Buildots

Buildots is transforming an industry that has historically lagged behind on digital transformation. Using AI and computer vision, delivered through 360-degree cameras mounted on hardhats, the platform tracks construction sites against plan in real time, flagging delays or faults as they happen rather than after the fact, saving time and money on projects where both are in short supply. It's a proposition that has resonated: the business has grown rapidly, with total funding now standing at around $160m.

That pace of growth created a genuine hiring challenge. Buildots lacked established UK hiring knowledge and wasn't getting the traction it needed to hire effectively in the market. The roles themselves were often niche by nature, combining construction technology experience with specific requirements such as language skills, and at the point the relationship began, Buildots' internal talent function was minimal, leaving limited capacity to run high-volume, specialist searches at the pace the business needed to keep up with its own trajectory.

Propel has worked with Buildots since 2024, and the relationship and approach have grown alongside the business itself: as Buildots' internal talent function has scaled from a single hire into a full in-house recruitment team, Propel has remained its talent partner throughout, rather than stepping back once that internal capability existed. That continuity comes from a genuine depth of understanding built up over time, of the business, its hiring managers, and how its needs have shifted as it has expanded into new territories and increasingly specific verticals, from data centres to hospitals to semiconductor facilities.

Day to day, this has meant close, consistent contact, regular catch-ups with either the full recruitment and talent team or directly with hiring managers depending on role level, alongside detailed target-list building and consistent market insight, including candidate volumes and salary benchmarking on the more difficult searches. Some of the most demanding work has involved transitioning candidates from operational construction backgrounds, often people who have spent years on site, into commercial, client-facing positions representing Buildots in front of senior stakeholders at major contractors. That kind of transition takes real care to get right: deeper screening, typically two to three calls per candidate, and hands-on interview preparation, including coaching first-time candidates through presentations and structured 30/60/90-day plans, supporting both the candidate and Buildots through what is, for many, a genuine career change.