What happens when a construction worker frustrated with clipboards and paper timesheets teaches himself electronics and coding - and builds one of the fastest-growing workforce automation companies in North America?
In this episode of Human Work After AI, I sit down with Albert Bou Fadel, founder and CEO of SmartBarrel, to explore how his unusual path from the field to technology led to a breakthrough in labor tracking, payroll automation, and AI-driven workforce management.
Albert shares why the real opportunity isn’t in replacing people but in eliminating thousands of tiny inefficiencies that bog down projects and drain productivity. From skepticism in the construction industry to the rise of AI copilots, we discuss how automation is reshaping not only job sites but also the way humans think about work.
🔑 What you’ll learn in this episode:
- Why the biggest construction inefficiency isn’t lack of tech, it’s failed implementation
- How focusing on labor first, not the C-suite, drives adoption and ROI
- The cultural skepticism that makes selling tech into construction uniquely hard
- How AI boosts efficiency without mass job replacement
- Why zero-manual-input data is the foundation for AI’s future in construction
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – Intro: Why Construction Tech Is Broken
02:00 – Albert’s Origin Story: From Concrete to Coding
05:20 – The Labor Management Problem on Every Jobsite
07:15 – Teaching Himself Electronics and Building the MVP
09:20 – First Signs It Could Be a Real Business
10:40 – What SmartBarrel Does Today
13:20 – Bottom-Up Tech: Designing for Workers, Not Just CFOs
16:15 – Why Skepticism Runs Deep in Construction
19:30 – Cost vs. ROI: The Hardest Sales Objection
21:00 – How COVID and ChatGPT Shifted Tech Adoption in Construction
23:20 – Data Quality, Privacy, and AI’s Next Phase
29:40 – Will AI Replace Construction Jobs?
32:20 – Internal Use of AI at SmartBarrel
36:00 – Why Albert Remains Bullish on AI’s Future
📚 Resources
Explore SmartBarrel: https://smartbarrel.io
Connect with Albert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertboufadel
Grow your SaaS business with host Chris Fanchi: https://bignorthmarketing.com