Main contractor Suffolk Construction, which has offices across the US, has teamed up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to produce a report on how specifically AI can boost productivity in construction.
The report, Construction in the age of AI, calculates that AI can cut total project costs by 17-20%, project timelines by 22-25%, and increase efficiency by 15-40%.
It proposes six domains where AI can be of the most use now: design automation; offsite manufacturing; permitting; scheduling; skilled labour and subcontracting; and supply chain and procurement.
GCR caught up with Jit Kee Chin, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Suffolk Construction, to learn more.
How widely is AI used in construction now?
Every construction company that we’ve talked to uses AI. It is quite remarkable how fast it’s catching on, driven by the extreme pressures the industry is facing in cost escalation, the urgent need to build fast, especially in data centres, and labour shortages, with close to 500,000 additional professionals needed.
How is AI specifically helping Suffolk?
AI is helping us across multiple workflows: for example, with design coordination review, where AI does the first pass to look for clashes and missing information and our design professionals then review for accuracy.
AI is helping us review submittals, where it can similarly do a first pass at reviewing the submittal and flag any inconsistency with project documentation. It is helping us create more complete requests for information that leverage our historical and real-time information. It is helping with procurement, where AI can identify scopes for acquisition. It is helping us with the billing process, where it generates the requisition to save time.
And finally, it is aiding the commissioning process, where AI collates all the information into an easy to consume report.
What’s your advice for construction firms in using AI?
First, define the problem you are trying to solve. AI is most useful when it addresses a specific challenge, such as reducing manual work, improving coordination or helping teams find information faster.
Strong, consistent data is also critical because AI tools are only as effective as the information they can access. Companies should invest in the data infrastructure that makes these tools useful and involve people across the organisation, including field leaders, who can translate the technology into practical jobsite applications.
Second, don’t try to build everything alone. Some of our most effective AI implementations are done together with major technology vendors or smaller technology startups, which allows us to move much faster.
Most importantly, start on the journey before waiting for the technology to be perfect. AI is evolving fast.
How is AI helping you work with subcontractors?
AI is helping improve coordination between subcontractors and project teams. For example, it can help synchronise schedules and trade handoffs, identify potential conflicts earlier, improve quantity validation and provide better visibility into materials and logistics.
It can also reduce the time trade partners spend waiting for information, resolving avoidable conflicts or managing manual processes. The goal is to give subcontractors more time to focus on productive work in the field.
Why did you choose those six domains for AI use?
Our research identified them as having the greatest near-term potential in improving construction productivity.
They were determined by academic research, case studies, interviews, surveys and discussions with more than 50 industry experts.
The categories are also interconnected. For example, improvements in design can impact scheduling, procurement and field coordination, which means the overall opportunity is greater than the potential savings in any one category.
Are there other areas where AI could help Suffolk?
Absolutely. AI can help us further connect design, procurement, scheduling and real-time field information so teams can identify risks and make decisions earlier. We also see opportunities in permitting, safety, quality control and repetitive administrative work.
These are active areas of exploration and the next step is testing more applications on real projects so we can build the data and evidence needed to understand where AI can have the greatest impact.
What’s next for Suffolk with AI?
We are still in the early stages of what AI can do for construction and Suffolk is continuing to invest in this area. In June 2026, we formally launched Jobsite of the Future, an AI-enabled operating model that embeds AI engineers directly within active project teams to improve design, scheduling and construction processes.
The program builds on more than a decade of investment in data, technology and innovation and is helping us move AI from isolated applications into the day-to-day delivery of projects.
We are also using 100MAG, our centralised innovation and AI hub at our Boston headquarters, to test and validate solutions developed in the field before passing them to our CoLab team to standardise and scale across projects nationwide.
As the technology continues to evolve, we expect AI to become more deeply integrated into how our teams plan, coordinate and build projects.
- The report, Construction in the age of AI, is available here.
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