Gen AI (artificial intelligence) is coming to construction in a big way. Let’s consider two case studies today. As we look at how other companies are leveraging technologies, we can then develop ideas for how to approach strategies at our own companies.
Case Study: AI Does the Scheduling
With more than a 100-year history and three generations of family leadership, Zachry Construction Corp., is a privately owned construction company in San Antonio, Texas. The company recognizes in order to deliver complex, heavy civil, transportation, utilities, and infrastructure projects, it must leverage technology to improve efficiency and project delivery.
Enter AI. Technology can help the team simulate scenarios, ultimately gaining insights into every stage of the project from bidding to project delivery. As a specific example, the optimization platform from ALICE has generative scheduling to allow the team to explore project scenarios and construction strategies. The company says this is 800 times faster than before.
Beyond scheduling, the technology can also help make decisions around labor, materials, and equipment—something that is much needed amid today’s worker shortage. Technology can help prevent overallocation and avoid underutilization, meaning idle time is reduced. And, of course, we know in heavy civil projects this is essential—and could become an even greater priority in the days ahead.
Certainly, this type of technology can offer impressive benefits for construction companies, but Zachry did something critical to ensure its success: training the workers. As Peggy Smedley always says, it is about people, process, and technology, and a key component to all of this is training.
Zachry’s project controls teams completed an intensive workshop and certified training program in generative construction technology in order to ensure ongoing success of the use of the technology in the future.
As we move forward, we will see both the technology implementation and the training be key to success on all construction projects.
Case Study: AI Transforms Data Center Supply Chain
Data centers are on the rise—and construction will be tasked with building them. Over on The Peggy Smedley Show last week, Peggy dug deep into this topic, talking about gen AI, data centers, and President Trump’s announcement of the Stargate project. She cites some stats too such as Boston Consulting Group anticipates a global demand for data center power to grow at roughly 16% from 2023 to 2028, which is 33% faster growth than from 2020 to 2023.
Further, she challenges the construction industry on the show, saying construction companies will be tasked with building the data centers (while manufacturers must supply materials; electric companies must supply the power to run them; and tech companies must connect and secure it all).
The bottomline is we are seeing the rise of data centers and gen AI—and construction companies must be prepared for the explosive growth that comes next. Technology can certainly help with all of this.
Consider the example of Kaya AI, which is a new construction supply chain intelligence platform that has secured $5.3 million pre-seed funding led by 53 Stations, Suffolk Technologies, and Soma Capital, with additional backing from other investors.
Here’s how the technology works: Through AI, data analytics, and automation, the platform improves the procurement process for supply chains for data center and mission critical infrastructure projects. The result will be faster and more sustainable project delivery, according to the company.
The technology is already installed at some of the nation’s largest general contractors, helping manage billions of dollars in construction projects.
On one project, Suffolk used the technology to reduce a three-month process to one week, improving lead time accuracy by 90%, and cutting procurement tracking time by 80%. The numbers always tell a powerful story.
When exactly will gen AI take off in the construction industry? Well, in some cases, as we see here, it already has. How are you using gen AI in your business?
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