Bricks And Bytes "We Tripled Our Profits In 3 Years With Automation" - Marc Barone - COO - Buro Happold
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Oct 21, 2025 Join Marc Barone, COO of Buro Happold, as he shares insights from his engineering and construction leadership journey. He reveals how the firm achieved 75% growth and tripled profits through a series of small operational tweaks. Marc emphasizes the importance of listening as a new leader, the critical role of AI in enhancing productivity, and how saying no can be as strategic as saying yes. With a focus on workplace culture and innovation, he discusses the balance between automation and human creativity, making this a compelling listen!
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Refuse Non-Essential Work To Improve Focus
- Say no to non-essential projects and trips to sharpen focus and reduce waste.
- Simplify operations and pursue marginal gains across many small areas to boost performance.
Digitize To Humanize: Free Time For Creativity
- Digitize commodity tasks so people have more time for human collaboration and creative work.
- Use automation to free capacity for client conversations and exploration of better concepts.
Practical AI For Contracts And Knowledge Work
- Buro Happold uses contract-review AI and tools like Copilot and Perplexity to reduce lawyer workload.
- They trial tools, teach prompting and expect continuous tool evolution rather than permanent lock-in.