2024 Retrospect: From Curiosity to Action

As 2024 comes to a close, the construction industry deserves recognition for its strides in understanding artificial intelligence (AI) and reigniting innovation. This year, I had the privilege of engaging with over 250 professionals, dozens of businesses, leaders from national and local construction associations, academia, government, and more than 100 emerging technology firms globally and domestically. This collective curiosity earns the industry a gold star. Yet, when it comes to meaningful action, results, and application, the industry still holds the purple participation ribbon despite the urgency around workforce capacity, costs, and sustainability.

A common theme across these conversations emerged: “I’m curious about AI, but hesitant due to a lack of case studies and evidence of value.” Over 80% of firms shared this view, directly impeding adoption. While local technology ecosystems—particularly in Western Canada—have incredible innovation, this hesitation discourages emerging firms from prioritizing Canadian markets, despite the urgent need to tackle productivity, cashflow, and cost constraints.

The barriers? It’s not a lack of tools or ideas but a repetition of past behaviors: fragmented efforts, fatigue from overpromised technologies, and skepticism. Beneath this hesitation lies a deeper issue—insufficient budgets, resources, and time to implement technologies where it matters most: field operations.

Yet, 2024 also revealed a turning point. A growing number of mid-market firms are stepping up as the next leaders in industry transformation. They are no longer asking, “What is AI?” but rather, “How can AI change the way we build?” More importantly, they recognize: “There must be a better way [to adopt].” This mindset shift marks a critical moment—not about AI itself, but transforming how and why we adopt technology.

A statement on adoption: Challenges and momentum

Technology adoption in construction is no longer a question—it’s an expectation. Over the past two decades, $30 billion has been invested in construction technology, with approximately three-quarters of firms using digital tools. Technologies like 3D modeling, Building Information Management (BIM), dashboards, and project information systems are now standard.

However, the next wave—tools supporting field operations like mixed reality, prefabrication, and robotics—is translating into double-digit productivity gains and becoming the fastest-growing category of adoption. Regarding AI, there are already over 1000 applications, and it is now the fastest growing area of investment with over 30% annual growth projected through to 2030.
In 2024, my engagements revealed both challenges and opportunities:

1. AI-Curiosity Is Growing, but Confidence Is Low
   While over 40% of firms are now exploring AI, 80% remain hesitant to invest without clear evidence of value. Fewer than 4% of firms are leveraging data and AI for meaningful results. This skepticism stems from past technologies that promised transformation but delivered little measurable impact.
2. Technology Fatigue Is Real
   More than 70% of professionals expressed dissatisfaction with previous initiatives. Fragmented solutions often failed to address the daily challenges of field teams—the direct drivers of productivity and profitability.
3. Budget and Resource Constraints
   Cashflow remains a barrier, with 50% of firms citing financial constraints. Fewer than 15% of businesses maintain dedicated innovation budgets, while limited resources and time further hinder progress.
4. Focusing on Executives Over the Field
   Technology initiatives continue to prioritize executive and management functions, overlooking field operations where the greatest value can be achieved. Operational teams are increasingly identifying this misalignment, seeing executive buy-in as the bottleneck to initiatives that can directly improve daily workflows and translate into tangible benefits.
5. Western Canada: A Hub of Opportunity
   Western Canada has emerged as a supercluster of construction technology resources, with over 60 technology firms and leading institutions like Amii (Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute), ISAIC, University of Alberta Construction Innovation Center, and the Prairies Proptech Association.
   Yet, many firms default to global providers with the largest marketing budgets, paying higher prices for misaligned solutions. Conversely, those collaborating with local firms report higher satisfaction, cost savings, and entirely new business opportunities.
6. Mid-Market Firms Are Leading
   Mid-market firms—those with revenues between $10M and $500M—are emerging as leaders in AI adoption. Their agility and ability to make faster decisions allow them to outpace larger competitors. These firms are:
   Addressing security concerns with clarity, not fear.
   Prioritizing improvements to workflows, cashflow, and profitability.
   Empowering project-level teams to focus on value recognition over price.
   Partnering with emerging technology firms to share risks and unlock opportunities.
   Reducing risks by leveraging funding opportunities, consortiums, and tax incentives.

Moving forward: Aligning AI with industry’s pressing needs

AI offers thousands of use cases, but success depends on where and how it is applied. Firms realizing the greatest benefits align their “AI-Why” with industry’s core challenges:

• Workforce Productivity and Capacity
  Underpinning industries workforce crisis is that over 40% of field leaders’ time is spent on administrative tasks or searching for information. Tools like ActiveIQ, PursuitZen, DocumentCrunch, Nialli, and Flowlly are enabling teams to do more with less, streamlining workflows, and providing actionable insights for more efficient and effective business development, risk mitigation, planning, mentoring, and quality control.
• Cashflow and Cost Control
  Margins remain tight at 3-5%, with cashflow constraints preventing firms from taking on new work. Tools like Quickly Technologies and QuoteToMe streamline procurement and payment processes, delivering cost savings and freeing up capital.
• Sustainability
  As regulatory demands intensify, solutions like Arbor (alternative materials) and Exact (low-carbon concrete) deliver measurable environmental and financial benefits.

Incremental improvements in any of these areas translate into the greatest business results with the least amount of investment. However, results require action.

2025: Proving value through action

What became clear in 2024 is that most firms are talking about AI but not adopting it meaningfully, with lack of case-studies, budget, and resources as the missing links. To bridge this gap, the AI Adoption Proof of Value Initiative—led by the Prairies Proptech Association—is offering firms an actionable path forward.

This initiative will:

• Support 30 construction companies in exploring AI and emerging technologies with less risk, time, and cost.
• Publish 150+ case studies to prove tangible results, showing that if these firms can do it, so can anyone.

A call to action

The ball is in our court. 2025 must be the year of action. Build partnerships with local technology providers, leverage public and private funding, and focus on workforce productivity, cashflow stability, and sustainability.

The AI Adoption Proof of Value Initiative offers a clear roadmap for firms ready to lead the next chapter of transformation. Enrollment is now open, with five spots remaining for the Q1 cohort starting in January 2025. To learn more or get involved, visit www.prairiesproptech.com.

If 2024 was the year of talk, let’s make 2025 the year of action. The opportunity is here—let’s get to work.

About ConstructIQ Advisory: While most talk the talk, we’ve walked the walk. Founded by one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in Construction, Shawn Gray, ConstructIQ’s mission is to drive meaningful change by helping firms overcome barriers to technology adoption. Our proven approach enables businesses to achieve results faster, with significantly less risk, time, and cost. Learn more at www.constructiqadvisory.ca.

About Prairies Proptech Association: The Prairies Proptech Association is a not-for-profit organization comprised of leaders from technology, construction, real-estate, academia, and government. We are dedicated to accelerating technology adoption through education, advocacy, and gap bridging events and initiatives. To learn more or get involved, visit www.prairiesproptech.com.