Fireside Chat: Rogers-O’Brien's Todd Wynne Unveils How To Harness the Power of AI in Construction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm in recent years, and for good reason—it has impacted our lives in both visible and invisible ways, leading to more efficient, more personalized, and more predictive experiences. But what’s most fascinating to me is how AI has transformed, and will continue to transform, the built world. Everything around us—the homes we live in, the places where we go to work, and the roads we drive on—have all been built by the construction industry, and AI-driven tools are increasingly playing a part in delivering these projects.

I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Todd Wynne, Chief Innovation Officer at Rogers-O'Brien, to talk about how AI is reshaping the construction industry. Todd has been at the forefront of construction tech for over a decade and has since become known as a construction tech evangelist. We covered how Rogers-O’Brien is leveraging AI to transform their business and the construction industry, AI myths and misconceptions, and AI’s impact on the future of construction.

I was lucky to have Todd join me for this fireside chat and hope you all find it as inspiring as I did. Here are my top six takeaways from our conversation.

1. An effective AI strategy needs both a good data strategy and a good process strategy.?

In order to leverage AI effectively, it’s important to ensure the data you’re using is clean and organized and to build effective processes around the tools you’re trying to implement. At the outset, consider aligning your data strategy with your process strategy so that you can capitalize on all the benefits that AI has to offer.?

2. Successful AI implementation hinges on three key components: executive strategic alignment, your technology partner, and your people.?

First, it’s important to ensure leadership is aligned with the need for AI and has an effective strategy built around it. Secondly, you’ll want to choose a leading technology partner that supports this AI strategy and is connected, secure, and scalable. Lastly, be sure to address organizational change management to ensure you can effectively bring your AI strategy to life. And as Todd shared, “What got us here won’t get us there,” so consider assessing your process, tools, and org structure as you grow and scale.?

3. A connected platform is key to unlocking powerful insights.?

Construction businesses generate a massive amount of data every day on their projects. By consolidating that data onto a single platform, rather than disparate solutions, teams gain powerful insights that enable better, data-driven decisions and ultimately, more predictive projects. Todd put it perfectly when he said that AI can help shift the industry from being firefighters (reactive) to smoke detectors (proactive), helping teams deliver safer, more productive, and more profitable projects.

4. The true advantage of AI lies in empowering construction workers, not replacing them.?

We often hear the concern that AI is going to take jobs, but the reality is, that’s unlikely to happen in an industry like construction. Construction is a people-centered industry—it’s hands-on and needs boots on the ground to build—and projects are incredibly complex where each one is essentially a prototype. The true power of AI lies in its ability to elevate and augment folks’ skill set. In a similar way that a power drill enhances the capabilities of a hammer, AI empowers teams to accomplish tasks faster and more effectively. For example, AI can automate repetitive and mundane tasks, enabling folks to focus on the work that matters the most—ultimately, getting them back to why they joined this industry in the first place: to build.?

5. AI can help the industry tackle the skilled labor gap.

The industry simply doesn’t have enough people to meet demand, but leveraging AI can be an effective way to help mitigate these challenges. Not only will AI empower the current workforce by helping them do more with less, but it can also help bring more folks into construction. By demonstrating that construction is a tech-focused industry, AI can help attract the younger generation of tech natives, driving a pipeline of talent for years to come. Plus, as the more experienced workforce retires, AI can augment the knowledge of the younger workforce by providing historical and situational data to help them make better, more informed decisions.?

6. The future of AI in construction is bright.

While the industry has made great progress with AI, we’re still in the early days. AI has the potential to positively impact the industry in ways we are only just beginning to imagine. Procore’s vision is to improve the lives of everyone in construction, and I’m confident that as we continue to innovate and evolve the capabilities of AI, we will become that much closer to achieving our vision.?

I want to say a big thank you to Todd for joining me for this great fireside chat and for sharing his incredible insight and expertise with us.?

Learn more about how to harness the power of data, AI, and machine learning in our five-part Data in Construction continuing education course.