BWB Episode 50 - A Leg Up with Lenovo

Hey BWB Fans,

It’s hard to believe but this was our 50th episode and what an episode it was. For the big 5-0 we got to talk tech with a man who has been behind the scenes of some of the major technology transitions in the AEC industry. Of course I am talking about none other than Chris Ruffo.

Like most of us in AEC tech, Chris’s path into the industry was somewhat untraditional. Chris’s path began with Alias. That name should sound familiar to all in the AEC tech space as they were acquired by Autodesk. Alias had a number of applications but they were becoming known by Architects for their visualization tool, Maya.

After the acquisition Chris worked for Autodesk focusing on the Forge platform. For those unfamiliar with Forge- Forge is a series of APIs that allow for the pushing, pulling. analyzing, dissecting, manipulating, and aggregating of data. These APIs are ever growing and make up the core of Autodesk’s Construction Cloud. Forge allows users to create their own automations and tie into existing systems. For example, JE Dunn tied theirs to a customized inhouse estimation database to help accelerate the preconstruction phase. 

As for Chris, his future only got brighter. After Forge, he spent some time at Epic Games before landing at Lenovo. Lenovo has literally been powering the AEC industry. Their partnerships with chip makers as well as their focus on customer driven development is spurring new innovations that will enable the future of the AEC industry.