The Challenge of Construction Digitization

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"The Challenge of Construction Digitization," has been provided by Zacua Ventures. All original content is owned by them. AmpliNxt is pleased to present this report for informational purposes with the consent of Zacua Ventures.
Written by Zacua Ventures Team.
Zacua Ventures is an early-stage VC focused on investments tackling the world's biggest challenges across Sustainability, Productivity and Urbanization and is backed by the most innovative corporates in the built world.
Over the last decade, the construction industry has undeniably made progress in its digital transformation journey. From early adoption of point solutions to more recent platform-based ecosystems that support design coordination, jobsite automation and projects handover, digitization is no longer a foreign concept.
Our analysis in the evolution of Contech Adoption shows a shift not only in tools, but in ambition: from solving for basic productivity to addressing safety, predictability, compliance, and sustainability. ConTech startups have proliferated, and large contractors now frequently pilot AI-powered and automation solutions.
Yet, as Hamzah Shanbari noted during our recent Anual General Meeting, drawing on insights from his book Paperless Builders: technology adoption does not equal transformation. The construction industry still suffers from deeply fragmented communication, limited interoperability, and siloed workflows. A striking visualization of information flows underlines this structural reality:

In this comparative view of information flow across users:

  • Financial services display highly centralized and coordinated communication.

  • Software companies demonstrate dense, iterative, peer-to-peer interaction.

  • Construction Industry, in stark contrast, reveals scattered user networks, disconnected clusters, and thin lines of collaboration between internal and external players.

This fragmentation mirrors what Hamzah presented in his book and during Zacua Ventures AGM: disconnected reports, out-of-date drawings, inconsistent field updates, and manual processes, many of which are still masked under the guise of “digitized” PDFs and Excel sheets.

Becoming Paperless: how to move forward?

The main takeaway from Hamzah’s presentation is that becoming paperless isn’t about going digital: it’s about rethinking processes. Replacing paper with static forms is not enough, field users need tools that are integrated, real-time, and context-aware. The most innovative construction companies have found a way to systematically, and efficiently 1) find & prioritise promising technologies, 2) structure quick pilots across their projects, and 3) scale the successful techs across the entire organisation.

Hamzah has outlined this framework in ¨a roadmap for sustainable tech adoption”, including the following steps:

  • Benchmark current processes

  • Involve Users early

  • Structure Implementation

  • Provide continuous Learning

  • Appoint internal Drivers

  • Evaluate, Report, and Scale successful outcomes

Finally, cultural change is as critical as technical change: fear of change, not lack of tools, is what derails most digital initiatives. Training, cross-functional pilots, and clear ownership are essential to lower barriers for field teams to take the responsibility of making everyone’s jobs easier and more efficient.

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