Bill Guo

We asked Bill…

I would recommend a career in civil or infrastructure engineering because...

You get to build the things people depend on without ever thinking about them: the railways, bridges, water and power that just work.

It's creative and practical at the same time. You solve real problems, you can see the result out in the world, and the work genuinely matters to people's lives and safety.

And it's changing fast, so there has never been a better moment to bring new skills, including digital and AI, into the industry.

Complete this phrase: I’m a civil engineer, but I’m also …

an AI strategist and practitioner, and builder of implementable AI-native software.

I spent the past few years writing and shaping AI tools that take the admin off engineers' desks.

I stand at the intersection of AI, railway and civil engineering to bridge the gap between the status quo and effective and ethical AI enablement.

Name one civil or infrastructure engineering myth you'd like to bust.

That civil engineering is all hard hats, concrete and maths you will never use.

A huge part of it is now digital: data, software and AI.

And a huge part is about people: communicating, making decisions, keeping things safe.

It's far more creative and modern than the stereotype.

How does your role contribute to addressing climate change?

Waste in engineering is carbon.

Every piece of rework, every duplicated check, every document redone because something was missed has a real footprint.

On HS2 I led a value-engineering effort that took £46m, and a lot of material and embodied carbon, out of a single depot design.

The tools I now build help teams get things right first time and cut out repeated effort, which means less waste across rail projects.

How does your role contribute to making the industry more diverse and inclusive?

In two ways.

First, by taking the dull, repetitive admin off people's plates, the job becomes more about thinking and creativity, which makes engineering attractive to a far wider range of people.

Second, through people: I built and mentored a team of ten from a standing start, I mentor graduates and act as a delegated engineer supporting ICE candidates, and I do STEM outreach.

Through the ICE London Regional Executive Board, I help open the profession up further.

What role does digital technology play in your job?

It's central to how I work, and it has been for years.

At RBA I brought in drones, 360 cameras and AI-assisted reporting to survey stations faster and more safely.

Now, with AutomateX, I build the AI and automation tools themselves: software that reads, checks and produces the engineering paperwork that used to swallow people's weeks.

Digital is not a bolt-on for me, it's how I think the industry gets better.

What motivated you to become professionally qualified?

I wanted my judgement to count.

Becoming chartered is how the profession says you can be trusted to make decisions that keep people safe.

In rail, where the stakes are real, that mattered to me.

What does being professionally qualified with the ICE mean for your career?

It's the foundation everything else sits on.

As a designated project engineer, I personally held the safety and technical sign-off on multi-million-pound schemes, and that authority traces directly back to being chartered.

Now, when a client trusts AutomateX with something that matters, the same thing is true.

It's a mark that you are accountable, not just capable.

How did the ICE and your employer support you to become professionally qualified? 

I became chartered through a training agreement while on a Network Rail graduate scheme.

The scheme allowed me to rotate through four different departments including asset management, design, maintenance and project delivery.

It laid the bedrock for many key attributes that could take a long time to be exposed to if I were pigeonholed in the same position in my early career.

I benefitted from that arrangement tremendously.

Later, through structured development, experienced mentors who reviewed my work honestly, and the ICE's clear framework for what competent actually means, I got chartered.

How has being a member helped your career? 

It's a network and a standard at the same time.

It connects me to people across the whole industry, and it keeps me anchored to a shared bar for quality and safety, which is exactly what a young company like mine needs to be taken seriously.

How has achieving Fellowship impacted your career?

It recognised more than a decade of work:

• leading nationally significant projects like the £345m HS2 depot;
• holding safety accountability across a major Network Rail portfolio; and
• building a profitable business from nothing. 

Fellowship gives weight to what I say and do, especially now as a founder taking new technology into an operationally-critical, safety-first industry, including through roles like the ICE London Regional Executive Board.

What’s the biggest/most complex thing you’ve made out of Lego? How long did it take you?

My biggest Lego build was designing three different railway level-crossing sets. It took me about a week to design the kits.

I later used these designs to initiate and host a three-day STEM event at a local college for around 70 Year 11 students, where they built one of the three designs.

The student who completed all three designs won a prize visit to the railway operating control centre in Romford.

Do you have any hobbies?

I self-taught piano three years ago. I love playing basketball. I am also a casual gamer.