International real estate group Lendlease and Google Cloud have teamed up to help usher in safer, more sustainable, and efficient urbanisation projects globally.
They will collaborate in three key areas — advancing Lendlease’s next-generation IT strategy; integrating new artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and smart data features into Lendlease’s Podium building software platform; and collaborating on joint go-to-market initiatives to drive sustainability projects industry-wide.
With Google Cloud as the foundation for its digital transformation strategy, Lendlease will move to the cloud by migrating its mission-critical enterprise workloads, including its data-intense CAD platforms, in-house project excellence platform, Oli, and its Oracle-based eFinance system.
This will enable Lendlease to significantly increase operational efficiency and also drive improved decision making through enhanced reporting and analytics capabilities, and a stronger cybersecurity posture across the organisation.
Lendlease will integrate new AI/ML and smart data analytics capabilities from Google Cloud into Podium, the Lendlease platform that runs autonomous buildings and helps manage energy use, human needs, and resource management goals.
Podium relies exclusively on Google Cloud for its data storage, network, and computing needs, and firms use the platform to plan construction projects with accurate parts, pricing and supply. Under the new partnership, the two companies will collaborate on new Podium products and services to give customers the needed intelligence to improve quality and safety, as well as accelerate development pipelines.
Also, the two partners will co-innovate around new cloud-based offerings underpinned by Podium, and work together on new sales and channel opportunities to drive Podium and Google Cloud adoption among existing customers and prospects.
Bill Ruh, CEO of Lendlease Digital, said using Podium to digitise supply chains means fewer delays to projects, more precise build plans, and a reduction in cost estimate errors.
“This will also put important information about the lifecycle of building projects into the hands of employees at their work locations, including construction sites and within owned property assets,” said Ruh.
Alister Dias, VP of Google Cloud in Australia and New Zealand, said that through the partnership, Lendlease will gain increased efficiency, lower its environmental footprint, and be able to offer its clients greater information about the lifecycle of building projects.
