Unlocking AI Potentials in the Construction Industry: A Focus on Small and Medium Enterprises

In recent times, the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has attracted heightened scrutiny from construction industry stakeholders, driven by its perceived potential to reshape project delivery. This paper summarises the findings of a pilot study with senior managers and owners of construction SMEs in selected major UK cities. Using semi-structured interviews, the paper examined how UK construction SMEs perceive and approach Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption. The key findings revealed that AI is increasingly viewed not as an optional enhancement but as a strategic necessity for sustaining competitiveness, improving operational efficiency, enhancing safety, and advancing sustainability goals. However, the fulfilment of these benefits is constrained by entrenched challenges, including financial limitations, skills gaps, cultural resistance, technical barriers, strategic uncertainty, and security risks. The paper notes that construction industry stakeholders need to embed AI readiness into business strategy and prioritise workforce upskilling across both technical and adaptive skillsets to promote equitable and secure adoption. While policymakers should introduce targeted incentives to drive transformative changes that entrench AI in the construction industry, especially SMEs. Given the small, purposive sample, the study is exploratory, and its findings should be viewed as indicative rather than generalisable.