This week began with something that pulled me slightly out of my usual rhythm. There was an online meeting with Build Our Skills where thinkivity have been invited to speak about AI within the glazing and construction industries. The audience will be young people aged 16 to 24, many of them still searching for direction and wondering what kind of future they want to build.
Having teenagers myself and attending careers fairs with them, I am acutely aware of how hit and miss the construction industry can be when it comes to inspiring young people. There is plenty of talk about engineering, carpentry and electrical work, but when it comes to the world of glazing, the conversation tends to fall quiet. It is such a shame because this trade has everything. Creativity, technical precision, teamwork and the satisfaction of seeing something real take shape.
Build Our Skills
That is why I found my chat with Mark Handley so energising, his Build Our Skills team are determined to change that story. They are pulling businesses together across the sector to show that glazing is not a forgotten craft but a forward-looking industry with room for innovation and pride. Mark has a refreshing way of thinking, his belief that the people already in this trade hold the key to inspiring the next generation. We do not need to reinvent everything; we just need to shine a light on the skills already here and show how they connect to the future.
Craftsmanship that defines an industry
It also got me thinking about how AI can play its part. Not in replacing the hands-on craftsmanship that defines this industry, but in amplifying it. AI can streamline the admin, simplify communication and help businesses run smarter. For younger people who have grown up surrounded by technology, that blend of practical skill and digital intelligence might just be the hook that makes glazing feel exciting again.
Later in the week, that thought came full circle during our weekly GlazePro AI session. It was a smaller group than usual, probably because everyone is deep in that pre-Christmas rush, trying to complete as many quality installations as possible before the holiday slowdown. Remember those days well, when deadlines felt endless and tempers could fray under the pressure. That chaos is not missed, but I do recognise what it taught me. How to stay calm under pressure, how to adapt, and how much you rely on your team when things get tough. My skills nevers saved the day for a customer and homeowner, the team did that!
Toward the end of the session, one of our members and I fell into one of those open, strategic conversations that happen when you have worked together for a while. He shared how he has been aligning his business structure around his team and how AI now has a place within that plan. Every major decision he makes considers how AI fits, supports and strengthens his people.
When a concept becomes culture
That comment stopped me for a moment. It was exactly what we have been working toward since GlazePro AI began. When the business and I first met months ago I had described AI as another chair at the table, and to hear him echo that back now was a full circle moment. That is real adoption, when a concept becomes culture.
Of course, the week was not without its frustrations. Technology has a habit of reminding us of who is really in charge. Smal glitch cropped up, just enough to throw a spanner in the works. But rather than panic, we leaned into it. AI helped us identify the fault, and human conversation resolved it. That mix of data, empathy and patience feels like the true hybrid we have been advocating all along.
It also reminded me that perfection is overrated. Progress is what matters. Every bump in the road teaches us how to navigate the next one more gracefully.
AI as a Teammate
As the days shorten and autumn deepens, I have found myself reflecting on how this year has unfolded. Twelve months ago, Elton and I were only beginning to shape the idea of working together, with Thinkivity and GlazePro AI being a very small what if. We had a vision but no certainty of how it would grow. Now, I can see the results taking form in real businesses, in the conversations we are having, and in the people who are starting to see AI not as a threat but as a teammate.
The coming Build Our Skills seminar feels like a natural next step. It is a chance to take what we have learned and pass that sense of possibility on to a younger generation, to show that glazing is not stuck in the past but quietly building its own modern future. If we can help even a few young people see that, then we are doing something right.
This week has been about connections, between people, ideas and generations. Between technology and craftsmanship. Between the seed of an idea and the seat it now occupies at the table.
And as I look ahead to next week’s seminar, I cannot help feeling grateful. Not just for how far we have come, but for how much more there is still to grow.
