News

Report lays bare construction’s data and AI skills gulf

Katie Coyne

Freelance journalist

8 July 2025

Analysis exclusive to DC+ has highlighted huge skills gaps in construction. The sector is behind the curve when it comes to using data to boost productivity, though it is doing slightly better with AI, compared with other industries.

The conversation needs to shift to 'what can our people do with AI' (Image by Ecliptic Graphic on Unsplash)

A report from Multiverse found construction workers are each losing 26 days annually due to data skills gaps. It found 2.7 hours per day are spent on data handling across construction, yet 33.9% of that time is ineffective.

Across all industries, Multiverse data shows that if these skills gaps were addressed, the UK economy could be boosted by almost £62 billion.

Euan Blair, founder and CEO of Multiverse, said: “The conversation needs to shift from 'what can AI do?' to 'what can our people do with AI?'.

“This should be a wake-up call: the real barrier to AI adoption isn't the technology itself, it’s the capability of the workforce to use it. It’s like everyone’s got access to iPhones, but they’re only using them to make calls.

“The strategic imperative is clear: invest in deep, role-specific training that empowers employees not just to use AI, but to innovate with it safely and effectively."

Gap in data skills

Almost 60% of construction firms need to boost the efficiency of their data analysis and ensure they are using the right methodology and formulas (59% was reported here, slightly worse than across all sectors at 54%).

More than half of all construction firms need to get better at automating processes and reports – 54%, compared with 51% across all industries.

Other data skills gaps identified include: visualising and presenting data (53%); using data to help tell a story (52%); predictive analysis (51%); analysing data to make informed decisions (50%); structuring and preparing data (48%); sourcing and cleaning data (46%); working with data and technical professionals (42%).

Using AI across construction

Construction is doing well to calculate the return on investment (ROI) of AI initiatives, with just a 21% skills gap here, compared to 29% across all industries.

However, there is a 33% skills gap in implementing practices to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in AI algorithms and decisions – though this is slightly better than across all industries, which is 38%.

A 30% skills gap was uncovered in construction when it came to evaluating how well an organisation’s data, infrastructure, governance and security policies support AI use. This is compared to a skills gap of 36% across all industries.

Other AI skills gaps uncovered included: using investigative techniques to identify how AI can create new business value (36%); identifying where AI could address gaps and add value (36%); evaluating and documenting AI opportunities (35%); communicating critical information about AI projects (31%); evaluating how well data infrastructure and governance supports AI use (30%); identifying operational challenges to AI adoption (27%); testing to ensure AI continues to drive towards business goals (27%).

The sample size used to produce the exclusive analysis of the skills gaps within construction included 2,901 employees for data, and 133 for AI. The full Multiverse Skills Intelligence Report sampled data from across 14,500 employees across 16 industries.

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