A study conducted by PlanRadar among 1,728 construction and real estate experts from 14 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region shows that 58 percent of respondents recognise the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce daily challenges. The investigation, initiated by the platform for digital documentation, communication, and reporting in construction and real estate projects, highlights that investments in AI-based digital tools could significantly increase employee retention. More than half of skilled workers would be more likely to remain with their current company if it invested more in corresponding technologies; one in four people expressed a clear preference to stay.
Despite this positive attitude from employees, investment plans within the industry remain hesitant. Nearly half of the respondents currently have no plans to invest in digital tools with AI functionality. This reluctance contrasts with the urgent need to attract and retain qualified project management talent, which is currently crucial for the industry. The study also refutes the common assumption that AI poses a threat to jobs; only 6 percent of respondents expressed concerns about job loss due to AI implementation. Instead, AI is perceived as a practical tool for tackling operational challenges.
The PlanRadar study demonstrates that almost half of skilled workers spend over eleven hours per week on tasks that could be made more efficient or reduced by AI. Among users of AI-powered tools, two-thirds report time savings of at least two hours per week per project. Especially in the areas of schedule adherence and managing project changes, 58 percent of respondents see great potential for the use of AI. This offers a concrete solution for professionals who operate under high pressure and tight resources.
Ibrahim Imam, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of PlanRadar, emphasises that construction professionals spend significant working time each week on routine tasks that could be optimised by AI. He points out that investing in AI tools increases the likelihood of retaining qualified employees, a critical factor in a market where experienced project management talent is increasingly difficult to find. Forecasts from the Project Management Institute indicate a need for approximately 2.5 million additional project professionals by 2035, representing a 60 percent increase. Concurrently, the construction sector, according to Deloitte's outlook for 2026, has already seen a 4.2 percent year-on-year increase in wages, driven by competition for a shrinking talent pool.
Over half of respondents cite the accuracy and reliability of AI results as the biggest hurdles to implementing AI in project management, followed by data protection and data security. This pattern is consistent across nearly all markets surveyed. Sander van de Rijdt, also Co-Founder and Co-CEO of PlanRadar, underlines that construction and real estate experts are not generally opposed to AI, but demand trustworthy tools with reliable results and secure protection of their project data. He stresses the need for the highest standards in security, compliance, and user control for AI that works with sensitive project data.
- —High demand for qualified professionals in the construction and real estate sector.
- —Potential of AI to reduce workload and increase efficiency.
- —Employee retention through investments in modern AI tools.
- —Importance of data integrity and security as a basis of trust for AI applications.
In Germany, integration into existing systems is another key concern, cited as a challenge by around 30 percent of respondents. PlanRadar addresses these requirements through a platform that unifies 360-degree documentation, communication, and reporting in a central, AI-powered solution. The AI accesses specific project data and provides context-related answers, while meeting the highest security and data protection standards, being ISO-certified, and not using customer data for training purposes.
