Dirt Talk Podcast

October 5, 2026

2026 Australia Adventure Week One! (Building BuildWitt #73) DT 484

BuildWitt Update #73– DT 484

Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.

Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary

Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product

Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 1, 2026

Building Leaders Underground w/ Jason Miller - DT 483

Jason Miller is the CEO of Midwest Mole, an employee-owned underground construction company specializing in tunneling, boring, and trenchless work. After a year at Indiana University taught him what he didn’t want to do, Jason went to work in the field alongside his dad, expecting it to be temporary. Within weeks, he was hooked on doing the kind of difficult work most people couldn’t—or wouldn’t—do. That curiosity eventually took him from the field to estimating and project management, and into a VP role before he turned 30.

He shares how Midwest Mole’s transition to an ESOP forced the company to rethink growth, equipment, and decades-old ways of doing business, and why fear can quietly keep good companies from changing until they have no choice. He also explains why construction’s biggest workforce challenge may not be finding more laborers and operators, but developing foremen and superintendents who know how to communicate, lead, and put the team ahead of themselves.

Follow Jason Miller on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmiller8

Learn more about Midwest Mole at: https://midwestmole.com/

Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com

Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 28, 2026

Hey ChatGPT, Write Me a Newsletter (Building BuildWitt 72) DT 482

BuildWitt Update #72– DT 482

Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.

Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary

Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product

Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 24, 2026

What Happens When Heavy Equipment Starts Driving Itself? w/ Dick Zhang

Dick Zhang is the CEO of Bluelight Machines, a construction autonomy company putting self-driving technology to work on real jobsites. In less than a year, Bluelight’s autonomous fleet has grown from fewer than 100 active machines to nearly 200, expanded from the U.S. to five continents, and surpassed 1.5 billion square feet of material rolled autonomously.

What started with contractors looking for solutions to workforce challenges grew into a company deploying autonomous heavy equipment around the world. Dick explains why civil construction is a bottom-up business, why technology that operators don’t want to use quickly becomes an expensive paperweight, and why Bluelight’s goal isn’t to replace skilled operators but to multiply what they’re capable of doing. He also shares how the company’s first autonomous roller was built using technology adapted from drones, why balancing safety and production requires constantly learning from what happens in the field, and how transparency around those lessons can make the entire industry better.

Follow Dick on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhangr/

Learn more about Bluelight Machines at: https://bluelightmachines.com/

Want to better develop your civil construction workforce and leaders? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com

Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 21, 2026

Why Does 2 Miles Of Concrete Cost $1 Billion? (Building BuildWitt 71) DT 480

BuildWitt Update #71– DT 480

Aaron recaps the wins and lessons learned at BuildWitt this week.

Learn more about attending the 2026 Ariat Dirt World Summit by visiting https://events.dirtworld.com/event/summit-2026/summary

Want to better train and develop your teams? Check out BuildWitt Improve! https://buildwitt.com/product

Questions or feedback? Email us at dirttalk@buildwitt.com!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices