Honeywell commissioned Wakefield Research to survey AI leaders around the world. The online research, which was conducted from April 22 through May 2, 2024, involved 1,600 executives in 12 global markets (US, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan Mexico, United Kingdom, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.) Each respondent works at a company with at least 1,000 employees that is currently using AI to automate processes and tasks. All respondents are influencers or decision makers related to the use of AI within their departments or across their organizations.
This research includes the construction industry.
Here are a few out-takes.
Surveys of people using AI, rather than those just thinking about it, seem to be pushing aside thoughts of AI as evil. People are learning to use the various forms of the technology—as humans always have.
According to AI leaders in the construction industry, the top benefits of implementing industrial AI include:
- Improved job satisfaction – 51%
- More time for skills development – 49%
- Less manual work – 44%
- More creative thinking – 44%
Forms of artificial intelligence including machine learning have powered software for many years. Here are some updated examples:
AI-enabled buildings can help reduce power consumption, which accounts for approximately 37% of global CO2 emissions, while supported by other solutions to reduce overall energy use.
Sometimes it is downright scary what C-Suite occupants think about technology. The survey included these nuggets.
C-Suite Insight: AI leaders agree with AI’s potential as 94% expect their organization to expand the use of AI beyond its initial implementation. Even though a little more than a third (37%) of respondents expressed concern that their C-Suite does not fully understand AI, they and almost all of their peers (94%) said their corporate leadership is all in.
This finding should not surprise any of us who have worked in an organization for longer than a week.
Uneven Readiness: Uncertainty shows up in discussions of capital costs. Nearly half (48%) of respondents report they are constantly having to justify or request sufficient resources to implement AI plans. At the same time, two-thirds (63%) say a quarter of more of their equipment isn’t properly enabled for AI compatibility, yet most (59%) plan to let non-AI compatible equipment run through its lifespan before replacement.
Of course we are still in the early stages. We will be until it is no longer a buzz word—just another tool we use.
Still Early Stages: Just 17% of those surveyed have launched their initial plans for AI, and many are still in the scaling (43%) or prototyping (12%) stages. Why? Potentially, because it’s expensive. Most AI leaders (74%) believe that their organizations will replace non-AI-compatible equipment, but only 41% of them will do so early to maximize the benefits from AI. The other 33% will wait out the lifespan of legacy equipment.
Everyone I talk with is concerned with workers lacking skills. Of course, even though many say that “people are our greatest asset”, pay rates do not seem to reflect that. I wonder what the people who work there actually think.
Upskilling and Reskilling Workers: With a growing skills gap and the retirement wave of the baby boom generation, employers increasingly rely on AI to bridge the gap. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents to our research cited increasing worker efficiency and productivity as AI’s most promising use in their organizations.
At the same time, a quarter of those surveyed agree that people are their company’s greatest asset (25%). So, it makes sense that when looking at implementing AI, benefiting employees was top of mind. AI leaders say the technology will enhance flexibility (16%) as a key benefit for workers, along with improving efficiency and productivity (52%) and streamlining hiring and training (17%).
