Devon Powell: Turning Curiosity into Innovation

As a kid, Devon Powell loved to take things apart and put them back together again. The family lawn mower was one casualty of his curiosity; it never really worked again after his “repairs.”

“I’ve always been a very curious person,” said Devon, director of artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and operations. “I like understanding how things do what they do.”

As he got older, Devon’s inquisitive nature found a practical outlet in his family’s small residential construction business.

“My summer jobs often involved digging holes for utilities, cleaning up job sites, prepping for subcontractors or handling whatever tasks came up,” said Devon. “This experience gave me a hands-on familiarity with the building process and the construction industry from a young age.”

After high school, Devon studied engineering, a natural fit for his interests and talents. He first pursued civil engineering before shifting to mechanical engineering, which felt more engaging and aligned with the kinds of systems and challenges that interested him.

An internship with McKinstry’s Commissioning team confirmed he was on the right path, and Devon has been with McKinstry ever since. Over 15 years, Devon has taken on a multitude of diverse projects, inspired by McKinstry’s value to Be Constantly Curious.

“It’s fun to look back on my career now because it all builds on itself,” reflected Devon. “I couldn’t have written that plan down and executed it, but that’s the great thing about McKinstry; I’ve been supported every step of the way in my journey to do these different things.”

Solving Real Problems with Technology

As part of our Engineering and Design team for a decade, Devon worked on many process improvement and technology integration efforts, including a satisfying change-management program to move pencil and pen engineering design to a software platform. Today, he plays a key role in McKinstry’s Applied Frontier Technology team, helping turn emerging technologies into practical tools that support employees and clients.

“I’m lucky to have had such a wide range of experiences across the company and now it feels like things are coming full circle back to workflow improvement and applied technology, but now with a much broader understanding of how the business runs overall,” Devon said.

Before moving into his current role, Devon helped lead the development of energy-sharing infrastructure projects on McKinstry’s Energy Asset Development team. The work required close collaboration across real estate owners, building operations teams, construction, design and finance. That cross-functional experience now informs his AI work, helping him connect opportunities across teams and understand what it takes to put new ideas into practice.

“Technology isn’t automatically the answer,” said Devon. “The starting point is understanding the problem. If technology can genuinely make something easier, better or more enjoyable, then it’s worth pursuing.”

Devon points to the camera phone as a simple example of technology succeeding because it solved a real problem. People wanted a convenient way to capture and share moments, and the technology delivered a better experience.

“That’s what inspires me about technology,” Devon said. “When you deeply understand what people need, you can create something that solves a real problem, feels natural to use and makes their lives better. I’m not interested in technology for its own sake. I’m inspired by what becomes possible when it’s applied well.”

Unlocking the Potential of AI

This is the primary aim of Devon’s new team right now: to cut through the hype surrounding AI, understand where technology can meaningfully help and create tools that people value because they make work easier or better.

Devon’s role is focused on the business use cases around our revenue-generating businesses, empowering them to leverage AI in the design, build, operate and maintain continuum.

The team is still exploring the right mix of tools and training. Right now, Devon is flexing his investigative muscles as he meets with our division leaders to understand the problems they’re facing, identify where technology can meaningfully help and determine the best approach.

“It’s been amazing to see the groundswell of creativity from people across the business who are finding ways to use AI,” Devon said. “It’s clear that people at McKinstry are extremely innovative, creative and driven, and these tools can be an incredible force multiplier.”

The team has already built and tested several prototypes, including tools that support estimating, proposal development and information retrieval.

For Devon, the opportunity is ultimately about using AI to make work better for McKinstry’s people and clients.

“I’m excited about freeing people up to do the work they really want to do and spend their time on the things that uniquely require people: building relationships with clients, mentoring our teams and solving meaningful problems.”

That same opportunity extends across the company’s collective knowledge.

“McKinstry has an incredible amount of data and institutional knowledge about our clients and their buildings built through years of partnership and hands-on experience,” said Devon. “If we can bring that knowledge together and make it easier for our people to access, we can unlock smarter workflows, help teams work more efficiently and make it easier to delight our clients.”