"The construction industry worldwide generates over $10 trillion in revenue each year. But most construction projects take longer to complete and significantly exceed their budget, leading to profitability losses, litigation, and excessive insurance costs. All of this costs the industry $1.6 trillion annually,"
explains the Conxai founder Sharique HusainThe physicist previously founded the successful computer vision startup Dive in Madrid and has also held various positions at several startups. With his idea of digitizing the construction industry, he approached AI expert Krish Sridhar, who previously led research in the field of autonomous driving as Program Head Autonomous AI at Continental and conducted research for the US Department of Defense at DARPA. Together, they developed their AI solution.
Conxai uses existing infrastructure
The startup takes advantage of the infrastructure that already exists on construction sites to digitize them. The AI platform Collects and analyzes data from cameras and other available sensors to analyze and interpret construction activities and how they impact the development of building structures. This allows for automated real-time monitoring of the construction site, and all cost-optimizing, safety, quality, and logistics events can be identified and reported.
In the future, however, AI will be able to do even more: With the help of a digital twin of the construction site, it will be able to identify problems such as deviations from the construction plan. This will enable errors and problems to be identified and resolved more quickly than is currently the case.
"For example, if a wall is placed incorrectly because the workers still have an outdated version of the blueprint, the system can detect this and intervene in time before the wall is finished and has to be demolished. Normally, such errors would only be noticed during the next site inspection. This not only saves a lot of time, but also costs,"
says Husain.
Affordable and GDPR compliant
The startup is by no means only focusing on large-scale projects, as the founders further explain. Conxai's solution, with its cost-effective cameras, produces results that can compete with significantly more expensive LiDAR systems in terms of quality. And thanks to the startup's hardware-agnostic approach, companies can use cameras they already own for other applications.
“This is a game changer because it makes AI for construction sites suitable for the mass market for the first time,”
Husain explains. Users also don't have to worry about data protection, the founders explain. Because Conxai doesn't process any personal data and has an additional layer that blurs faces, license plates, and areas around the construction site captured by the cameras. This makes the solution fully GDPR-compliant.
Husain says about Conxai’s corporate philosophy:
“Our product is inspired by the Bauhaus philosophy: the best for the greatest number of users at the lowest possible cost.”
And why did Sridhar and Husain decide to found their startup in Munich, rather than back in Madrid or even the US? The founders say:
"The Munich startup ecosystem has truly impressed us. The combination of academia, young and motivated talent, and existing local industry makes Munich the place to be for us when it comes to founding a company. We believe in Munich as a powerhouse for Industry 4.0 and artificial intelligence in Europe."
