Women Of The C-Suite: Dr Sarah Buchner Of Trunk Tools On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive

An Interview With Vanessa Morcom

Embrace Failure: Another valuable piece of advice was, “Fail forward.” Every setback has been a setup for a comeback, teaching me resilience and adaptability. Our company celebrates our mistakes as sources of learning and proof that we’re moving fast.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Sarah Buchner.

Dr. Sarah Buchner is the founder and CEO of Trunk Tools, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup at the forefront of revolutionizing the massive $13 trillion+ construction industry. Starting her career as an apprentice carpenter in her native Austria, she now leads her NYC-based company in leveraging AI to organize mountains of unstructured data, automate workflows, and pave the way for a more efficient future in construction. Recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and a vocal advocate for women in technology, Sarah exemplifies how innovative thinking can transform traditional industries. As one of the few solo founders in the construction technology space who was born and raised in a different country, grew up in the trades (completely self-made), and has an in-depth academic background, Sarah is a trailblazer.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I grew up in a small village in Austria and started working as a carpenter at age 12 to help provide for my family. What began as a necessity quickly turned into a passion. The gritty, honest work of construction and this early experience shaped my work ethic and laid the groundwork for my entire career. Climbing the ranks from foreman to superintendent and site manager, I led large-scale projects across Europe, witnessing firsthand the challenges and opportunities in the construction sector. Throughout my career, I continued to pursue higher education, earning several degrees, including a PhD in Civil Engineering and Data Science. My PhD research revealed the potential for disruptive construction technology to revolutionize the field, inspiring my move to Silicon Valley to attend Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Leveraging my hands-on construction expertise and academic background, Trunk Tools was born — a leading AI platform for construction.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Trunk Tools is disrupting construction management by fundamentally changing how industry professionals engage with their project data. Construction data is notoriously complex due to the multitude of stakeholders and the intricacies of building designs. By integrating the latest advancements in AI (which are changing almost weekly) with Trunk Tools’ deep understanding of the construction industry, we enhance job site productivity, quality, and safety. While traditional construction technology has mainly focused on digitizing processes, we are using AI to rethink and streamline existing workflows, automating the most tedious tasks while providing workers with essential data to make critical decisions. This approach not only improves project outcomes but also increases worker satisfaction. Our goal is to empower field workers to focus on what they do best: building buildings rather than being bogged down by bureaucracy.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I don’t even know where to start! We’ve made many mistakes, but we embrace them wholeheartedly–it’s one of our core company values. We strive to move quickly, and in doing so, we inevitably make mistakes. In fact, our biggest mistake would be to stop making them, as it would indicate we’re not pushing ourselves to innovate and progress.

To answer your question, the funniest mistakes often stem from the natural language barrier I face, as English is my third language. For instance, I recently learned that not everyone interprets “FU” in an email subject line as “Follow Up.” Fortunately, the customer found it amusing and took it in stride.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Scott Brady from Innovation Endeavors has been an incredible mentor. I first met him during my MBA at Stanford Business School, where I took his entrepreneurship class. Scott has believed in both me as a founder and the vision of Trunk Tools since day one. He led our seed round and has provided invaluable support, guidance, and foresight akin to having a fortune teller on our team — he often predicts challenges months before they arise. At this point, I consider him an unofficial co-founder.

I will never forget Peter Kelly and Rob Siegel, also Stanford lecturers and angel investors in Trunk Tools. They would take my calls at midnight, patiently listen to my problems, and help me find solutions gracefully. During one memorable call, Rob told me, “If the problem can be solved with less than 50% of the cash in your bank account, it’s not a real problem.” That perspective was incredibly reassuring, especially from seasoned advisors who have guided many founders through similar journeys.

Jake Sparkman, an advisor and executive coach, has also been one of my key mentors. His best advice to me was that “the founder’s mental health is the biggest threat to a startup.” Amongst countless insights, this has been a crucial reminder to maintain balance amidst the startup hustle.

I’ve been fortunate to have mentors like Scott, Peter, Rob, and Jake, each leaving a profound impact on me and Trunk Tools. Their guidance and support have been instrumental in navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship, shaping both the company’s trajectory and my personal growth.

Finally, I am lucky enough to have a partner by my side who is my rock in all of this and whose unwavering support has been instrumental to my success.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

I think it is important to consider why systems or industries have evolved to be the way they are and to ask ourselves: if we had the opportunity to start over, would we do things the same exact way? To me, disruption is positive when it allows us to implement better ways of doing things, like increasing efficiency, safety, and sustainability in industries that are traditionally slow to change. However, disruption can also carry risks when it dismisses established values, lessons learned, or the needs of industry stakeholders. Sometimes, the disruption that comes from external sources can be quick to “throw the baby out with the bath water.” I think the key lies in striking a balance–innovating while respecting foundational practices that have proven effective. This balance is best achieved through internally driven change.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey?

1. Persistence Pays: Early in my career, a mentor told me, “Persistence is your most underrated skill.” This became clear when navigating the male-dominated construction industry, where persistence led to my ideas being taken seriously.
2. Embrace Failure: Another valuable piece of advice was, “Fail forward.” Every setback has been a setup for a comeback, teaching me resilience and adaptability. Our company celebrates our mistakes as sources of learning and proof that we’re moving fast.
3. Lead with Empathy: I was advised to “always consider the human element.” This has been crucial in my leadership, ensuring that while we innovate, we also foster a supportive and inclusive culture.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

We’re constantly evolving at Trunk Tools, and our next frontier is AI-Agents. We’ve pioneered an AI-powered “brain” that deeply understands construction documents. TrunkText, our flagship agent, already saves construction professionals up to 1–2 hours daily by swiftly pinpointing critical project information. But we’re not stopping there. Imagine extending these productivity gains across every construction workflow.

Next, we are building a dedicated “army” of agents to do everything from identifying data discrepancies to creating new documents, working more proactively than reactively. These agents will change how people think about construction as a forward-thinking industry. By augmenting the humans working in the field with an army of AI agents, we hope to improve building efficiency and sustainability, all while helping to alleviate the labor shortage in construction.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

As a female disruptor in a predominantly male-dominated industry, I’ve had to overcome barriers rooted in lingering biases and sexism. Despite these obstacles, being a woman also comes with unique advantages — just try negotiating with me! Personally, one of the biggest challenges is finding the delicate balance between pursuing a career, starting a family, or achieving both — an increasingly possible yet undeniably demanding feat. From my perspective, the trade-offs in starting a family still carry greater weight for women, partly due to biological factors and largely influenced by societal norms. Confronting these challenges has only fueled my determination to push boundaries and drive change within our industry.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I would like to keep my answer simple here: a text that has been very impactful to me is “Wear Sunscreen” by Mary Schmich (yes, there is a song too). It remains, to this day, my “hype-song” before difficult meetings. Her way of describing a whole life philosophy in just a few paragraphs is exceptional.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

When I lived in Canada, I had a profound encounter with a person experiencing homelessness that left a lasting impact on me. I was deeply distraught after losing a close friend in a motorcycle incident, and I found myself sitting on a bench, overcome with emotion. He slowly approached me, sat next to me, and just listened. He then shared that his best friend had died two months earlier. We gave each other one of the most impactful hugs of my life. This complete stranger, from a very different walk of life, could relate to what I felt because, at the end of the day, we were both humans.

I asked him why he helped me. He responded that his philosophy was that if everyone made one person smile or happy each day, the whole world could be happy every day. It was the simplest and most beautiful calculation I had ever heard. So his answer is now my answer: if everyone makes one person happy a day, the whole world can be happy.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Resilience is built, not born. I believe that the biggest factor for someone’s success is resilience. And every hardship, every setback, every terrible situation is ultimately just another layer of resilience that I can leverage in the future.

How can our readers follow you online?

Readers can follow me on LinkedIn at Sarah Buchner

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

About The Interviewer: Vanessa Morcom is a millennial mom of three and founder of Morcom Media, a performance PR shop for thought leaders. She earned her degree in journalism and worked for Canada’s largest social enterprise. She can be reached at vanessa@morcom.media