Artificial Intelligence is a treat for Project Management..

It is no secret that the construction process is constantly steamrollered and tyrannized by monotonous and cumbersome activities. Despite all this labor-intensive work, HBR (2023) finds that the current success rate for projects is at a startlingly low 35%. The poorly developed state of project management technology is to blame. Construction industry has been rather slow in taking advantage of AI technologies. However, Saudi Arabia and a few nations in the Middle East are in to a race to the top, vying to be the first to fully harness and capitalize on the power of AI technology. AI plays a key role in Gulf states' plans to diversify their economies away from oil revenue. They’re literally betting the farm on AI. Investing in AI is like planting a tree: it takes time to grow, but if nurtured properly, the rewards will be great. Saudi Arabia means business when it comes to its AI vision. To this end, the country has taken several steps to ensure its successful implementation.

In the Artificial Intelligence Index report published by Stanford University in 2023, Saudi Arabia ranked second for societal awareness of artificial intelligence. It was also found to have high confidence in AI products and services. The report affirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to advancing AI technology. As the country moves towards economic diversification, AI-driven construction is gaining traction, and it has the potential to improve productivity, safety, and quality. Using artificial intelligence has the ability to streamline project management, including scheduling, resource allocation, and risk management. Saudi Arabia intends to use all kinds of AI in its futuristic city-building project — NEOM.

By optimizing construction processes, automating routine tasks, and automatically identifying potential safety hazards, AI-powered tools and construction software can reduce accidents, free up time, and contribute to more complex and high-value work on job sites. In other words, AI is here to make construction workers’ lives a little less hard-hat and a lot more hard-drive! There is a stack of variables to consider and risks to manage when managing construction projects. AI can be used to analyse project data, spot potential risks, and offer insights for smarter decision-making by analysing project data. For instance, AI can identify patterns in project data and alert project managers to potential risks or inefficiencies that could be addressed before they become major problems.

We're still miles away from having a completely AI-powered job site, but the advancements being made are necessary first steps, helping break ground for an even safer and more efficient industry in the years to come. Take DigiBuild for example. A software to digitalise the construction process. It has been around for five years and has automated the process of scouring sources for supplies and developing schedules. What used to require a team of humans to work on Excel spreadsheets, notebooks, and manual phone calls for hundreds of hours has now been condensed to a handful of seconds. The state-of-the-art technology is also?decreasing material prices by more than half.

Construction projects are often delayed or exceed the original budget. These issues can be attributed to a variety of factors, including design flaws, unforeseen events, and incorrect forecasts, among others. Unfortunately, these problems can have far-reaching consequences if not addressed quickly and efficiently. AI can optimize the allocation of labour and materials, making the scheduling of construction tasks more efficient and cost-effective. With AI-powered field reporting software, engineers can report job site activity or issue directly into the system, which can trigger a notification or alert based on certain keywords, such as 'delay' or 'safety'. Stakeholders are kept informed about projects through these alerts. With AI-powered field reporting software, engineers can report job site activity or issue directly into the system, which can trigger a notification or alert based on certain keywords, such as 'delay' or 'safety'. Stakeholders are kept informed about projects through these alerts. As a result, contractors will be able to streamline their processes, allocate resources more efficiently, lower risks, and deliver projects more rapidly and accurately. Of course, they can also use the system to alert each other when they need a kahwa break!

With the help of AI-based predictive models, we can analyze in real time the progress of a construction project based on the multitude of parameters involved. With this, AI can generate the most efficient schedules and work costs to guarantee on-budget and on-time project completion. Using AI-assisted predictive analytics, project managers can detect probable problems in advance and take appropriate action. Customer demand, resource availability, cost overruns, and other problems that could negatively impact a project's success can be uncovered through predictive analytics. Think of predictive analysis as a crystal ball and project managers become the gazers, they can become proactive in their approach and have a better grasp of the reins of their projects. Drones using artificial intelligence (AI) can monitor work remotely and collect precise survey maps and aerial photos of a job site. The?aerial?photographs can provide project managers with an alternate viewpoint on the project's status and contribute in the detection of possible problems that would have been obscured at ground level. In this way, AI increases safety on building sites by identifying possible risks and taking action to address them before they manifest.

Utilizing materials, personnel, and equipment effectively is a key component of good project management in the construction industry. The construction sector has traditionally struggled with worksite productivity. However, with the development of artificial intelligence, optimum productivity at building sites is now assured. The use of AI in the construction industry offers a bird's eye perspective of all the operations occurring on-site. For instance, image recognition technology can track employee schedules, the projects they are working on, and their progress. This makes it possible for administrators of huge construction sites to keep an eye on their sites' production. It might also be used as digital proof of how much work was done on-site by employees.

Planning and utilizing resources can be made more effective using AI. Project managers can find the most effective use of resources — staff, equipment, and materials with the aid of AI-assisted algorithms. The success rate of projects can be considerably increased by doing this, which can guarantee that each project is staffed with the ideal balance of capacities and competencies. A resource manager then becomes a Chess Grandmaster. AI will enable them to prepare for practically anything, not just a few steps ahead. From the pawn to the king, the Grandmaster will have a strategy for each piece and will change it as the game moves along.

AI is at the heart of Vision 2030 for Saudi Arabia and permeates all aspects of its development, from healthcare, education, smart cities to transportation and oil and gas. To top it off, AI has become a critical component of modern engineering and construction approaches on grounds of its capability to automate boring, risky, or repetitive operations while also giving us the ability to foresee the future or know what needs to be fixed right away. This includes predictive designs, robotic scanning, and even?maintenance alerts. As contractors continue to see the efficiency, productivity, and safety improvements they can deliver across every aspect of the construction?life cycle, Al will undoubtedly continue to transform the construction industry. As the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman rightly stated and I quote, “We live in a time of scientific innovations, unprecedented technologies and unlimited growth prospects.”