How AI is laying the groundwork for next-gen construction

• AI gives project owners, near real-time visibility into productivity, safety, and compliance.
• For contractors, AI is becoming a second set of eyes on ground; for owners, it is a live window into progress and compliance.
• Construction is no longer just about building structures—it is about building intelligence into every stage of the process.

A visit to a modern construction site seems like you have traversed into a technological future. Rather than manual work and clipboards of yesterday, digital sensors are mounted on top of scaffolding, cameras with artificial intelligence scan threats before they become serious, and project owners can monitor upgrades or problems remotely on dynamic screens.

The change in the last decade cannot be overlooked – high tech and hard hats are becoming the new way to build buildings from the ground.

With an expected annual growth rate of 20 per cent between 2023 to 2032, use of AI in global construction market is not just bringing a technical shift, it is also leading a transformation that challenges how people think about building, monitoring, and sustaining infrastructure.

From paper plans to predictive models

For decades, blueprints and site visits governed project management. Problems were discovered only after they occurred—delays, accidents, and budget overruns were treated as inevitabilities.

Project owners are also adjusting their expectations. Instead of asking, “What happened?” they now ask, “What might happen next, and how can we prevent it?”

Contractors echo this sentiment with vision-based intelligent systems, by detecting risky behaviour in real time; predictive algorithms track material flows and schedule risks, anticipating disruptions days or even weeks in advance.

Navigating complexity with intelligence

On the ground, contractors are often seen dealing with unprecedented complexities like workforce shortages, volatile supply chains, or stricter safety regulations. But shifting to AI helps them cope.

“Before AI, I would spend hours walking the site, checking progress, and coordinating teams,” shares a site foreman in a commercial project in Singapore.

“Now, I get real-time insights about which areas need attention, which crews are ahead or behind schedule, and where safety risks might occur.”

During a construction project in Watsonville, California, the contractor used an AI-based system to lead the training of the teams working on asphalt paving. Similarly, a Swedish contractor uses an AI assistant to get easy access to site’s critical resources of safety.

AI benefits the contractors with an unexpected benefit: confidence in decision-making. It is quickly redeploying teams, adjusting schedules or preventing repeated safety violations. They evolve from fragmented information and gut-based judgment to data-backed decisions.

Data-backed accountability

For project owners, AI-powered construction site monitoring delivers something that was once almost impossible: radical transparency. Owners no longer rely solely on periodic site visits or anecdotal reports to estimate progress. AI gives them near real-time visibility into productivity, safety, and compliance.

A Saudi-based construction giant engaged in multiple projects like energy, housing and transport, faced continuous challenges of worker well-being in the desert heat. This led to a direct impact on productivity levels, non-compliance to safety mandates and risk of worker safety.

But the deployment of video analytics based safety surveillance allowed the site to cut medical emergencies by 63 per cent, leading to saving 4800 work hours within a year.

 “Seeing these outcomes on our site was not just about metrics,” says the Operations Director. “It’s about knowing our crews are safer, managers feel less stressed, and we can demonstrate accountability to regulators in real time.”

For contractors, AI is becoming a second set of eyes on ground; for owners, it is a live window into progress and compliance. What both sides are discovering is that AI doesn’t replace expertise – it strengthens it. The real benefit is having the clarity to anticipate risks, protect people, and deliver projects with confidence.

Building intelligent construction sites for the future

The AI journey in construction is still unfolding, but the early chapters suggest a shift in how projects are executed. Contractors are utilising AI for operational control, while project owners are harnessing it to ensure accountability and predictability.

What unites both stakeholders is the recognition that construction is no longer just about building structures—it is about building intelligence into every stage of the process.

Gary Ng is the CEO and Co-Founder of viAct, one of Asia’s top Sustainability-focused AI company that provides “Scenario-based Vision Intelligence” solutions for risk prone workplaces.

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