Jeevan Kalanithi’s path to construction technology was no accident. The CEO and co-founder of OpenSpace AI traces his trajectory back to the MIT Media Lab. There he researched artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning with future co-founders Mike Fleischman and Philippe DeCamp. After graduating, each established their own companies. Kalanithi started a consumer hardware company that was acquired by drone and software company 3D Robotics (later acquired by Esri). Meanwhile, Fleischmann founded Bluefin Lab, a computer vision and media analytics company that was acquired by Twitter.
When the three reunited, they brought together a rare combination of expertise: a deep understanding of AI and computer vision, experience in technology commercialization, and first-hand knowledge of how the construction industry actually operates on the ground.
“We couldn’t solve some technical gizmo problems,” Kalanithi said. “We’ve solved something that really makes a difference for field teams.”
What OpenSpace does
At its core, OpenSpace is a visual intelligence platform for the built environment. The company uses 360-degree cameras, drones, smartphones, and laser scanners to make it easy to obtain a complete visual record of a construction site.
“If it’s happening in the field, it’s in OpenSpace,” Kalanithi said.
The platform transforms raw visual data into actionable workflows and integrates with construction management tools like Procore and Autodesk. Its progress tracking layer transforms visual data into metrics like completion rates, schedule tracking, and productivity insights, replacing traditionally manual, opinion-based reporting with automated, fact-based intelligence.
One of the standout features is AI AutoLocation, which works like an indoor GPS. Because GPS doesn’t work inside buildings, OpenSpace uses 360-degree data to automatically pin observations to the correct location on your drawing, directly from your smartphone. Another is the speed of the platform. Captured walkthroughs are processed in an average of 15 minutes, giving teams near real-time access to field conditions.
Built on data
When asked why OpenSpace is difficult to replicate, Kalanithi raised two points. A focus on ease of use and a powerful data flywheel.
“We are mentally focused on ease of use,” he said. “All the promises in the world are worthless if they don’t create a better experience for the men and women who are actually doing the work.”
This focus has led to significant adoption, resulting in more than 69 billion square feet of images on the platform and approximately 30 million images uploaded each week. This scale is important because OpenSpace’s AI systems are trained on this data, and the more the platform is used, the more accurate and capable it will become, which will drive further adoption.
“You can’t just write software and replicate it,” Kalanithi said. “They need this much data to function as well as we do.”
Who is this for?
OpenSpace’s customers span the entire construction ecosystem, including general contractors, specialty contractors, and project owners. The platform is used for everything from large-scale data center builds to small retail fixtures and tenant improvements as compact as a 300-square-foot coffee shop.
The company also serves customers in the process and oil and gas industries, where field execution determines financial outcomes.
“This is actually for companies that exist in the real world economy and where the physical world makes money,” Kalanithi said.
Why the construction industry is becoming a testing ground for AI
For many years, the construction industry has been characterized by slow adoption of technology. Kalanithi denies that theory.
“It’s not that the construction industry is inherently slow to experiment with technology,” he says. “The real reason is that the technology wasn’t built for builders.”
In his opinion, traditional software was designed for office workers and people who interacted with computers via a keyboard. However, the information that drives construction resides in physical reality, not in documents or spreadsheets. Computers couldn’t understand that reality until recently.
“Spatial AI and computer vision are the real keys,” Kalanithi says. “Now we can actually create technology that exists in their world, doesn’t disrupt them, and simplifies the way their work is actually performed.”
At OpenSpace, our vision is built around a simple idea. AI agents need eyes to impact the built environment. “We provide those eyes,” Kalanithi said. “We’re allowing these agents to actually observe what’s going on.”
Visual intelligence as infrastructure
Kalanithi sees visual intelligence not as a nice-to-have, but as a new foundational layer for building and managing projects of any size.
He illustrated this with a striking anecdote. Team members were reviewing a report about a hotel under construction in Mexico. According to the report, it is 90% complete. It was 5% complete when someone was sent to the site for validation.
“That’s not unusual,” Kalanithi said. “This visual way of working eliminates that.”
In his framework, visual intelligence sits alongside ERP and project management systems as the third pillar of construction software, anchored to the realities on the ground and feeding accurate data to the rest of the organization.
big picture
Kalanithi concluded with a broader point. The construction industry has long operated in a climate of lack of information and mistrust, resulting in rising insurance premiums, fragmentation of risk, and payment delays throughout the supply chain.
“I really think there could be a transformation in the industry that could result in companies saying, ‘We have the technology and the transparency to do this job, so we’re going to take on all the risk,'” he said. “Trade fees are paid on time. There are no cash flow issues. We can invest in training and people.”
It’s an overarching vision for a technology company, but Kalanithi is candid about the risks.
“If we can pivot to reducing the cost of managing the real world economy, that opens up a pretty big door for civilization,” he said.
