Ahead of BDO Canada’s Tuesday, September 24 webinar, CCPPP sat down with Roshan David, Partner & Leader, Applied Analytics, and Bill Syrros, Futurist and Exponential Labs Leader, Innovation & Change, to set the scene for the in-depth discussion on the transformative power of AI and advanced analytics in the infrastructure sector. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are some current challenges facing Canada's infrastructure sector that AI and applied analytics can help organizations overcome?
Roshan David: We have a productivity issue here in Canada, which also applies to the infrastructure sector. Many challenges within the sector come down to projects not being completed on time and on budget. That is where tools such as AI and analytics can really help — identifying ways to track and monitor projects in a near real-time manner to proactively address challenges and get ahead of them, as opposed to being reactive. The other area is automation. AI is enhancing the productivity of employees and resources on the ground. What in the past might have taken 10 people could potentially be done with one or two resources augmented by AI in the future.
How can leveraging real-time data and integrating applied analytics help infrastructure sector stakeholders better manage risk?
Roshan David: Companies in the infrastructure sector are information-rich — every single resource on a construction site is a data point. But few apply this data to decision making. The first step, would be to consolidate this information and to leverage the power of analytics and AI to make better decisions, such as integrating real-time project monitoring. You would be surprised that not a lot of projects have this level of tracking and monitoring on an ongoing basis.
Once you have that in place, teams can better manage resources. Do you have people on site who are not doing anything and are billing time? Do you have forklifts or other equipment on site that are not being utilized? Is your equipment nearing the end of its life? What impact is a delay going to have on your budget? You can start getting more advanced to the point where you are proactively monitoring issues, such as maintenance issues on your fleet, and proactively tweaking your project plans to optimize resource efficiency.
In what ways do you think AI technology might impact infrastructure delivery in the future?
Bill Syrros: There are three different angles here. As Roshan mentioned, AI could increase Canada’s overall productivity. And while AI is giving us an opportunity to increase productivity faster and higher, we are not even in the Top 30 in terms of countries using generative AI to their advantage. If we increased our use of generative AI, the infrastructure sector would be primed to take advantage. But it is going to take humans making better decisions and using AI. I use AI every day — there are things you can do today, that you could not do even six months ago! It is steadily improving with the release of major centralized platforms such as OpenAi, Google Gemini and Anthropic's Claude.
I also see AI taking over transactional processes. Transactional processes are ones where there are definitive yes or no answers. AI is perfect when you are not looking for it to apply logic or reason, meaning it is returning data that can be easily validated. The logic and reason part will come in later releases. That is important because that type of work is often what takes up the most time: crunching numbers, analyzing spreadsheets, etc.
That leads me to the third angle, which is being able to contain errors. Misjudgments, misevaluations and errors in the way we perceive data or timelines impact results in a massive way. So, any chance that we can use technology to reduce human error is the best-case scenario.
And finally, in this industry, it will not just be humans on a team, it will be virtual agents accompanying humans on a team. When we get to that point, scarcity is no longer an issue. Currently, if experts with unique specialties leave a team or something happens to them, there might be no recovery. AI can provide that kind of recovery and continuity for project teams.
Eager to hear more insights from Roshan and Bill? Join us for our Tuesday, September 24 webinar. Registration is free and open to everyone! Featuring engaging demos and industry use cases, this webinar will offer actionable strategies on how analytics and AI can: Boost project profitability; Optimize real-time performance; and Revolutionize contract and construction management
