Archdesk is growing and so is our A-team! Join us for a new series of articles about the most prominent figures within the company! Today, you’ll hear about Richard Scott’s road that led him to join Archesk and his plans to impact the industry together. Enjoy!
While the construction industry is going through many changes recently, with Covid’s impact and dynamic digitalisation, our own company is no different. Archdesk itself goes through completely new changes nowadays, entering a high growth stage alongside onboarding an A team of trusted industry’s experts. Join us for the round of articles introducing our new team members who are building the future of construction with us. You may be familiar with their names, so keep an eye on upcoming news!
Today, we present to you Richard Scott, an AECO & Contech veteran and passionate mental health advocate. With over two decades of experience working with the AECO sector, he pioneered the innovative application of mobile technology within the construction sector. Joining Archdesk as VP of Global Partnerships to establish new alliances and support Archdesk in helping even more companies with our construction management platform.
Richard Scott describes the process of innovating as a delicate balance of technology, people and outcomes. It is essential to be curious and understand the world of the person using the digital tools you build. Innovation is a long term process: a marathon, not a sprint.
Working with leaders and innovators in the sector, including Laing O’Rourke, Mace, Sir Robert McAlpine and Balfour Beatty, he learned that construction teams are interested in outcomes, not technology. They focus on tools that improve productivity, deliver accurate and timely insights, and enterprise-wide business intelligence. The goal is to allow their teams to dedicate themselves to the final product - “We coined the strapline: Deliver the project, not the paperwork”.
With all his experience and lessons learned, he remains committed to transformational change with the industry, driven by digitalisation and exploring new paradigms. Let us present the highlights of the career journey that brought him to us.
Scott has always been fascinated by computers & technology, since his early years. He started to learn BASIC at the age of 12, on a Commodore VIC20. At 16, he started a technical apprenticeship working in an industrial laboratory environment.
In 1996, Richard decided to turn his passion into a profession and started his first business. One year later, Palm released the first commercially successful PDA called the Palm Pilot, which changed the business direction overnight. They started to think about various ways of capturing information electronically, using Palm Pilots at the point of activity.
In 1999, the journey alongside construction began. Scott took a call from the MD of the fastest growing construction company in Wales. He said “I want to put mobile computers on the construction site” and this phone call marked the start of a fourteen-year-long journey. Over the years, Richard focused exclusively on developing tools used tactically within live construction projects by the people wearing hard hats and muddy boots. Driven by the needs of the industry, the product evolved significantly. Moving to cloud-based infrastructure, supporting new types of mobile devices, focusing on the needs of the enterprise user as well as the project user, and adopting a SaaS-based commercial model.
Priority1 was deployed in the UK's most significant construction and infrastructure projects, including Heathrow Terminal 5, Hinkley Point C and many of the Olympic 2012 venues.
In 2014, Scott led the acquisition of MCS to Viewpoint Construction Software, a US-based Contech business with a global presence. Priority1 is now known as FieldView.
In 2019, after a short career break, Richard joined Think Project as Director of Business Development, moving fast to Director of Group Product Management. There, he worked with a product portfolio that included Document Management, BIM, Contract Management, Cost Control and Asset Management solutions. It was during this period that he first met Michal M., Archdesk's founder and CEO with whom he shared a passion for innovation. They say that the first impression is the last, and this was the case.
The road wasn’t easy, but it was worth it - every step on the way. This path and the knowledge acquired year by year is the foundation of Richard Scott’s successful career in the industry. And we strongly believe that his understanding of the market will lead Archdesk to a brighter future.
Richard is very excited to join the Archdesk family at this point in our business growth. He is here to build partnerships with customers, technology providers and innovators that create new value - greater than the sum of its parts. He is looking forward to listening intently to what our customers have to say and exploring possible solutions. On top of that, he wants to help everyone be the best they can be and help build a healthy, sustainable business that constantly innovates and delights its customers.
We couldn’t be happier to have Richard on board! Here’s to a new chapter in our history with Richard Scott and his new beginning as part of Archdesk’s broad Family!
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