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If you can ship a site plan with one click, do you still need the degree or just better prompts?

Director of Innovation Brandon Blackberg (RTM Engineering) joins KP for a fast, practitioner-level riff on how AI is reshaping civil and structural work. We cover the “McDonald’s vs gourmet” future of delivery, why generalists win in a systems world, and how to avoid getting locked into someone else’s feature stack. We also talk vibe coding, token bills, and what KP would do if he started a firm tomorrow.

Highlights

  • Why entry-level engineers will start closer to “junior-plus” with AI at their fingertips
  • Generalist thinking vs narrow specialization when failures are system level
  • Rethinking drawings and phases when iteration is cheap
  • Time and materials, lump sum, and the real impact of token costs
  • Multi-LLM strategies to avoid platform lock-in
  • Guardrails that keep creativity alive and production safe
  • Build vs buy: when an internal tool beats a vendor, and when it doesn’t
  • Career paths that don’t look like ladders: engineering, coding, sales

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Chapters

1. Mastermind Roundtable Setup (00:00:00)

2. Brandon’s Path From CAD To Innovation (00:00:53)

3. Young Talent, AI Fluency, And Hiring (00:02:44)

4. Do We Still Need Engineering Degrees (00:04:21)

5. From Specialists To Master Generalists (00:07:12)

6. Systems Thinking Beats Component Thinking (00:10:15)

7. Rethinking Drawings And Design Phases (00:12:48)

8. Fees, Tokens, And Billing Models (00:15:12)

9. Multi‑LLM Strategies And Lock‑In (00:18:07)

10. Tools, Agent Kits, And Platform Risk (00:21:01)

11. No‑Code, Vibe Coding, And Guardrails (00:23:05)

12. Intern Prototypes And Build vs Buy (00:26:05)

13. Coding Capacity And Product Choices (00:29:02)

14. If You Started A Firm Tomorrow (00:31:05)

15. Change Journeys And Culture Shifts (00:33:10)

16. Choose‑Your‑Own Career Paths (00:36:02)

17. Where Agentic AI Actually Fits (00:39:05)

18. Better Questions Before Automation (00:42:10)

19. Power Tools, Home Automation, Forma (00:44:05)

20. Incumbents, Inspiration, And AI Momentum (00:46:05)

94 episodes