The civil and infrastructure (C&I) industry is poised for digital transformation, and AI-driven technologies are leading the way. While widespread adoption is still a long way off, a recent Procore survey found that “pockets of innovation” are emerging among progressive organizations. These companies are eager to take advantage of the process automation, data analytics, and productivity gains that AI promises.
But these companies are in the minority. Industry professionals say that AI-driven technology depends on having clean, robust datasets before analyzing the information and making actionable solutions. Not all C&I companies are there yet. But if yours is headed toward AI adoption, here’s what you need to know about the capabilities this technology offers and what your team needs to do to make it happen.
AI and workplace safety: a growing opportunity
One of the most promising applications of AI in the C&I industry is workplace safety. AI-powered machine vision and remote sensing technologies provide a bird’s-eye view of job sites, enabling real-time monitoring and early warnings when people and equipment are at risk of collision.
“The most interesting demonstration I’ve seen is using machine vision,” says Makenna Ryan, solutions engineer at Procore Technologies. “It’s basically looking at workplaces from a bird’s eye view and looking for places where the people and the team can affect each other.” Having these automated eyes in the sky can complement the ability of site safety managers to see the entire job site simultaneously. As AI tools help monitor the site, notifications and documentation of incidents or near misses can be addressed quickly and cataloged efficiently.
Brian Saab, head of product, resource and asset management at Procore, agrees, noting that analyzing security data is just as important as collecting it. “Remote sensing and observation of the construction site can lead teams to identify emerging safety risks,” he says. “This can lead to improvements in training, improvements in preparation and an opportunity to build the team.”
Rationalization of documentation with AI
AI is also simplifying the laborious task of documentation. For many companies, documentation is a critical but time-consuming part of compliance, inspections and quality control. AI is helping to streamline these processes by analyzing large amounts of data and automating routine tasks.
Ryan shares a specific use case involving a bridge inspection team: “They took the AISC documentation for steel bridge inspection, loaded it into an AI tool, and used a common language to come up with checklists that they had to look at from a quality control perspective,” he says. From there, the team was able to tailor the checklist to their needs and bring it into the Procore platform for reference and use by project teams.
Ryan says this particular user is among the “cutting edge” part of the industry that is actively looking for ways to implement AI. “It used AI and extracted the information it needed to pay attention, to get the most out of its processes,” says Ryan. With the speed and efficiency of AI, these teams could move forward with bridge construction with confidence and speed.
Optimizing workforce and team management with AI
Security and documentation are essential elements of a well-managed C&I workplace. However, making a business case for AI will require many owners to look for efficiencies that will actually save money. Manpower and equipment management is an excellent place to focus this energy. With expensive equipment and stretched labor resources, businesses need to operate as efficiently as possible. Saab says AI can help in both cases.
“For equipment, they’re very expensive machines, and they make money when they’re working, but they cost you money when they’re not working,” he says. “The telemetry built into these machines leads to the analysis of predictive maintenance schedules so you can understand if a machine is about to have a problem that could cost you substantially.”
Ryan says these capabilities help companies optimize equipment usage and extend the life of their assets, but the optimizations don’t stop there. AI also plays a role in workforce optimization, allowing companies to query work schedules and track the performance of their teams in real time. “The low-hanging fruit for most companies is operational efficiency,” he says. “That’s where most of their money is made and lost, so that’s where their attention is.”
The many benefits of AI for C&I companies
These are just a few examples of how AI will ultimately benefit the C&I industry. According to Procore’s recent survey, companies are particularly interested in AI’s ability to:
- Improve operational efficiency
- Enhance decision-making
- Analyze project requirements
- Manage schedules
- Identify and mitigate risks
- Automate routine tasks
- Forecast of production rates
But despite the growing excitement about AI, both Ryan and Saab emphasized that having control over your company’s data is essential for AI tools to succeed. Many companies still struggle with fragmented data stored in spreadsheets or siloed applications, which limits their ability to implement AI effectively.
Ryan advises companies to start by mapping out their data landscape. “Step back and understand what your people are doing with their time each week,” he says. “Where does this information live? If you can understand where data is moving through your organization, you’ll see where your gaps are. For most customers, operational efficiency is where the most money is made and lost, from so that’s often the best place to start.”
Saab adds: “You have to make sure your data isn’t locked in silos. It’s great that many companies are adopting new applications, but if you end up locking your data in those applications, you’ve just created new silos. You’re not taking this important step to merge your data and enable your organization to learn and react from that data.”
The way forward for growth-minded companies
While large-scale AI adoption may still be a long way off for some companies, those that take steps towards better data management and explore AI-powered solutions will be better positioned for long-term success . As Saab noted, construction labor shortages mean AI could help “level up” even novice workers, making them more effective on the job, providing real-time information and automating repetitive tasks..
For companies looking to get started, Ryan recommends starting small: “Pick a problem that AI can solve and show a win. That’s how you can get the ball rolling and show your team how AI can have a real impact.” .
