"We Tripled Our Profits In 3 Years With Automation" - Marc Barone - COO - Buro Happold

Bricks And Bytes

"We've nearly tripled our profits in three years - and it wasn't one big change, it was a million small ones."

In today's episode of the Bricks & Bytes, we had Marc Barone, COO of Buro Happold, and we got to learn about how they scaled from strong to exceptional, the real impact of AI on engineering productivity, and why listening matters more than action in your first 90 days as a leader... and many more!

Tune in to find out about:

✅ How Buro Happold grew 75% in three years while tripling profitability

✅ Why understanding what to say no to is as important as knowing what to say yes to

✅ The truth about measuring AI productivity gains and what actually works

✅ Why your first 90 days as COO should be about listening, not changing everything

Watch now on YouTube! Link in the comments!

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Chapters

• 00:00 Intro
• 03:35 Introduction and Background
• 05:36 Overview of Bureau Hapold
• 06:47 Technical vs Commercial Risk Management
• 08:59 Growth and Profitability Strategies
• 12:45 Path to COO Role
• 16:01 Leadership and Team Dynamics
• 19:45 Culture and Employee Engagement
• 25:39 Digital Transformation and AI Integration
• 33:38 Innovation and Technology Solutions
• 38:04 The Gradual Rollout of AI Tools
• 42:19 Balancing Automation and Human Resources
• 47:19 The Importance of Local Expertise
• 52:26 Evaluating AI Tools for Business
• 57:11 The Future of AI and Market Dynamics
• 01:04:17 Measuring Productivity Gains from Technology
• 01:09:08 First Steps for a New COO