Transforming Construction and Design: The Rise of AI and Digital Innovation in 2026
Getting the data foundation in place
One of the biggest trends we saw throughout this past year was the rapid adoption of modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms that serve as digital backbones across organizations. In fact, our censuswide industry research study found that 63% of C&E companies planned to adopt a new ERP system in the next one to two years — a foundational move meant to enable the scaling of AI across their enterprises.
In terms of how many companies are embarking on digital transformation projects, this modernization statistic has proven to be underestimated. Nearly a year after making these predictions, we realize that the optimism around the role of AI being able to reshape workflows, project management, and intelligent decision-making is fueling a greater desire to adopt a future-proof ERP platform as the springboard for scalable, trusted AI deployments.
AI is set to take pole position
The latest IFS research study, “The Invisible Revolution,” which surveyed more than 300 senior executives from leading C&E firms in May and June of 2025, found that the sector is expected to become one of the most AI-first industries. Momentum is clearly building, with 91% of firms expecting to increase AI investment in 2026.
Giving time back to a resource-strapped industry
One of the greatest benefits of AI that we discuss with construction and engineering organizations is its ability to analyze and collate data in a much faster way. This gives all their employees — from workers on the construction site to senior management in the back office — more accurate, predictable, and reliable information.
The most practical example of how this enhanced and automated information gathering and analysis can benefit construction industry organizations is related to the enormous amount of time it takes to prepare their regular board presentations on project performance. Most companies host interdepartmental meetings monthly with all the senior leaders from each of their divisions. Typically, each team of people takes days, if not weeks, to prepare their data by gathering information across multiple software solutions.
Industrial AI gives C&E organizations more trusted control of their business by removing the unreliability and inconsistency of human guesswork, making it faster and easier to gather, analyze, and report on every dimension of project performance, including profitability, timeline delays, budget overruns, cost forecasting, safety incidents, quality, and more. Ultimately, leveraging industrial AI to enhance reporting and data sharing across the organization reduces business risk and delivers greater control over project results.
The AI advantages are plain to see
These benefits are clearly resonating across the industry. The latest IFS research study found that the biggest applications of current AI deployments across construction & engineering firms were project delivery (62%) and business intelligence (59%). Out of these early adopters who are currently deploying AI, companies are already seeing these benefits: 89% report profitability gains, and 44% outperform the cross-sector average in operational efficiency, 42% in supply cost reduction, and 36% in lowering project expenditures.
With the growing economic uncertainty across the globe, the most impactful benefit of industrial AI for this industry is giving companies greater control over project management. Out of all other industries, the project-centric nature of C&E businesses makes them most at risk of diminishing and/or unpredictable profit margins in volatile and disruptive markets.
Perhaps this is why the latest AI research shows that construction and engineering firms anticipate AI’s greatest benefits in project delivery (41%) and increased profitability (36%).
Planning a blueprint for success in 2026
As we prepare to craft our 2026 predictions for a rapidly evolving industry, we take a moment to reflect on the trajectory of AI adoption and overall digital transformation that exceeded our expectations in 2025. It’s clear that in a very short period, most construction and engineering organizations will modernize legacy ERP systems to pave the way for industrial AI and all the potential it offers to deliver greater project control.
The result will be a smarter, more connected, and more resilient industry — ready to redefine how the world designs, constructs, and builds.
