Construction leaders ready to embrace automation. But are their workers?

Part of the problem, he suggested, was that although company owners and senior management recognised the benefit of systems that offer automation and artificial intelligence (AI), the company’s employees are less enthusiastic.

Now a new survey in the UK appears to confirm that trend.

Workplace safety software company Rapid Global said the results of its sounding of 146 managers and 88 workers from the construction sector showed a divide between how the two groups regarded AI adoption and digitalisation.

While more than half (51%) of managers said their business was ready to adopt AI to improve safety, only 20% of workers agreed.

Three quarters (75%) of managers believed adopting new technology would cut risk and improve safety, compared to just 44% of workers.

But there was closer alignment on the pace at which the implementation of AI is progressing, with 28% of managers saying it was moving more slowly than anticipated, compared to 25% of workers.

Paul Rapuano, global strategic partnerships manager at Rapid Global, said, “Construction leaders are ready to digitise, consolidate systems, and explore AI, but too often workers remain unconvinced or stuck with outdated processes.

“To reap the full rewards of new technologies like AI, the way forward for the sector has to be visible proof that technology makes safety easier, training more consistent, and worksites safer.”

The research, commissioned by Rapid Global and undertaken by market research consultancy Research Without Borders, was conducted in August 2025.

The full report is available here.