Stuart Lacey on Constructed Futures Podcast: How AI Is Accelerating Permitting

Listen to the Constructed Futures Podcast with Hugh Seaton: Stuart Lacey, CEO of Labrynth.ai

Labrynth founder Stuart Lacey joined Hugh Seaton on the Constructed Futures podcast to discuss one of the biggest hidden blockers in construction and real estate today: permitting. The conversation explores how AI can fundamentally modernise the permitting process — not by cutting corners on compliance, but by building smarter systems around existing rules.

For decades, the conversation around regulation in construction has followed a familiar pattern — slow approvals, compliance risk, and a process that feels impossible to change. Stuart's view is that this doesn't have to be the case.

In this episode, Stuart walks through how Labrynth uses AI to streamline the entire permitting journey, from compliance pre-checks through to final submission. The goal isn't to remove regulation — it's to make the path through it faster, cleaner, and less costly for everyone involved, including the regulators themselves.

"Permitting is famously time consuming and risky. Labrynth makes it easy — both for permit-seeking companies and projects, and for the firms that help them navigate compliance." — Hugh Seaton, Managing Director, Construction

The discussion also covers the Red Tape Index — Labrynth's publicly available tool that measures regulatory friction across every US city and state — and what the data reveals about where the biggest bottlenecks exist today.

Topics covered in the episode

• Why permitting remains such a stubborn bottleneck in construction
• How AI can accelerate approvals without sacrificing compliance
• What the Red Tape Index reveals about regulatory friction across US cities
• Where cities, developers, and regulators can move faster today