After spending most of his career in healthcare design and construction, Bill Eveloff knew that to stay current with emerging technology, he needed to get more familiar with artificial intelligence tools and capabilities. 

With AI beginning to transform both the healthcare and construction industries, Bill wanted to learn more about how it could directly impact his work as a senior director of construction at Stanford Health Care. 

That’s when he found UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education's AI in Construction course. The course gave him enhanced confidence to incorporate AI into his daily work. He now uses AI to manage projects more efficiently, research information, draft responses to colleagues and communicate with greater confidence. He also developed a custom AI tool that he presented to his organization to demonstrate its potential and scale use for his colleagues. 

What motivated you to enroll in the AI in Construction course? 

My department has had an initiative to encourage staff to embrace AI and bring forward ideas for broader use. 

I felt a little intimidated by using AI in more advanced ways, so I sought out training opportunities. I wanted something more specific to what I do, and I found the AI in Construction course. It was the only training I found that focused on design and construction. 

For me, that was the trigger. I didn't want to just learn AI in a general sense. I wanted to better understand how it could apply to my work and add value. 

How are you applying what you learned? 

I manage projects and budgets, and I oversee expectations for those projects. One of my roles is to make sure the projects’ scopes and costs are managed. I get questions like, “Why can't we add this item? Why can't we implement that? It should be easy.” While I know it's not from past experiences, I’ve been using AI tools to better articulate what are the implications, so that I can more quickly respond with persuasive responses with specific information. It’s really working for me.  

I created a California hospital facilities lookup tool that includes all the relevant regulations and codes related to hospitals and outpatient buildings, which include verified sources for development and licensing requirements. I uploaded them into a cloud-based AI project that I created. 

I've been training it to optimize this tool. It’s a project I’ve been developing and I'm really enjoying it. I'm hoping to bring this idea forward to my organization so our technology team can help me determine how to scale this within the company. 

Was there a moment in the course that changed your perspective? 

I really enjoyed learning and utilizing the variety of projects and tools in my class and better understanding how they could be applied. There were so many platforms and applications that I learned about, and I found that it wasn't quite as intimidating as I thought once I started doing it.  

I’ve learned to try different tools, too. I ran into a roadblock with Gemini on my code project that I developed, and then I transferred it to Claude and was able to fully develop it. Now I've got something I am using, whether it's on my desktop or my phone, that’s very relevant. It’s helping me get the answers quickly and with a clearer understanding, so I can respond to questions with more confidence.  

What made the biggest impact on your learning experience?   

The instructor, Amir Zavichi. He is great. He's passionate, knowledgeable and supportive. 

The program itself was also very good. It was curated nicely with different exercises and preparatory videos, which provided context in the industry that was helpful. In fact, I shared one of them with my colleagues.  

How do you hope to build on what you learned? 

I'm hoping that my organization will recognize the interest I've taken and the growth I've gained by using AI and that they will be as excited as I am about what I'm developing.  

I’m also excited to see what I can do beyond this. There is so much potential AI has to offer, and I'd just love the opportunity to continue learning. Beyond the code lookup tool I developed, I want to develop additional tools, such as quick daily reports and risk analysis capabilities. 

What advice would you give to someone thinking about taking the course? 

You should take the class. I recommend doing a little prep beforehand. Explore some of the AI tools. Get a little more comfortable using AI, even if you don't really know what you're doing. Put in the time to learn it.  

I feel very lucky and thankful that I took the course and I've been advocating to some of my colleagues and team members to take it as well.