Consigli Prioritizes AI for Estimating and Field Handoffs

Consigli Construction is directing its AI efforts at core preconstruction work, with primary impact on estimating and the handoff from planning into field execution. Consigli Construction uses AI to replace spreadsheet-centric workflows and to make revisions and tradeoffs auditable and actionable. The firm organizes pilots through its innovation and VDC teams, assigns daily usage to field teams, and centralizes oversight in IT.

The company treats AI as a process layer over existing systems rather than a standalone product. Pilots focus on improving revision tracking and scenario analysis so estimators can iterate faster and preserve decision context. Practical capabilities in current pilots include:

• •revision tracking across documents and models
• •tradeoff analysis that surfaces cost, schedule and scope implications
• •transferring validated plan outputs to field workflows

IT sets governance standards for security, infrastructure and data integrity to manage risk as usage scales. Innovation and VDC teams validate tools in controlled pilots and measure fit against productivity and other fit-for-purpose metrics. Field teams decide adoption based on usability and impact on daily tasks. "Our innovation and VDC teams help bridge the gap between the technology and its jobsite application," said Anthony Chiaradonna, CIO.

Construction has been slow to adopt digital workflows, relying heavily on spreadsheets and siloed documents. Consigli's approach follows a broader industry pattern: prioritize narrow, high-friction processes where AI reduces manual handoffs and preserves institutional knowledge. For practitioners, this is a reminder that value often comes from orchestration and integration, not only from model performance. Governance, clear ownership and pilot-to-production pathways are the main operational hurdles, not model selection alone.

Watch how Consigli quantifies improvements in areas like bid accuracy, cycle time and field outcomes, and whether their governance templates become reusable patterns for the trade. Also monitor vendor consolidation around preconstruction AI features and how labor expectations shift as field crews gain routine AI access.