UNLOCK DIGITAL BENEFITS

The contest is not only over whose capital builds the next generation of ports, grids, and railways, but whose data, standards, and AI systems will guide those investments

- Bertrand Badré & Saurabh Mishra

Infrastructure investment is booming. Around the world, governments are pouring trillions of dollars into roads, power grids, data centers, water systems, and housing, with many responding to intensifying climate shocks and the growing need for adaptation.

Yet the construction industry — the single largest force physically reshaping the planet - is among the last major sectors to unlock all the benefits that digital technology offers. As a result, it accounts for about 21% of greenhouse-gas emissions, produces half of global landfill waste, and overspends by $1.6 trillion a year.

This must change, and AI may offer the solutions that the industry needs. But that will require fully leveraging the potential of institutional collaboration and human networks. While generative AI can write code or summarize documents, building real-world assets like bridges and power grids requires what we might call “cognitive infrastructure”: difficult-to-access data, human expertise, domain knowledge, and institutions through which to deploy new tools for planning and delivery. Like electricity without a power grid, AI without this foundation will remain a source of untapped potential.