Hybrid skills gap could slow mega projects

The Gulf's construction and engineering sector is rapidly digitising, but there is an acute shortage of professionals who can fuse engineering, digital fluency, and sustainability knowledge. In an exclusive interview with Gulf Construction, Gentis CEO STÉPHANIE RENIERS explains how this "hybrid skills gap" is being tackled with Al-powered, predictive workforce planning.

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THE construction and engineering sector across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is undergoing a profound transformation, moving rapidly from an analogue past to a digital, data-driven future. However, this shift has exposed an acute talent crisis: a “hybrid skills gap” that threatens to slow the region’s ambitious pipeline of giga-projects.

According to Stéphanie Reniers, Co-Founder and CEO of Gentis, a leading AI-powered talent solutions provider, the most pressing need isn’t for purely technical proficiency, but for professionals who can seamlessly integrate engineering expertise with digital fluency and sustainability knowledge. The need for hybrid talent is now paramount.

“The biggest gap isn’t purely technical, it’s hybrid,” Reniers states. “You need engineers who can read both blueprints and dashboards; BIM specialists who also speak sustainability; project leads who think beyond delivery and into lifecycle.”

The region’s projects are now complex digital ecosystems, yet many seasoned professionals were trained for a simpler era – an analogue world. This mismatch means brilliant engineers are often struggling to navigate the data-rich environments of modern mega-projects. Addressing this demands a fundamental shift in both training and recruitment strategy.

CONTRACTUAL IMPERATIVE OF SUSTAINABILITY

The global and regional push for sustainability and green building certifications is no longer a peripheral corporate social responsibility concern; it has become a contractual necessity. Reniers emphasises that “the sustainability wave is no longer optional, it has become contractual. Every tender now carries green KPIs.”