Welcome to Bitesize Fiber, the podcast where we explore the real world challenges and smart solutions shaping the future of fiber and telecom, one bite at a time.
In the final episode of our fiber network construction series, we're looking ahead: how is AI reshaping the way fiber gets built? Host Elli Puls is joined by Greg Ross and Stefan Schneider to explore AI’s real impact on the ground—from automating task planning and predicting cost overruns to boosting as-built accuracy. Plus, a few lessons for new crews and what “best practice” in fiber construction really means today.
Ellie Puls:
Welcome back to Bitesize Fiber, the podcast where we break down the toughest challenges in telecom and fiber. One bite at a time. I'm your host, Elli Puls, and in this final episode of our network construction management series, we're looking to the future. Specifically how AI is changing the way fiber networks are built.
I'm joined again by Greg Ross and Stefan Schneider, and we're talking about where AI can really make a difference on the construction site. From automating task breakdowns and predicting cost overruns, to simplifying data capture and improving as-built accuracy. We also take a step back to reflect on what construction best practice really looks like, and share a few lessons for new crews entering the field. Let's get into it.
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| Ellie Puls, Product Manager | Greg Ross, Customer Success Manager | Stefan Schneider, Product Manager |
Ellie Puls:
Do you guys see AI becoming a big part of this? Is there a role for AI in improving these builds?
Stefan Schneider:
There definitely is a significant role for AI moving forwards in addressing how we build, how we permit, and how we manage tasks and distribute them to people. To give you an example, you can use machine learning to learn from work breakdown structures that you create for specific projects and figure out which task breakdowns actually take the longest and which crews have been taking the longest to complete them so you can redistribute tasks accordingly. You can use AI to work on financial management, like learn your cost overruns and underruns and predict accurately when a project might actually encounter those things based on the design type. The area that they're working, the crews that are operating, things like that.
But another thing that AI can help with, which is not often talked about is, helping with things like capturing accurately information that you find on the field. So computer vision can help you capture what's around you and update it in real time, identify what sits on poles or inside a manhole, but it can also help you with different interfaces for you to query and retrieve documentation. So you're no longer trying to fumble and like search by document name or trying to find specific coordinates in a map.
The future of interfaces where they're going to be much more conversational it's going to mean that people in the field is going to have a much easier time searching, updating and collating information than they do today with current UIs.
Greg Ross:
Yeah, I definitely agree with that Stefan and I'd like to add one thing from an as-built perspective, Ellie. If everything is accurate on your BOM, you could actually take a picture of equipment in a handhole or on a telephone pole or something like that, and then you could bring that to the back office. And with the help of AI, you could have all your attribute fields populated automatically.
Let's say, for example, if you had QR codes on your equipment that I know some manufacturers are starting to do that. With longitude and latitude, it'll associate where it is from an as-built perspective and let you know that with the help of AI, that piece of material was where it's at in the real world. We're actually looking at that for one of our customers to go out and actually use our software to just snap pictures of it from an audit perspective and an as-built perspective, let's you know exactly where that equipment is and it fills out all your fields like I said before, you know, as soon as you click on the picture and load the picture into the actual software.
So, it's a real advantage to Stefan's point, to do it now, you go out there and you got to manually enter all that stuff in and, obviously if we enter stuff in wrong as human beings and miss certain fields or whatever the case may be but with AI, it can be done automatically.
Ellie Puls:
That's super cool. What do you think is one of the biggest changes that's made a biggest impact in getting jobs done faster?
Greg Ross:
One of the main issues that we've had in all the industries in my career is getting the proper as-builts complete after construction. Every company struggles with that, keeping their records up to date and keeping their data as up to date as possible for when they do future upgrades or new subdivisions or constructed in the field. Or you want to go out and you want to target a certain business customer or you want to, you know, complete intranets across and connect like hospitals and schools and stuff like that.
The number one problem that we've had for years now is keeping accurate data in the field. And what we did was before we introduced any of this AI technology is we use the redlining tool in IQGeo in Network Manager, and the construction folks they can red line it in the field as they're doing the actual construction. Typically what happened they would do their work for the day, and then the crew chief for the construction company would redline if it changed this position, if it went from one side of the street to the other side of the street, if they had to go up one telephone pole instead of the other telephone pole, all kind of different stuff that you run into in a daily workspace in the construction aspect. So, the redlining feature along with the new technology with AI, with the picture taking and stuff like that, that's the, one of the biggest changes that I've seen and one of the things I get really excited about.
Ellie Puls:
If you guys could give some advice to a first time construction crew that was starting a new fiber project, what would it be?
Greg Ross:
Don't get any utilities. No, I'm kidding. To just to make sure that you verify that you have the most updated permits before you go out there and start doing any works, because then you're going to be delayed. That's what I would suggest to them.
Stefan Schneider:
Yeah, I will jump on that and basically say if you're a new construction company and you're starting to deploy fiber, actually ask people for digital copies of things. And in places where you can actually get the most updated version without relying on paper copies or someone in an office updating things for you. The less you depend on someone doing something to give you the most updated information, the happier your life is going to be.
Ellie Puls:
Alright, well thank you guys so much for joining. This was super informative. I think we learned a lot. Any closing remarks?
Stefan Schneider:
I think if you look at the evolution of the industry, we've gone from the days where you had to have the shared crews, like ripping a street open to put massive bundles of copper and coordinating with a bunch of people and that work used to take months.
We've evolved to the point where people can build a neighborhood in a week, and in order to keep that speed and agility, we have to take the learnings from the old days. You should make sure that you have the accurate information ahead of you. Nothing actually is going to be worse than you hitting a utility and then having your whole thing delayed, not months but potentially years. And also making sure that whatever you do, right, like all these learnings have actually led us to, you know, increase efficiencies but also increase safety. And that's something that we should not lose sight on.
Ellie Puls:
Awesome. Well, thank you guys so much for joining. Loved hearing everything.
Greg Ross:
Thank you Ellie.
Stefan Schneider:
Thanks, Ellie.
Stay tuned for the next series of Bitesize Fiber. Catch up on the Bitesize Fiber series.
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