Construction builds the future but the working processes in the sector are often stuck in the past.

One of the world’s most technically advanced physical industries, construction lags behind in terms of digitalization. Valued at $12 trillion, it is the second least digitized industry worldwide. This makes a striking contrast with the innovation-driven engineering and logistics that construction teams deal with every day.

Legacy software issues show up through significant delays, cost overruns, and project inefficiencies due to poor digital integration.

• 40% of professionals report project delays because digital tools aren’t properly connected
• 70% of executives believe that failure to adopt digital technologies leads to the loss of a competitive stance and can even throw a firm out of business

The roots of this gap go beyond the technical facet, spanning organizational and cultural challenges. When familiar procedures prevail over innovation, modernization efforts often stall, leading to the phenomenon known as system inertia.

However, the economic pressures in the form of tight margins and the high cost of errors make modernization imperative. Losses in the sector caused by data issues amount to hundreds of billions annually. In this environment, digital transformation in construction industry is a strategic necessity for firms seeking competitiveness, resilience, and profitability.

The article explores the true meaning of modernization in construction. Specifically, why legacy workflows fall short, how modernization interacts with internal processes, and why field-ready software is essential for complex construction projects.

Defining Software Modernization in Construction: The Core of Digital Transformation

In construction, software modernization should start with transforming workflow patterns. Purely technical steps, such as rewriting legacy code or migrating systems to the cloud, may take place. But they rarely address the root of the problem if taken on their own.

Igor Omelianchuk highlights: “Real modernization starts with rethinking processes, which means understanding how information actually moves between the field, the office engineers, and decision makers.”

This extended focus is critical because construction workflows span the field, the office, and multiple aspects of decision-making, often under time pressure and in unpredictable environments. Modern and relevant software must reflect how crews operate in real-world environments, which include incomplete information, changing conditions, and limited troubleshooting time.

Systems, designed around theoretical processes instead of on-site practices, would hardly gain a broad adoption, even if the technology is advanced.

Another modernization aspect is data integration. Construction projects deal with vast amounts of information that is traditionally scattered through various systems:

• GIS data showing asset locations,
• BIM models describing design intent,
• Images from drones and 3D scans,
• Schedules, drawings, and field observations.

Each dataset represents a partial view of the same project. Modernization requires bringing these views together into a unified source. The goal is to provide not just raw data, but also its context for the specific task. A smooth data flow eliminates manual re-entering and re-interpreting.

“True digitalization of the construction industry is ultimately about usability, trust and integration,” explains Igor Omelianchuk.

“Systems must be easy enough for the crews to rely on and accurate enough to trust them and integrate.”

Reimagined workflows and seamless data integration altogether make software an operational advantage instead of a technical burden. It allows teams to reduce errors, shorten feedback cycles, and generate wiser decisions.

The Human Element: Driving Digital Transformation through Adoption

The construction specifics make the success of digital initiatives dependent not on the technology but on whether people on site actually use it. Rich opportunities, sophisticated analytics, and breakthrough visualization tools bring value only when they fit into daily workflows. As Alec Pestov notes, “Construction software succeeds or fails based on adoption, not features.”

Where does the challenge stem from?

There is a fundamental gap between how work is imagined during planning discussions and how it unfolds on a job site. Software designed in meeting rooms is often based on idealized processes and assumptions. In the field, teams operate under constant pressure, in changing environments, and with limited opportunities to fix or fine-tune the tools.

“When software fails to account for this reality, crews return to familiar methods, even if better tools are available,” summarizes Alec Pestov.

How do construction transformation experts bridge the gap?

Traditional user testing or feedback forms may not be enough. It requires direct involvement in field work. Effective construction software is crafted by learning from practitioners and observing real workflows as they take place.

Meaningful solutions come from “sitting in the trench with them, working side by side, performing the same tasks,” specifies Alec Pestov. This way, software experts can understand not just what users say they need, but how they actually work: the major steps, weak areas, and information deficiencies.

Adoption is attained when systems fit the existing processes, meet on-site reality, and are intuitive and reliable in use.

In this sense, digital transformation in construction is not only a technological challenge but also a human challenge, which can be solved by involving the people who build.

Expert tip

“Instead of overwhelming the end user with new technology, new systems, and new screens, our goal is to reduce exposure to technology and let technology work on the back end. That’s our secret sauce,” confesses Alec Pestov.

Designing for the “High-Tech, Low-Tech” Field Environment

Construction is the sector where high-tech and low-tech paradoxically coexist.

This means crews utilize advanced machinery, sensors, and reality-capture tools, while they need simplicity in the software they rely on. It’s unreasonable to put a complicated interface in front of someone who’s standing in the sun, next to heavy equipment. In fact, “users rely on really high-tech tools that are simplified and reduced to the level somebody can operate them without having a PhD,” as Alec Pestov puts it.

So, digitalization in the construction industry focuses rather on usability than on adding abundant features.

Which factors should software developers consider to drive usability?

• Environmental conditions. Sun glare, rain, dust, noise, and the need to wear gloves affect the interactions with screens and interfaces. Alec Pestov comments: “Whatever you design has to be optimized for that environment where sun glare may disrupt viewing ability.”
• Time pressure. During their work in the field, crews cannot stop a task to troubleshoot software, wait for support, or restart an application. Every interruption can inflict real cost and risk. “When you sit in the office, and you encounter a problem, you have all the time in the world to contact a help desk, find articles online, figure things out,” illustrates Alec Pestov, “On a construction site, you don’t have such luxury.”

Therefore, the primary demands for construction software are quick performance, simplicity, resilience, and instant usability, since there is no pause button in the field.

Breaking Down Data Silos: The Path to an Integrated Strategy

One of the biggest barriers to construction digital transformation is fragmentation. While the industry relies on powerful global platforms, these systems rarely cooperate to reflect real-life workflows.

Alec Pestov explains: “On one hand, you have all the leading companies investing in building massive platforms. On the other hand, those platforms remain standalone solutions without linkages to what’s happening in the field.”

Tools from Autodesk, Bentley, and Esri provide excellent coordination and data management. Still, field capture technologies often exist on their own, forcing teams to invent connections and implement them manually.

How organizations address the implementation challenge

Large enterprises often solve the problem by investing in dedicated IT teams that build custom integrations and support complex workflows through platforms. However, this approach is too expensive for most of the smaller players.

As Alec Pestov notes, “Only the well-funded companies can have IT staff talent and funding to build those interfaces,” leaving mid-sized and smaller firms with disconnected systems and inefficient processes.

Small-to-medium businesses: The solution they’ve been lacking

Instead of another massive, all-purpose platform that’s expensive and hard to implement, smaller companies need a simple, integrated layer that brings systems together and builds them into actual work.

Alec Pestov brings the analogy with the familiar business software: “Think of SAP in the ERP world. It requires tens of millions of dollars to install and configure. On the other hand, there is something like QuickBooks, which is less scalable, yet instantly usable.”

Transferring this logic to construction, the goal is a central hub that connects GIS, BIM, and field tools into a single operational space. “We want to be a central hub that can unite multiple things, so that it all gets channeled through one central hub and goes into the system of your choice,” summarizes Mr. Pestov.

A single, accessible source eliminates silos and enables construction teams to move from fragmented solutions to a comprehensive strategy that works for the entire company. Moreover, this platform suits organizations of various sizes and revenue levels.

High-Accuracy AR and Spatial Data

When augmented reality just entered the scene, it was viewed by many development companies as a revolutionary tool, easy to build and fast to adopt. However, it soon became obvious that augmented reality by itself won’t solve many problems in construction.

Alec Pestov admits: “Augmented reality is great, but as a standalone product, not tremendously useful.” It was necessary to integrate AR into daily workflows, turning it into a supporting interface that delivers context exactly when crews need it.

How to make AR practical in construction?

Visual overlays must not just be visible but precisely aligned with the physical world. This makes high-accuracy positioning paramount.

Alec Pestov explains: “It’s great to see things, but those assets have to appear in the right place.” To attain this, vSite leverages patented AR technology with GNSS/RTK positioning tools that provide centimeter-level accuracy. “We were among the first companies that managed to integrate real-time AR with external positioning tools to achieve up to a centimeter level accuracy in the field,” notes Alec Pestov.

This precision brings AR in construction to a new level, transforming it into a trusted instrument instead of a merely attractive tech novelty. It becomes particularly useful for subsurface utility work where location errors inflict multiplying risks and costs.

AR + spatial data: A powerful combination

The extra value is produced when high-accuracy visualization is combined with digitally accessible spatial data. A convincing example comes from the Netherlands, where the authorities made municipal GIS data publicly available. Therefore, contractors got the opportunity to locate underground assets before excavation began. The result was immediate and measurable: fewer strikes, safer digging, and significantly lower infrastructure damage.

Alec Pestov highlights: “When everybody knows where assets are, crews become more confident, and the damage is minimized.”

This illustrates the essence of digital transformation in engineering and construction: a new standard for digital delivery, when accurate AR and open spatial data don’t just visualize information but provide it in the right place, at the right moment.

The Future Digital Construction Strategy: AI as a “Trusted Advisor”

As AI is at the forefront of modern tech trends, it has a broad potential in construction. While for many industries AI is typically applied for chatbots, image generation, or automated text, in construction, it has to go further.

Alec Pestov emphasizes: “Our goal is not to produce ChatGPT-like responses. AI can have really deep and practical implications for construction.”

The purpose is to transform generative novelty into operational intelligence integrated into field workflows.

AI as a tool for automated compliance

Infrastructure projects, especially in Europe, require meeting strict trench dimensions and providing documented proof.

How is it performed in practice?

Millions of manual photos, measurements with physical tapes, and endless verification in the office. AI revolutionizes this process.

Alec Pestov explains how their models analyze 3D trench scans: “A single properly scanned and georeferenced trench analyzed by AI within a minute gives you the answer.” This relieves teams from repetitive manual work and minimizes the need to reopen trenches for additional proof.

AI as the means to remove technology from construction

Another transformative idea in digitising construction with AI is simplifying the user interface by making technology invisible.

Alec Pestov shares vSite’s idea: “We aim not to bring technology to construction, but actually to remove technology from construction.” The AI’s part is performed behind the curtains. Processing and analysis take place in the background, so workers are not overwhelmed with technical complexities but receive only clear, actionable outcomes.

This approach to the digitalization of construction industry makes AI an advisor that the industry has always been lacking: reliable, precise, instant, and continually available. It operates silently on the backend, ensuring that work is accurate, compliant, and efficient. The crews, in turn, can focus on building, not on operating, adjusting, or troubleshooting software.

Wrapping Up

Digitization in construction industry requires a focused approach, based on true industry needs.

Real modernization transforms workflows, enables data integration, and brings in usability, simplicity, and optimization for real-world conditions.

Reliable construction software developers work side-by-side with crews to reveal every aspect of their everyday needs. The result shows up through effective solutions ready to field challenges, which implement breakthrough techs such as AR and AI in the geospatial context for greater confidence, accuracy, and automation.