Francesco Iorio is CEO of IncreasedThe company automates the building design for the construction industry with generative AI.
America wants to rebuild, but economic uncertainties that could be due to political changes and a persistent lack of work hinders the nation's progress. The risks for the value of billions for construction projects that were in the pipeline in the United States from 2024.
While construction companies can do little against the development of customs and trading policy, they have opportunities to cope with the high wear rates and lack of work in the construction and design that only improve the problem. In the built environment, KI can reduce time, improve the management and material efficiency, expand design teams and improve productivity.
These AI tools do not replace human work, but they will create opportunities for qualified employees to work more effectively and efficiently.
Strong basics, but increasing risks
In an industry in which 20% to 50% of the total project costs are attributed to workers, the persistent and deteriorating lack of staff in the construction work is a significant threat to American infrastructure ambitions.
The industry faces an aging workforce that increases the complexity of the project and economic pressure, which require greater efficiency. The 2008 financial crisis selected the real estate industry for almost a decade and created a generation gap between older experts and a young, inexperienced workforce that must be bridged.
According to a study by Deloitte, the construction sector was an average of 382,000 job offers between August 2023 and July 2024, while more people left the workforce than entering them. In the meantime, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), one of four construction workers over 55 is over 55 and is approaching retirement.
This staff crisis arrives when America needs the most construction capacity. The infrastructure investment and job law (iija) flooded the industry with dollars for infrastructure editions and doubled the construction speed for manufacturing since 2021.
Data centers (inspired by projects such as the proposed Stargate initiative), semiconductor manufacturing facilities (strengthened by the chips act) and other technological-critical infrastructures such as hospitals and factories require more complex work from electrical, plumbing and mechanical engineering designers. Without these designs there can be no building. Experts are currently not available for qualified engineering design to satisfy the needs of the country.
Technical solutions for human problems
To fulfill the moment, many future -oriented construction companies use new technologies to expand human skills. Building information modeling (BIM), digital twins, robotics and AI-operated generative design and automation revolutionize project development. These innovations are now multipliers for employees.
Construction companies for the pioneers of the technological introduction use digital instruments to increase their capacity, carry out more complex projects and improve productivity without requiring proportional increases in human labor.
I think one of the most promising borders is AI “trainees” who are the first designers. These trainees can improve the ability of design engineers and BIM to do more without adding employees and accelerating the project design and at the same time integrating them into additional tools in order to orchestize the planning of anything from surveys to optimization of parts and materials.
For example, the design and material distribution in electrical engineering makes designing, manufacturing and installing races and electrical systems much more efficient. We worked with the electrical engineering company Miller Electric, and project design times with AI could shorten the equivalent to add two to three electrical engineering designers.
The impact of regulatory and US political changes
The guidelines of the current administration have accelerated these technological trends, while the industry adapts to new economic realities.
While regulatory rollbacks will probably rationalize the construction processes and reduce compliance costs, the acceleration of project permits on the designer raises more pressure to move quickly and prepare projects for steel in the ground.
However, the attitude of the administration against stricter immigration policy could risk worse the shortage of labor, especially in states with the highest demands on workers born abroad such as California, Texas, Florida and New York, according to research in the Brookings Institution. The BLS found that 25% of the rejection of 2020 born across the country nationwide stood abroad and an even greater emphasis on the more efficient design, which can reduce the need for additional construction work.
In the meantime, the National Association of Home Builders expects tariffs to increase costs for materials and force developers to seek savings wherever they can find them.
The priorities of the infrastructure will probably shift to traditional sectors such as motorways, bridges, ports and energy generation than to renewable or sustainable projects. This does not mean that demand will decrease, but the priorities will shift. Companies involved in these traditional infrastructure areas see increasing opportunities.
Obstacles to progress
Although automation can provide relief, it is not a panacea for all problems with which the construction industry is faced. From the economic headwind to challenges in the integration of workflows in legacy technologies to resistance from employees who are affected that AI replace them (instead of expanding them), resistance to these digital trainees remains a challenge.
A report by the National Electrical Contractors Association from 2024 2024, however, underlines the role that tech and innovation could play in the attraction of new employees, and finds that technology and innovation help to increase apprenticeships. The highlighting of digital acceptance in recruitment efforts can help attract technically experienced people who could otherwise overlook the career of the construction work.
Next Steps
For companies that develop these tools, it is essential to meet the industry in which it is now located. This requires the creation of ways to work in existing framework conditions to ensure acceptance and concentration on practical implementation and not to theoretical functions. At this crucial moment, AI applications cannot be responsible and supplied with too much.
In order for these new tools to be able to achieve their full potential to improve the construction capacity, they must be regarded as evolutionary and not revolutionary. Tools that solve the actual problems for the industry will tackle these bottlenecks by doing more workers with fewer workers and building more with less wasted materials. The improvement has to be the first step.
Forbes Technology Council is a community only for invitations for first-class CIOs, CTOS and technology managers. I qualify myself