PillarSep 2025 → Dec 2025

The AI copilot for preconstruction.

The architecture industry is lagging behind other industries in AI integration.

As part of a rigorous 8-week product incubator at USC’s LavaLab, I worked with three other co-founders to ship a product that streamlines the preconstruction phase—one of the most consequential stages of a project.

Role

Founding Designer

Timeline

Sep 2025 → Dec 2025

Skills

0 → 1 Product Design

User Research

Branding

Tools

Figma

Claude

Problem

Buildings require intense detail—with project managers caught in the crossfire of business and engineering.

For four years, I studied architectural design, participating in competitions by the AIA. Within conversations I had with architecture professionals, I saw a through-line: how outdated, redundant and time-sensitive projects are.

An isometric 3D render of a residential building on stilts over a dark rocky site, its walls cut away to show the interior rooms. — FIG 01. A 3D model for a national competition I worked on in high school, in collaboration with the AIA.

Solution

Pillar is an AI copilot customizable for any project managers’ workflow. Three core features anchor our product aligned with our pilot users’ needs.

Takeoff

Project managers upload the floor plans that require area tracing. Pillar quantifies the total amount of different materials automatically, which can be edited.

Problem Validation

The preconstruction phase is short and high-stakes.

This 8-week sprint included over 25 user interviews I led. Initially starting calls with questions about the industry, we began to uncover common workflows across various architecture firm sizes.

Each conversation with a professional pointed us to the direction of project managers, and just how thin they get spread during the short, high-stakes period before construction.

Preconstruction timeline. The owner's track runs from design development through RFQ/RFP/ITB; the project manager hands it to the general contractor's track — RFQ/RFP/ITB, selective or negotiated bidding, cost estimation, bid preparation — which returns to the owner for bid evaluation and contract negotiation. After the general contractor wins, the remaining phases are risk analysis, project scheduling, and permitting and construction mobilization. — FIG 02. A high-level preconstruction timeline of a building owner/general contractor relationship, with the project manager in between.

The same timeline with every phase dimmed except cost estimation, which fans out to the people feeding it: architects, cost estimators, construction managers, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, government representatives, and other contractors. — FIG 02. A high-level preconstruction timeline of a building owner/general contractor relationship, with the project manager in between.

“The architecture industry has struggled with productivity and disconnected workflows that are project-dependent. AI will not replace these jobs, but help their productivity.”

Richard Knoeppel

Architectural Design Teacher

As we continued forming new connections, we had follow-up calls with multiple architects to demo our MVP, iterating on features and design choices that would integrate seamlessly.

Among these relationships, two companies would be our leading users for whom we aligned our product features and roadmap.

Interview tracker listing 18 completed research sessions with construction-industry contacts, each dated and pointed to Josh Placido. — FIG 05. A snapshot of interviews I conducted with those in architecture and adjacent disciplines.

Key Findings

Across our conversations with contractors, project managers, and even plumbing engineers, we distilled our problem space into four domains:

A general contractor's network = net worth.

Virtually all general contractors rely on maintaining existing client/contractor relationships for discounts on materials and labor.

Costs depend on season and amount.

Depending on the season, certain materials and labor are more in-demand. Materials bought in bulk cost less, and labor costs vary on project type and size.

Cost estimation is a balancing act.

On average, project managers must balance the needs of at least 25 stakeholders (FIG 03).

There is no one-size-fits-all.

The responsibilities of general contractors vary by the company's size. This may include offshoring work (like takeoffs) to subcontractors.

HMW build a solution that streamlines takeoff?

HMW customize a solution that allows different-sized firms to quickly and accurately cost estimate?

Visual Storytelling

Outside of user interviews and business thinking, I mainly worked on branding and visual identity through slide decks. As our product became more specific, storytelling became increasingly important to target the right users and distill complex workflows to our judges.

FIG 06. Some logo iterations with Greek columns and golden ratio proportions.

Our product lies in a very specific subset of the broad architecture vertical. By providing a simple illustration, a complex concept becomes approachable, allowing us to pitch our product to anyone outside of the industry.

Takeaways

Curiosity brings clarity.

The architecture industry is complex and resistant to AI. Leading user interviews with probing questions, combined with deep market research, informed my design decisions to fit real user needs.

Advocate for design, always.

As a founding designer, I found myself wearing the founder hat over the design hat more than I wanted to. Switching between hats would have allowed us more time to iterate on features and product details, giving users more clarity and confidence in Pillar.

Fail fast.

We circled around several different problem spaces (and even industries!)—knowing when to pivot came from honest re-evaluation and rigorous questioning.