October 2025
At this year’s Project Controls Expo USA 2025, Contruent Chief Product Officer, Rich Humphrey, delivered a powerful session on how artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of project controls. His message was clear: the era of reactive project management is ending, and AI is paving the way for proactive, predictive control.
The Digital Shift in Construction
Despite major advances in technology, the construction industry has struggled to keep pace. As Rich pointed out, only a fraction of available project data is being used (just 4%), while 91.5% of projects still go over budget or schedule. The gap between what’s possible and what’s practiced is widening, driven by underinvestment in IT, data silos and fear of the unknown. But momentum is building. From the early days of desktop-based scheduling to today’s emergence of digital twins and AI-driven construction analytics, the industry is finally stepping into a data-powered future.
AI: From Prediction to Action
Rich outlined how predictive and generative AI are coming together to close the loop between insight and execution. Predictive AI forecasts outcomes (cost overruns, risks and performance trends), while generative AI interprets those results, providing context, narrative insights and even recommended actions. This fusion enables project teams to move from reacting to events to anticipating and preventing them, creating faster, smarter and more consistent decision-making.
Contruent’s AI Vision
At Contruent, AI isn’t a buzzword, it’s a framework for transformation. The company’s AI-powered project controls software enhances every stage of cost and schedule management through the Contruent AI Agent Suite, which includes:
- Data Insights Agent delivers narrative-driven answers to natural language questions, so users can instantly access the data they need.
- Domain Workflow Agents automate change, contract, procurement and risk management workflows.
- Data Quality and Validation detects and corrects inconsistencies in real time, ensuring every decision is based on trusted information.
AI also strengthens data security and governance, safeguarding project intelligence with built-in auditability, anomaly detection and explainable outputs.
Building a Smarter, Safer Future
As Rich summarized, the true value of AI lies not just in prediction but in precision delivering high-quality data, faster insights and secure collaboration across teams. By embedding intelligence directly into project controls, Contruent Enterprise
is empowering decision-makers to keep capital programs on time, on budget and under control. Learn more or request a demo today.