Analysis A 29-Person DPR Study Says AI Hits Hospital Operations Long Before It Hits the Building A qualitative study of 29 people from the self-performing contractor argues AI will change how healthcare organisations work well before it changes their buildings — and that the capital-planning response is optionality, not smaller floor plates. DPR's announcement says 91% of respondents see project-delivery silos breaking down. Hugo Pegley · Oct 26, 2026
Analysis 28% of US AEC Firms Run AI in Production. A Year Ago Bluebeam's Number Was 27%. Bluebeam's 2027 AEC Technology Outlook, published 13 October, reports adoption flat and the middle of the market filling up: 7% with AI across multiple core workflows, 32% parked in pilots, 31% exploring. Its methodology section is the part worth reading: it tells readers why its own year-over-year comparison should not be read as a trendline. Hugo Pegley · Oct 15, 2026
Analysis 62% of Commercial Contractors Have Tried AI. Among Those Using It, 15% Can Show Clear ROI. ServiceTitan's 2026 Commercial State of the Trades, published 24 September, reports a July survey of 1,020 commercial contractors, primarily in mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Its AI findings describe a sector past the question of whether to try and stuck on the question of what it returned — and the cash-flow numbers underneath them explain why that question is being asked now. Hugo Pegley · Sep 24, 2026
Product Bedrock Says Its Excavators Now Work Alone. Three Contractors Put Their Names On It. Sundt, Zachry and Champion Site Prep are named on live projects where Bedrock's retrofitted excavators run without an operator. The named customers are the news — and a separate survey claiming contractor robotics use jumped from 29% to 79% in a year is the number to be careful with. Hugo Pegley · Aug 24, 2026
Analysis Someone Stole a Payroll File From America's Largest Contractor. They Say They Also Took the Drawings. Turner Construction has notified 6,098 Californians that their SSNs and bank details were taken. The ransomware group claims it holds 27.2 terabytes including engineering documents and ITAR-restricted material — a claim Turner will not address, and one the industry should think hard about. Hugo Pegley · Aug 24, 2026
Product "Trust But Verify": How a Real Contractor Is Actually Using AI on Drawing Sets Novo Construction's CIO on replacing Bluebeam overlays with Buildcheck's Diffs to catch changes between drawing revisions — and on why the value shows up in pricing, before construction starts, rather than in the field. Hugo Pegley · Aug 18, 2026
Analysis McKinsey Says AI Could Automate 39% of Construction's Desk Work. Nine Percent of the Industry Uses AI Daily. Two credible July datasets point in opposite directions: a McKinsey study on how much of construction's nonphysical work AI could automate, and survey data showing single-digit daily use. Analysis of what the gap actually measures — and who it favors. Hugo Pegley · Jul 30, 2026
