Contractors, designers and construction technologists at ENR’s FutureTech Conference May 6 and 7 shared optimistic visions of a not-too-distant future where architecture, engineering and construction practitioners have more connected workflows, more reliable data pipelines, more proactive approaches to cope with jobsite uncertainty and more tools to replace meetings and work phases, such as Internet of Things and digital twins.
Speakers at the San Francisco event shared real-world insights on growing use of artificial intelligence and robotics in the industry, among other tech trends. Also featured at the event that attracted nearly 600 attendees was an update on the potential of nuclear fusion to change global energy policy and how one engineering firm uses big data gathered post-occupancy of its designs.
Dusty Robotics’ Field Printer prints floor layouts at ENR FutureTech 2025 May 6.
Video by Jeff Yoders/ENR
“We foresee a workplace where the cliché holds true, where people don’t have to work harder but, rather, smarter,” said Sadia Janjua, chief of digital transformation
at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “Technology will be an enabler to work more collaboratively across the lifecycle of projects and there will be more widespread use of [virtual-design and construction] models following the golden thread of a project. All is connected.”
Janjua and co-presenter Dimitra Karachaliou,
associate vice president of digital transformation advisory
at AECOM, explained how their work for the authority has delivered better project collaboration and the end of rework for tasks such as entering inspection data.
“Data governance must happen first, then you can rationalize technology and create an ecosystem, make our people fit within,” Karachaliou
said.
Optimistic about cleaner energy options ahead was Valerie Roberts, COO and chief business officer of Longview Energy Systems, a startup that is dedicated to make fusion power production a reality. She explained how recent advances in sector technology have moved it from “Iron Man” science fiction to reality.
“There is $7 billion in private capital, and 40 new startups focused on fusion have come into existence in the last 10 years,” Roberts said. She cited recent advances such as Lawrence Livermore Laboratory achieving laser fusion energy gain in 2023 and how laser inertial confinement has shown higher commercial potential than older technologies such as the magnetic fusion tokamak process of the currently-under-construction ITER multinational project in France.
Generative AI remained a conference focus, with Ray Levitt, Blackhorn Ventures’ operating partner and Kumagai professor of engineering emeritus at Stanford University, citing a World Economic Forum report that it will take over 30-40% of white collar workers’ tasks over the next two to five years.
“We are investing quite a bit in this,” said Atul Khanzode, chief technology officer of DPR Construction, in a panel discussion with Levitt and Eric Lamb, operating partner of the contractor’s venture capital arm, WND Ventures. “That includes how to prepare data for an AI to do specific tasks.”
Several jobsites of contractor Weitz Co. are being changed by workflows using tech firm Dusty Robotics’ Field Printer 2 robot to perform floor layouts before installation of equipment and walls, participants told attendees.
Mark Vibber, Weitz senior project superintendent, Brian Owens, its VDC engineer and Dusty Robotics CEO and founder Tessa Lau explained how using layout robots on several contractor projects unlocked a 10% profit opportunity for the firm not just from printing out its floors, but also from better jobsite collaboration and cooperation before any work was put in place onsite.
“Attempts to resolve conflict in the field do not work,” Owens said in reaction to Dodge data on field conflict resolution. “It’s lIke being stabbed in the heart.”
