Nearly 9 out of 10 contractors believe AI will have a meaningful impact on construction, with many predicting extensive, industry-wide transformation
Research by Dodge Construction Network, in partnership with CMiC, found that in addition to 87% of contractors who believe AI will have a meaningful impact on the industry, 85% expect they will spend less time on repetitive, mundane tasks, while more than 70% believe they will make better decisions because AI offers insights they might not arrive at on their own.
Another 75% think AI will help them learn from past projects by mining historical data.
Organisational readiness varies
While current adoption remains limited, more than half of surveyed companies are actively exploring AI through pilot programmes and preparing staff for AI-related roles.
40% are currently allocating a dedicated budget to AI, while 38% are creating implementation teams.
Another 19% report adapting legacy workflows for an AI environment and 51% are actively evaluating several potential AI-related changes across their teams.
Strong results from early adopters
Only 20% to 50% of contractors are aware that specific project and company management functions are AI-enhanced, and usage is even lower, with 20 of the 23 functions studied used by fewer than 15%.
Despite this limited use, the study uncovered remarkably positive feedback from early adopters. 70% or more of contractors already using a combination of AI-enabled project and company management functions report that they are highly effective compared with their previous methods. This lays the groundwork for rapid expansion in the use of AI in the industry.
Top AI capabilities of interest
Contractors expressed particularly strong interest in several emerging AI functionalities:
For project management:
- 81% recognise the benefit of automated constructability analysis to identify potential field issues during design.
- 80% express interest in intelligent permit submission with automatic compliance checking.
- 79% note strong potential for autonomous project optimisation that adjusts schedules and resources in real time.
For company management:
- 76% identify opportunities in dynamic pricing optimisation based on market conditions and risk factors.
- 92% acknowledge the value of automated contract creation and management.
- 79% value intelligent bid-no-bid decision support.
Concerns and obstacles about AI for construction
Over half of contractors express concerns about data accuracy (57%) and security (54%), and more than one-third worry about implementation costs and internal resistance. The biggest challenge to wider use of AI in construction is the state of data quality at most contractors’ organisations. Only 26% of contractors rate their current data quality as high.
“The research indicates the construction industry is nearing a tipping point for AI adoption,” said Steve Jones, senior director of industry insights analytics at Dodge.
“With high awareness, strong interest and powerful validation from early adopters, contractors appear poised for significant expansion in their use of AI-enabled tools in meaningful ways.”
