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Dive brief:
- McCarthy Building Cos. is looking to improve its adoption of artificial intelligence and has signed an agreement with a prominent software development company to do the work.
- McCarthy, based in St. Louis, has signed a multi-year contract, multimillion deal with Palantir to boost its internal AI capabilities, according to an announcement from the developer on Thursday.
- The contractor will use Palantir’s artificial intelligence platform to develop a connected AI operating system, according to Palantir, which will assist McCarthy employees in construction steps from design to building in the field.
Diving knowledge:
The partnership centers around Pulse, McCarthy’s native AI system that provides field teams with real-time intelligence, scenario planning, risk analysis and decision orchestration, according to the announcement.
Miami-based Palantir provides AI-based software solutions for a wide range of clients in industries including the military, retail, food manufacturing and investment management firms. The company has gained recognition as a defense contractor through its “Gotham” software platform.
The pulse is modeled Palantir Ontology Segment of its AI business, which the developer describes as a “tool factory” that lets people develop apps, set parameters and prepare them for use, according to its website. For McCarthy, Pulse helps superintendents, project managers and field operators make decisions and evaluate options on the job site.
McCarthy will use AIP to connect aspects of the business, such as contracts, estimating and execution, through this same ontology.
The partnership also marks a turning point for the builder: McCarthy will model its in-house technology team around embedded Palantir engineers and build enterprise-grade software natively with its own in-house applications team.
“Beyond the ontology and the technology itself, Palantir brings exceptional engineering talent and strategic leadership that has accelerated our ability to transform complex operational concepts into scalable solutions faster than we thought possible,” said Justin McFarland, McCarthy’s chief digital officer, in the announcement.
This build versus buy calculation is not a new consideration in the construction industry. How construction companies are more technologically savvythey have found that they often understand their own needs more accurately than third-party providers.
To this end, builders have started doing it partner with later stage startupsespecially those who can tailor solutions to meet their specific needs.
In fact, Turner Construction, the largest contractor in the US by revenue, has taken a lower position in this line of research. The builder has questioned the financial incentive to pay a startup to provide a solution, rather than build its own.
Turner took a step in the latter direction last fall, when he announced his enterprise-wide partnership with OpenAI.
