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We’re taking the SureWorx Podcast on the road to the Future of Construction Technology (FCON) Summit in Sydney. In this insightful episode, SureWorx CEO Nandan Thakar sits down with Claudelle Taylor, General Manager of Innovation Integration at CIMIC Group, to discuss the transformative potential of Digital Twin technology and ESG data integration in construction. Claudelle shares the challenges and opportunities of harmonizing data systems across projects, emphasizing why a unified approach to data and sustainability is essential for long-term industry growth. Tune in to discover how Digital Twins and ESG practices are creating a roadmap for a sustainable, data-driven future in construction.
Claudelle Taylor serves as the General Manager for Innovation Integration at CIMIC Group, where she leads digital engineering initiatives across one of Australia’s largest engineering-led construction and mining services organizations. Speaking at AFCON Sydney 2024, she articulated a sophisticated vision for integrated digital delivery, emphasizing the critical importance of harmonized systems and standardized data taxonomy as foundations for effective AI implementation in construction. A double Masters qualified executive, including a Master of Engineering Science in Project Management, Claudelle champions three key technological pillars: digital twin development, comprehensive ESG reporting capabilities, and AI-driven predictive analytics.
Under her leadership, CIMIC Group has established a structured innovation pipeline, transforming promising solutions into production-ready tools through a rigorous evaluation process. Claudelle has been instrumental in launching ID Tech, CIMIC’s technology commercialization arm, which develops and markets innovative construction software solutions. As a prominent female leader in construction technology, she actively advocates for digital transformation while encouraging women to bring fresh perspectives to the industry. Her approach combines strategic innovation management with practical implementation, focusing on creating transferable solutions that can benefit multiple business units across the organization.
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00:07
Nandan Thakar
We are at FCON 24 here in Darling Harbour, Sydney and I am very pleased to be joined by Claudelle Taylor.
00:17
Claudelle Taylor
Thank you.
00:19
Nandan Thakar
So, yeah, please tell us something about yourself in terms of the role you have, the company you work for and then I’m keen to explore a number of things. You wear multiple hats so it’ll be great to explore that.
00:32
Claudelle Taylor
Okay, thanks. So I’m the general manager for innovation integration at CIMIC Group. CIMIC Group is a large engineering-led business. We do construction, mining, services and I work specifically in the digital, I guess the digital engineering piece of the business. And then we look after a digital strategy for all of the CIMIC Group companies which, you know, some of them you might know, which is CPB contractors, teas, UGL, Pacific Partnerships, AIC. Just quite a few, quite a number of them.
01:11
Nandan Thakar
Yeah. Great. And this is music to my ears because SureWorx was built for tier one companies because there is a level of complexity in terms of workload, multiple parties working on a common goal, very tight deadlines. So yeah, great. So with your deep experience in this domain, what are the common challenges that the industry is yet to solve at a holistic level and then you can also segue into what green shoots of solutions you see out there.
01:51
Claudelle Taylor
Well I think the big challenge for us is to try and harmonize all of the systems that we use with a common language and so that we get that consistent transfer or integration of data between the different systems so that we’ve got that holistic view. Like you were saying, that is very difficult because all of the different disciplines we work with have their own ways of naming things or calling things or different strategies. So if I’m a planner, I might call things differently from an estimator who might call from the site engineer. So the big thing that we’re trying to do is harmonize that and we call that integrated digital delivery in CIMIC. There’s actually someone talking today from CPB contractors on that very concept.
02:44
Claudelle Taylor
And then to be able to take advantage of AI, you know, which is the big thing at the moment. And it’s going to continue to be, don’t get me wrong,
02:54
Nandan Thakar
I just said the vanguard offered.
02:56
Claudelle Taylor
Yes, yes. But the issue there is we’re not going to get the benefit we want out of AI if we haven’t centralized our data and got the right taxonomy there to be able to make good use of that data. So that’s where we’re at.
03:10
Nandan Thakar
Well, that’s a very nuanced understanding of the problem statement. I talked to a lot of companies and they are not able to articulate, put their finger on that. So it shows the maturity that your company and your team has in putting the finger on it. Yeah, and, yeah. And in terms of solutions, what do you see as where the industry is at in terms of solving that or enabling you to solve it?
03:37
Claudelle Taylor
Well, I definitely think there are sort of three pillars of, I guess, big technology components that we need. So we need Digital Twin, which is, you know, I know there’s a lot of talk around Digital Twin. The other one is ESG. So being able to adequately capture all of it, all of the ESG reporting requirements so that we can meet scope one, scope two, and then ultimately scope three requirements, that is huge. ESG in our industry. That is a big thing that we have to. Yeah, yeah, we have to really solve that. And then I think AI, once we can understand that we’ve got the right. The right way of speaking about all our data.
04:22
Nandan Thakar
Yeah.
04:23
Claudelle Taylor
Then we can use that.
04:25
Nandan Thakar
Yeah.
04:25
Claudelle Taylor
To start en masse extracting the right information for ESG and then also the right information so that we can start to have a digital twin. So digital twin means a lot of things to a lot of people, as you know, but we want to have a way that we can, you know, isolate those, I guess, processes that we can just use. How do I say it? So if I can take a workflow, make that a digital workflow, and then use the AI to start making some.
05:00
Nandan Thakar
Predictions about that flow, some conditions, bad decisions.
05:04
Claudelle Taylor
So it’ll start to say, oh, you know, your threshold for a particular process is this. You’re outside the threshold. These are the reasons you might be outside the threshold. And this is what you could do to fix that.
05:18
Nandan Thakar
Yeah, yeah. Not just follow the bouncing ball, but actually make some intelligent recommendations that are valuable to the process.
05:24
Claudelle Taylor
That’s right.
05:25
Nandan Thakar
Yeah.
05:25
Claudelle Taylor
So that’s, you know, and that’s a big thing. Yeah, it’s by no means. I mean, we can talk about it, but it’s a huge thing. But that’s, for me, that’s where our industry needs to go.
05:37
Nandan Thakar
Great. And the other thing I noticed in your introduction is that the digital engineering team itself shows that the company has the maturity to have this group invest in it and be that conduit between the requirements on the ground as well as what it may need in terms of checking the boxes, security and data and all that. So how do you in the back end, how do you ensure that when you do have a Solution that is fit for purpose, that you are able to communicate the benefits of that back to the execs and different geographies. So that a project running in Perth and a project running in Sydney or Singapore has got the same access to knowledge and technology.
06:22
Claudelle Taylor
Yes. So one of the roles that I have in CIMIC and also working for the IT team is that we. So we basically say innovation is at the front end and then I work with the digital transformation team and the digital operations team that are also in it. So we have a, I guess a collaborative group where all of our operating companies come. So there’s a representative from each of them. And I forgot to mention Layton Asia is one of those companies as well.
06:54
Nandan Thakar
Yep.
06:54
Claudelle Taylor
And then we meet monthly and we talk about it. So everyone has to make a business case if they want to do an innovation. All of us know about that business case all at once.
07:06
Claudelle Taylor
We say, you know, oh, that looks like a great idea. That looks like it could be transferable to other parts of the business. That’s what we’re looking for. Even though I know sometimes it could be business specific, but we’re definitely looking for that. And then we all share each other’s innovation roadmaps and we know what’s going on. When the innovation gets to the point where we want to run it in production, then we have a handover process to the digital transformation team and they take the innovation and then they run through all their checks. Is it secure? You know, is it, how can I scale it?
07:42
Nandan Thakar
Proper process, you know?
07:44
Claudelle Taylor
So they’re involved, they have an understanding of things that are coming down the pipeline, but then that. And they’re ready. We’ve done some very preliminary, I guess, checks at the start to say, okay, the data’s not going to be stored in, I don’t know, somewhere safe, not in Australia.
08:05
Claudelle Taylor
And then by the time it gets to that production piece, then we do a bit more. Have a bit more rigor around that. But then we know the innovation has been through all those checks and balances. Something that can be used by the whole group or parts of the group.
08:22
Nandan Thakar
It sounds like you guys have worked hard and deliberately to break down the silos between different business units and there is a considered process from ideation through to productionization. So that’s great. Very advanced in your maturity in terms of adopting new technologies.
08:41
Claudelle Taylor
It took a long time, don’t get me wrong.
08:44
Nandan Thakar
Yes. Yeah. And that’s a good segue into new talent coming into the industry. And it’s great that CIMIC Group is embracing digital, perhaps digital first. And that is really good news for new entrants, civil engineers, et cetera, coming into. Because we owe it to them, the digital natives, to give them tools where they are focused on the what and the why rather than the how. So. Yeah. So I would love for you to, given your experience and your leadership, to say something about the new entrants into the industry and why this industry could be a very rewarding industry for decades to come.
09:26
Claudelle Taylor
Yeah, look, I do, and I often think about that as well. I often think about what would entice someone that’s going to go to university or, you know, just about to finish their school. Yeah. What, what is it about construction or mining or services that would, you know, encourage them to join our organization? And I do believe it is, you know, the digital tools are going to aid that transition into our business. So what we’ve started to do is we’ve started to look at software that is run on a, like a gaming engine. So we’ve built a tool that allows you to basically plan out a construction sequence using a gaming engine, which we hope that, you know, the next generation will probably be very familiar with that kind of technology.
10:20
Claudelle Taylor
And, you know, we’ve built it so that, you know, you’ve got model, you know, cranes and model excavators and model people and, you know, and then the actual model of what’s going to be built and you can move these resources around, you can work out what sequence the construction, you know, the construction method.
10:38
Nandan Thakar
You can play it out before it happens.
10:41
Claudelle Taylor
I don’t want to say a game.
10:42
Nandan Thakar
Yeah. But it is a bit, it’s gamifying.
10:45
Claudelle Taylor
Yeah, gamifying the construction methodology. And I hope that is interesting for, you know, young engineers or young people that want to come and work on the construction sites to know that they’ve got the physical work they need to do, but also that they can use these digital.
11:01
Nandan Thakar
It’s a mentally stimulating thing in terms of working at the vanguard of these things. Yeah, great, wonderful. And very interestingly you mentioned before we kicked off that CIMIC has also invested in creating almost a startup within the company. Please tell us more about that.
11:20
Claudelle Taylor
Oh, yes. So one of our innovations was to form a completely separate organization called IDDTech. And IDD stands for Integrated Digital Delivery. And we started to look at, well, what software. Software we built in CIMIC that potentially could be commercialized, which we had some things. So we basically pulled together all of those teams, put them into this external company. And then we said to ourselves, okay, whatever we can, you know, whatever revenue we can generate with these existing commercial products, we would use that to reinvest in ourselves so that we could innovate.
12:00
Nandan Thakar
Keep progressing with new products.
12:02
Claudelle Taylor
So that’s the whole premise. And you know, as we were saying before, because we’ve got access to all of the SMEs we could ever need access to. Yeah, we know that we’re hitting the mark because those people, those projects are saying, yeah, this is what we need.
12:19
Nandan Thakar
What you put forward is valuable. Yeah, right.
12:22
Claudelle Taylor
Yeah, they are wonderful.
12:23
Nandan Thakar
Now that’s, that is very good to know in terms of how mature considered the processes and the entrepreneurial spirit within the company. So, yeah, no, we wish you all the best and thank you for giving us your time.
12:37
Claudelle Taylor
Thank you for having me.
12:38
Nandan Thakar
Thank you.
