- 2 days ago
Constellation HomeBuilder Systems leaders Chris Graham and Bob Swainhart share how builders are using real-time data, ERP platforms and AI-driven insights to adapt faster and improve performance heading into 2026.
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00:00Welcome to this special edition of the Builder's Daily Videocast, where we look at the evolving edge of operational excellence, digital transformation, and builder leadership.
00:09I'm John McManus. Today, I'm joined by two trusted experts and senior leaders from Constellation Home Builder Systems, Chris Graham, Chief Executive Officer, and Bob Swainhart, General Manager for the Enterprise Solutions Group at Constellation.
00:23We're building off the energy and insights from Build Smarter Customer Conference last fall, where Chris and Bob and the Constellation team engaged closely with leading builders, trade partners, and technology innovators.
00:38Our conversation today will explore what's emerging, what's transforming, and what's next.
00:43And we see that competence and success within a silo don't necessarily add up to organizational success or to what the company is trying to do.
00:52So, Bob, can you talk a little bit about the real world where people are able to do their jobs better because they have the optics and the court vision to see other players in real time be accountable to them and to each other in purchasing, estimating, land acquisition, the whole value cycle in a home building operation?
01:13Yeah, I think that, you know, in this conversation about AI, it's really an extension of kind of the messaging that we've had, you know, around ERP and why it's important.
01:26It started out years ago as a back office system.
01:29Most of the companies, most of the departments and companies, especially the ones outside the walls of the corporate office, didn't even have technology.
01:39Then we started building additional modules, and now everybody is in an ERP.
01:46We've standardized the data so that they can query that information relatively quickly and get to consistent real-time or near real-time information to be able to make decisions.
02:01You now layer AI on top of that, and, you know, let's just talk about a purchasing agent.
02:08They might be responsible for, you know, I'll just use a rough number, 5,000 options or upgrades that might be available in a community, right?
02:19And which of those 5,000 are actually selling, which of those 5,000 are priced in a place that it might have been fat fingered seven years ago, but instead of the 40% markup or the 100% markup, it's a 7% markup.
02:39And so it's actually costing us, you know, the opportunity cost.
02:44Well, how do they, you know, the good news is that with an ERP platform, they've been provided a data set that allows them to query that.
02:55But if I'm responsible for 5,000 options, I'm going to be looking through 5,000 lines of an Excel spreadsheet, looking for that one or two that need to be addressed.
03:08You layer AI on top of that, and I can actually query and say, show me the options that are outside of our corporate, you know, norms, or show me the vendors, to use as a different example, that have the highest variance purchase costs that are costing me margin against my initial budget.
03:32That's information that historically took, you know, minutes, hours to really get into and get answers for, and then be able to make decisions about.
03:49Theoretically now, you write the, you know, you ask the right question to the AI agent, and you get an answer almost instantaneously, which allows you to pinpoint on the items that need to be addressed, and then take action for the good of the business.
04:08Yes, well, now we stray into a tricky part of the conversation, because the minute we start talking about the future, we realize it's already arrived in so many ways.
04:18So let's look ahead a couple of years, what does a technology-enabled, technology-powered homebuilder, the modern homebuilder, as you say, look like in your mind, Chris, and how does that translate into a digitally transformed organization?
04:33Yeah, I think, you know, for us, you know, there's a few things, you know, one, you know, collaboration is a lot more, you know, seamless, you know, than it is now.
04:43You can get the full story of, you know, what's going on within and with, you know, outside the walls of the office, you know, that extends to the sales office and to the construction trailers and onto the job site.
05:01Additionally, you know, the homebuyers, you know, should be able to communicate seamlessly with builders and, you know, during the sales cycle, during, you know, construction as needed, during their design and upgrade appointments, and ultimately through to customer experience and warranty.
05:18But the idea is that with that collaboration, you get, you know, better insight into what's going on, you have better access, you know, you have better data, you can make more informed decisions.
05:28And, you know, the technology, you know, that we provide, and that's available to homebuilders will allow them to do that.
05:37So I would say, you know, there's a lot more, you know, like insight and intelligence into what's going on more timely information available to people.
05:49And, and, and then a lot more, you know, decision support, I don't think it's fully automated, although, you know, I would say that sort of thing would be possible.
06:00But I think it's more or less, you know, having the technology kind of jump out at you and tell you, you know, things that you might be, you know, needing to, to worry about or to, to review in a much more, much more seamless way than it is now.
06:16You know, yeah, I would also say, you know, your, you know, the employees of a, of a builder and certainly throughout the supply chain and value chain of homebuilding, you know, will be able to use the systems, you know, much more easily, right?
06:37Whether, and access them, you know, much easier than, than they can right now.
06:42So they'll have the information that they need wherever they are, maybe much more conveniently than they do now.
06:49And Bob, what about you?
06:50Are you getting any kind of inkling and early inkling into how the roles that are sort of traditionally cast inside homebuilding operations, the way they've done things for so many years, and the skill sets, how they're evolving as technology, data and digital transformation become more muscle memory, as opposed to something that's being learned for the first time?
07:10Well, I think that, I think that with the introduction of some of the AI tools, just into the world, the, the roles of, of a typical job or the responsibilities of a typical job are going to have to include the capability of querying data in a way that allows you to make quick and easy decisions.
07:39Fundamentally, fundamentally, that goes back to having good data as a, as a, as a, in the system.
07:48And for a builder, in our case, for a builder to have good data in the system, it really requires fundamentally day one that, you know, somebody says system use is not optional because it drives all of the data that allows us to make great decisions.
08:09So, you know, so, you know, so, you know, I think you'll see more and more builders mandating system use.
08:16Obviously, obviously, that data is going to drive decision making, and then, and then anybody that's touching a system is going to have to be empowered to be able to query the data and provide insights based on that feedback from the AI agents or, or whatever the reporting mechanisms are, to be able to quickly make decisions, pivot, introduce new strategies, etc.
08:47And, you know, at some point, we're going to come out of this tough market condition.
08:53And we're going to have, have a, have a reality where sales of new homes is a little bit easier than has been maybe in the last year or so.
09:04And what I would suggest to all builders is don't take the foot off the pedal on this, on this focus around operational efficiency and excellence, because, you know, in good times builders make a lot of money.
09:22And so it's easy for them to kind of ease up on this drive to be a great operator with great insights.
09:31And I would just suggest to them that everybody in the, everybody in the company, the rigor that they have around system and data, data creation today needs to be the norm in not only the challenging times, but in the good times as well.
09:49So that you're prepared for the next time it's a little bit more challenging as well.
09:53Yes, and you make a really good point that whether the person is in construction supervision, sales, purchasing, finance, whatever, they now have roles that are not just task fulfillment and competence in operational execution.
10:06They have a skin in the game with the business connecting them to every other part of it and every other person in the life cycle.
10:13So, Chris, when you think about that, does this redound to leadership issues you as a leader talk about with home building owners, presidents, strategists, where do they start?
10:23No, I think that just kind of like how Bob was, was mentioning, you know, you tend to have some inefficiencies creep in when, when times are good.
10:34And, you know, you end up, you know, you may try some things that you wouldn't have otherwise tried, or you may, you know, kind of thought some things were important that, you know, may not be as important as you, you originally thought.
10:48And so I think any business, like we've seen that in our business, you know, there's just things that have kind of crept in that, you know, you otherwise, you know, in, in more lean times, you may not, you know, you may not find as, as important.
11:02And so, you know, it's one of the things that I would talk to any leader about is, you know, just how do you, how can we help you, you know, get more out of your system?
11:10How can we, you know, help give you better insights?
11:13You know, I think any time, you know, especially now, any time that we spend with our customers, you know, can be extremely valuable.
11:20We try to provide value every time we meet, every time we talk with our, with our customers, and it can be, you know, using what they have a little bit better, or if they share a problem with us in their business, we may be able to, you know, point them to a part of our solution that could help or introduce them to another builder that may have addressed the issue, you know, in their business.
11:44And so it's really just, you know, having these conversations, you know, using what you have as effectively as possible and, and leaning on us as a trusted partner.
11:56You know, again, when you look back to our Build Smarter conference, one thing that hit me is the amount of trust that our customers have in us and in our business.
12:04We provide, you know, we provide, you know, great support, we provide, you know, great products, we're constantly enhancing them.
12:09And I think it goes a long way.
12:11We've, you've been doing that for many, you know, many years.
12:15And so, you know, I think if you take all that, you look at, you know, the value that we provide, you look at just some of the, the opportunities for doing things a little bit more efficiently now.
12:26And, and, and when you look at what technology is doing and where it's headed, everybody who knows what they need to do should be able to do it much quicker and much more effectively, much more efficiently.
12:39That's what we're pushing in our business is really, you know, for people, our product managers who have aggressive roadmaps or department managers who want to, you know, do things a little bit differently.
12:50They should be able to do everything, you know, much quicker than, than they did before.
12:55And I think for home builders, you know, that applies, you know, to every department in their business as well.
13:01They should be able to, you know, do price changes, you know, quicker.
13:04They should be able to, you know, launch a new community quicker.
13:07They should be able to sell home quicker.
13:08They should be able to, you know, resolve a service, you know, issue, you know, more quickly.
13:12They should be able to get their financial results out in a more, you know, in a shorter period of time after month end.
13:17Like all these things, everybody should just be able to do things, you know, more quickly than they have before.
13:25Chris, Bob, thank you so much for sharing these insights today.
13:30I am, for one, will be looking forward to seeing you at IBS in February.
13:34And you can find the Constellation team at booth S7049.
13:39So be sure to stop by and hear more from Chris and Bob.
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