads our Long Term Private Capital strategy. Prior to joining IFM Investors, Jeremy spent more than 25 years as a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank and was one of Australia’s leading senior investment banking practitioners. Recent notable transactions included advising Link Group and its consortium partners Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia on the A$1.6bn acquisition of PEXA, Link Group on its £888m acquisition of UK based Capita Asset Services (and attendant A$883 m equity raising), and the Government of New South Wales on its granting of a long term concession for Land & Property Information for A$2.6 bn.
Gregory is the founder and managing partner of A/O - Europe’s largest Built World venture capital firm- Investing in a better built world with a mission to improve quality of life, accelerate sustainable living, and enable the decarbonization of largest, most polluting industry in the world.
Wambui believes strong partnerships and the ethical use of technology can drive positive social impact. For this reason, she has invested her career in mission-driven and global technology businesses including Google, Andela, ThoughtWorks, Praekelt, IBM, and Digitas. Motivated by the intersect of Africa, technology and social impact, she has led business development and technology delivery practices to provide strategic direction across professional services, digital technology implementation, and marketing enablement. In addition to being a general manager of Google Search Africa, Wambui is the co-founder of the Obuntu Foundation. The Obuntu Foundation is a nonprofit on a mission to advance the next generation of Africa-focused Fund Managers.
Hans Kobler is the Founder and Managing Partner of Energy Impact Partners (EIP), a $4 billion global investment firm custom-built to invest in the energy transition. He is responsible for directing EIP’s overarching investment strategy and leading a global team that invests in multiple asset classes in the U.S. and Europe.
TECHNOLOGISTS
Michael Pink, founder and CEO of SmartPM Technologies Inc., is a construction industry professional with over 20 years of experience in project controls, risk management, and dispute resolution. Having seen firsthand the immense value that construction data analysis offered to the built world, Michael founded SmartPM in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2016 – a technology company that delivers advanced analytics in an automated fashion to stakeholders involved in commercial construction projects. By leveraging a multitude of trade secrets, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, Pink’s approach to SmartPM is rooted in a commitment to practical problem-solving and helping project teams make informed, data-driven decisions.
Yves Padrines has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Nemetschek Group as of March 1, 2022. Prior to joining Nemetschek Group as CEO, Yves Padrines was Chief Executive Officer of Synamedia, where he successfully established and transformed the world’s largest independent video software provider for Pay-TV, telco, media and OTT players. Before that, Padrines was Cisco’s Vice President of Global Service Provider for EMEA and within that function responsible for the full suite of Cisco products and services. Padrines joined Cisco as part of the sale of NDS where he had served in a range of senior executive and general management roles. His early career was formed at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Vivendi as well as with the launch of a music online platform in the US backed by Creative Labs.
Chase Gilbert co-founded Built Technologies in 2013 after discovering the frustrations, challenges and pitfalls associated with construction lending. Along with his founding partners, Gilbert saw opportunity in solving a critical problem for the trillion-dollar construction industry by simplifying the complex lending process through technology. Under Gilbert’s leadership, Built has entered a rapid growth trajectory, more than doubling in size and tripling its customer base across the United States. The company is setting the standard for construction lending software and recently became the only construction loan management solution to be endorsed by the American Bankers Association.
Kate MeLynda is President & Chief Business Officer at Formant, a cloud robotics platform helping businesses solve real-world problems through AI-powered automation workflows. She has over 20 years of experience across various tech sectors such as IoT, cybersecurity, data, and ML/AI across multiple industries. Beyond physical automation, she is passionate about advocating for women in the workplace and is committed to paving the way for future female leaders.
Hugh McEvoy leads Trimble SketchUp’s Strategy & Business Development group, whose primary purpose is to help SketchUp maintain long-term growth through adding value to their millions of customers around the world. He also lead the Trimble Buildings Center of Excellence for Sustainability.
Robert Otani, PE is Chief Technology Officer at Thornton-Tomasetti, Inc., a 1500+ person multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm, and founded the CORE, an applications development, advanced computational modeling, and R&D group at his firm. He has extensive structural design experience involving commercial, infrastructure, institutional, cultural and residential structures on projects totaling over $3 billion USD of construction and has led numerous software applications including Konstru, Design Explorer, Beacon, and the first ML-powered structural engineering application Asterisk.
Over a decade of experience in new market entry and strategic transformations for advanced industry companies. While at McKinsey & Company she developed new market strategies, inclusive of sustainability and green hydrogen, for advanced manufacturing, agriculture, and automotive companies. At Emerson, she led a global instrumentation product line focused on water and wastewater, pulp and paper, life sciences, food and beverage, oil and gas, and chemical industries. Megan is an active member of Women in Green Hydrogen, Women+ in Hydrogen, American Clean Power Hydrogen Committee, Renewable Hydrogen Alliance and of Society of Women Engineers,. She has her a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and Master of Business Administration from University of Michigan.
Commercializing clean energy and precision medicine technologies for the past 20 years. Investing in & advising early stage companies focused on reducing our carbon footprint and improving healthcare. Interested in carbon removal, synthetic biology and advancing democracy.
Arman Gukasyan is an accomplished entrepreneur, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Revizto, a leading Integrated Collaboration Platform that uses gaming technology to centralize all construction and infrastructure project data and connect all project stakeholders. His vision and passion to digitize the AECO industry through cutting-edge technology is transforming how hundreds of thousands of users around the globe are collaborating in design, building and operations.
Dr. Ali Agha is one of the foremost experts in robotic autonomy and AI in off-road and challenging environments. Driven by a passion for building real-world AI systems, Dr. Agha strives to translate scientific advancements into beneficial products and services. He actively consults and advises policymakers, investors, and executives on emerging technology trends in AI.
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