Vela
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Vela unifies fragmented project data into a live operating model that tracks changes, identifies downstream impacts, and routes action to the right people.

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Desert Ridge Storage

400 MW / 1,600 MWh · Maricopa County, Arizona · Detailed design and long-lead procurement

Engineering drawings Rev 7 issued21 Jul 2026
Capacity
400 MW / 1,600 MWh
Duration
4 hours at nameplate
Interconnection
Desert Ridge 230 kV switchyard
Notice to proceed
3 Feb 2026
Substation energization
14 May 2027
Commercial operation
1 Jun 2027

Workstreams

4
  • Procurement6 open · 1 overdue

    GSU-01 ready-to-ship moved to 26 Oct 2026 against a 6 Nov 2026 need-by. Float on the transformer path is −17 days.

  • Engineering4 open

    DR-E-201 Rev 7 superseded Rev 6 and relinked nine records citing the GSU bay details.

  • Interconnection3 open

    Exhibit B carries five dated obligations. Energization is the nearest and prices $3.2M of delay damages.

  • Construction5 open

    Block B piers set and surveyed. Block A grounding closes once four terminations are captured.

Critical path

6
  • Notice to proceed3 Feb 2026
  • Long-lead awards issued26 Jun 2026
  • Engineering drawings Rev 7 issued21 Jul 2026
  • GSU-01 ready to shipWas 28 Sep 2026 · need-by 6 Nov 202626 Oct 2026
  • Substation energization31 May 2027 if the slip carries14 May 2027
  • Commercial operation1 Jun 2027

How Vela works

Give every team a clearer way to work. Less time chasing context, fewer missed handoffs, and faster decisions across the project.

Figure 01Build the project model

Vela connects project data and maps it to the right projects, milestones, equipment, decisions, and owners.

Figure 02Trace every change

When something changes, Vela identifies the downstream impact on schedule, cost, risk, and related work.

Figure 03Coordinate the response

Vela surfaces what needs attention and prepares the next actions for each team.

Flag the risk before it becomes a delay.

When a source changes, Vela traces the downstream risks and flags what needs attention before the project slips.

What moved in Rev 7?
A Google Drive folder named Desert Ridge drawings, holding the substation general arrangement at Rev 7 beside its earlier revisions, the single line diagram, and the GSU quotation.

Revisions Every drawing revision is read against the live model the moment it lands.

What did Meridian just move?
An email thread about the GSU-01 reserved slot in which the supplier moves ready to ship to 26 Oct 2026 and on site to 23 Nov 2026.

Threads A supplier's new delivery position is a change record, not just mail.

Which field is behind?
A Google Sheets equipment register on its Long-lead tab, where row 12 still holds the superseded GSU-01 dates: ready to ship 28 Sep 2026, on site 26 Oct 2026, status on track.

Registers The register still says 26 Oct. Vela flags the field, not the file.

Source citations

Every conclusion names the document it came from and the place inside it.

Superseded, not deleted

Rev 6 is still readable after Rev 7 lands. The old value stays on the record.

You sign it off

Vela fills in the exact update and hands it over. Somebody on your team makes the call.

The project brain remembers what changed—and why.

Vela keeps the current answer, the one it replaced, and the evidence behind both. Routine record changes can be staged; judgment stays with your team.

See the project brain
Elena Sorescu, Meridian Transformer Works

Ready to ship moves from 28 Sep to 26 Oct. On site moves to 23 Nov 2026.

Traced across the project model
  • Supplier threadMessage 4 of 6
  • RegisterLong-lead, row 12
  • Rev 7 drawingSheet E-201
  • Four milestonesTo energization
The staged updates panel: three register edits, each with its exact old and new value, and one drafted reply, all marked staged and waiting on a sign-off. Nothing is applied.

Reading and writing are separate

Vela reads only the scope you grant. Writing back requires its own permission.

Locator-level citations

The sheet, the tab and the row. Not just the app it lives in.

Current and superseded

The current answer and the one it replaced stay together, with dates and evidence.

Changes arrive in context

A moved date arrives with the records, milestones, and people it affects.

Explore the connector ecosystem

The work stays where it already lives.

Mail, drawing sets, schedules, registers, and field tools do not need to be migrated. You choose what Vela can read and how far that access reaches.

  • PowerClerk
  • Accela
  • Trimble Unity
  • Oracle
  • Fieldwire
  • Raken
  • Sage
  • Procore
  • Autodesk Construction Cloud
  • Esri ArcGIS
  • Bluebeam
  • Bentley Systems
  • Smartsheet
  • monday.com
  • Asana
  • ClickUp
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365
  • Gmail
  • Salesforce
  • Google Drive
  • SAP
  • Google Sheets
  • ServiceNow
  • Google Calendar
  • Notion
  • Adobe
  • Box
  • QuickBooks Online
  • HubSpot
  • Oracle NetSuite
  • GitHub
  • Dropbox

One project. Shaped for every team.

Each team sees the context, decisions, and actions relevant to its work—without creating separate versions of the project.

The program view of Desert Ridge Storage: the energization date, the float left in front of it, and the one decision standing between the two.

Prompt-built views

Describe the view your team needs and Vela builds it against the live model.

Forms and inspections

Checklists that follow the stage and know what this milestone needs.

Roles and permissions

Owners, members, and read-only access for the firms outside your company.

Approval gates

Choose who signs off on what each agent drafts.

The platform

AI-native execution layer

Bring the systems, documents, and people behind a large-load project into one governed workspace, without re-entering the work.

Explore ai-native execution layerA flow diagram: the four systems Vela reads feed one core, and out the other side comes prepared work — a register update staged for sign-off, a milestone impact raised to its owner, and a supplier reply drafted and waiting.

Agent builder

Define the job in plain language: what to read, what to watch, what to prepare, and where a person must approve.

Explore agent builderA drag-and-drop canvas: four wired nodes building one agent — when a supplier email lands, read the equipment register, prepare the register update, and stop at a named person's sign-off. The prepare node hangs mid-drag under the pointer.

Project brain

Keep requirements, decisions, milestones, owners, and evidence together—current enough to work from and historical enough to audit.

Explore project brainThe project drawn as a constellation: equipment, drawing, decision, risk, owner, and milestone records all linked to one project at the centre, with the equipment record the current change touches lit.

Custom dashboards and workflow portals

Give each discipline a view built around its own decisions, all reading from the same project record.

Explore custom dashboards and workflow portalsA portal mid-assembly: a palette of views beside a canvas where milestone, approval, and register views are placed, one slot waits empty, and a risks view hangs under the pointer on its way in.

See exactly how Vela reached the answer.

Follow one change on Desert Ridge Storage from the documents Vela read, through the consequence it derived, to the draft waiting on a named person.

Northstar Energy/Desert Ridge Storage

  • Engineering Drawing Rev 7Google Drive · sheet E-201, revision block · 21 Jul 2026Fixes the GSU foundation and bus arrangement the delivery date has to land against.
  • RE: GSU-01 reserved slot — revised delivery positionGmail · message 4 · 24 Jul 2026Meridian Transformer Works moves ready-to-ship to 26 Oct 2026 and on site to 23 Nov 2026.
  • Desert Ridge equipment registerGoogle Sheets · Long-lead tab, row 12 · 16 Jul 2026Carries the GSU-01 need-by date of 6 Nov 2026 and the milestone it feeds.
  • Every claim names its documentThe system it came through, the place inside it, and the day it was read.
  • Every number is derivedThe 17-day gap and the 4% premium are computed from the dates and the quote, not typed in.
  • Every write stops at a personDana Whitfield decides. Until then the message is a draft with a name on it.
  • The record ends openThe last entry in the log has not happened, and this page has no way to make it happen.

Bring one project. We'll trace how the work moves.

Bring the schedule, drawing set, mailbox thread, and equipment register from a real project. We'll walk through the sources it runs on, the decisions that slow it down, and the view your team needs first.

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