How we help you
Construction firms know that technology is critical to maximizing resources, improving visibility and supporting the decisions that drive growth. But knowing you need technology doesn’t mean you know which solutions are the right investments.
Know what’s now, next and later for your technology journey.
Prioritize the systems that can make a real impact.
Modernize your operations with automation and AI.
Manage change and increase adoption and engagement.
Make technology work for your operations
Wipfli’s digital strategy for construction firms helps you make confident technology decisions today, so that you can operate better for the future. We focus on aligning technology with your goals and operational realities so that every decision is grounded in advancing your business.
Explore our digital strategy services
Construction firms often carry a complex mix of ERP platforms, project management tools, field systems, spreadsheets and legacy processes. Without a clear picture of readiness across your organization, technology investments can miss the mark.
Know what’s working, what’s holding you back and where your technology is putting your firm at risk with Wipfli’s technology assessments. We give leadership a clear, objective view of their current systems so you can make confident, financially sound decisions.
Our construction IT assessments help your firm:
- Identify opportunities: Our assessments go beyond software reviews. We evaluate how well your systems support critical functions, such as job costing accuracy, cash flow visibility and compliance as your project mix and backlog evolve.
- Understand your current state: Through a structured discovery process, we work closely with your leadership team and key stakeholders to understand how technology is actually used across the organization. We review critical documentation and conduct focused interviews to assess your current infrastructure, integrations, data flows, controls and supporting processes.
- Build a plan: After analyzing the data we collect, we deliver clear, prioritized recommendations that help you get more value from your existing technology while planning smarter future investments.
We help you achieve your digital strategy by creating a roadmap that addresses the priorities, milestones and resources you need to complete your next technology initiative.
Our product roadmap services deliver:
- An easy-to-consume plan: Our product roadmaps are built on a streamlined now, next and later framework that can be confidently shared with executive and operational leadership. We also help you maintain alignment with finance, IT and operations while keeping expectations realistic.
- A clear path for execution: Our roadmaps support disciplined innovation, financial control and accountability. We identify key dependencies, surface potential risks early and outline critical milestones so you can plan with clarity and avoid costly surprises.
- Capital planning guidance: We include cost estimates tied to each phase that allow you to get ahead of budgets and prioritize investments.
Modernize your legacy systems with a strategy that integrates user research and digital roadmaps to smooth your operations.
Whether you’re automating processes, integrating systems or embedding AI into core workflows, our modernization services help you adopt the right solutions and maximize ROI.
Our approach includes:
- A comprehensive plan: Rather than chasing trends or disconnected ideas, we help you identify the problems technology can realistically solve now, what should come next and what can wait.
- Future focus: We help you integrate and adopt solutions to build a more connected, resilient technology environment that delivers impact today and lays a foundation for future innovation.
- Technology alignment: We align technology upgrades with your strategic goals and operational constraints, helping you modernize legacy systems while strengthening integration, governance and performance.
- Tailored solutions: We dive deep into how your business actually operates, from land acquisition and materials purchasing to inventory tracking and project execution. That depth allows us to design digital strategies for construction companies grounded in day-to-day reality, not assumptions.
Technology adoption often fails not because the tools are wrong, but because leadership alignment, direction and confidence are missing.
Wipfli helps bridge that gap by pairing managed services and fractional leadership with change management support so that modernization efforts are understood and sustained across your organization.
Wipfli’s people advisory services help improve the return on your construction technology with support for:
- Change management: We work with your leadership team to examine how new technology will change the way work gets done, including reviewing existing processes and identifying what should evolve to support future operations.
- Workforce shifts: We help you plan for reskilling, organizational adjustments and talent transitions with empathy and transparency. We also help you give employees a clear understanding of what their roles may look like in the future, how they can grow with the organization and what pathways exist for long-term success as technology reshapes operations.
- Virtual chief information officer (vCIO): Our outsourced or fractional vCIO services provide experienced leadership in the areas where technology drives growth, including systems selection and digital strategy.
- Managed IT services: Wipfli’s managed services team provides a level of expertise to help supplement or fully outsource your IT operations. Our support can help you assess your current technology environment, develop a digital roadmap, implement systems and conduct business and roadmap reviews.
Insights and resources
ARTICLE
Data lakehouses: The key to scalable AI in construction
Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform the construction industry. From accelerating estimates to improving jobsite safety, AI can enable construction firms to work smarter and faster while reducing risk. But to move beyond isolated AI tools and toward enterprise-wide use cases, construction leaders must realize that AI is only as good as the data it can access. Connecting data through modern data lakehouses needs to be a strategic priority. Keep reading to learn how data lakehouses bolster AI initiatives and how you can start using them. How do data silos hinder AI use in the construction industry? Construction firms often maintain separate systems for: ERP and accounting Estimating Scheduling Project management Bidding RFIs and change orders Time tracking Sales and Marketing Internal document management AI tools can’t reach their full potential and deliver measurable ROI if they can only access a partial amount of your business’s data. For example, a tool might have access to SharePoint documents, email conversations and meeting notes but be locked out of ERP data, project schedules, procurement systems or job costing information. AI typically does not recognize when it’s working with only partial data. It will still produce answers that appear polished and authoritative. But with incomplete data, how valuable are those answers? What is a data lakehouse? A data lakehouse is a centralized platform that integrates data from systems used across the business. By bringing together structured data, such as financial records, schedules and project costs, together with unstructured data, such as emails, RFIs, contracts and project documentation, a data lakehouse allows data to be accessed and analyzed from a single source. This removes the need for people and AI systems to search across multiple systems or manually connect information. If correctly implemented, a data lakehouse makes your company’s data available in one place, in one language at one time. How does a data lakehouse benefit construction companies? The value of a data lakehouse isn’t just centralized data. It’s what becomes possible when data are centralized and organized into logical and informational models. When information from all your systems and documents can be analyzed together, AI gains the context it needs to deliver more meaningful insights. Examples of how a data lakehouse can benefit your construction company include: Budget versus actual performance When estimates and reality capture are combined with actual project financials, change orders and other project data, leadership teams gain a better understanding of project health and future projections. Schedule and procurement risk Project delays rarely occur in isolation. A delayed subcontractor, late material shipments and a compressed schedule can create cascading risks across a project. In a connected environment, AI can identify these downstream impacts early, helping teams intervene before minor issues become major disruptions. RFI cost and schedule impact RFIs frequently affect budgets, schedules and project outcomes. The challenge is that the impacts often surface weeks after the initial issue appears. When RFIs, schedules, budgets and change orders are connected, AI can highlight the true ripple effects of open issues and help project teams prioritize responses based on business impact. Enterprise-wide visibility Many contractors operate projects as independent units with limited visibility across the organization. A connected data foundation allows firms to identify trends across their entire portfolio, including: Subcontractor performance patterns Procurement opportunities Resource allocation conflicts Margin erosion risks Emerging project issues The ability to see across projects creates opportunities for better decisions at both the project and executive levels. How can AI that uses data lakehouses be used in construction? When AI leverages a data lakehouse, it delivers value both in the office and onsite for construction companies. AI systems with robust data can improve: Estimates AI can analyze previous bids, identify comparable projects, highlight pricing anomalies and help teams evaluate potential risks before a proposal is submitted. Estimating capacity can be a growth constraint. AI can help reduce bottlenecks by making institutional knowledge more accessible and speeding up routine analysis, allowing experienced estimators to focus on higher-value decision-making. Engineering Engineering and project teams are increasingly using AI to review specifications, compare design documents, identify inconsistencies and accelerate review processes. Generative AI tools can also help draft responses, summarize technical information and provide quick access to historical project knowledge. Safety Safety was one of the earliest areas where AI gained traction in construction. AI tools can analyze photos, videos and safety documentation and inform field crews of the protocols required for specific job sites. PDF and project document organization Construction firms are swimming in PDF documents. RFIs, specifications, contracts, submittals, drawings and other documents exist almost entirely as PDFs. AI can help extract information from unstructured documents, summarize content and answer questions about project records. It can also connect these documents to project schedules, financial data, procurement records and other operational systems. How to get started with a data lakehouse The successful use of a data lakehouse isn’t just about technology. It’s also about having clear business objectives. When getting started, your business needs to: Know what is to be accomplished Before investing in a data lakehouse, define the business problems you are trying to solve. Do you want more accurate estimates? Better project forecasting? Improved visibility into project profitability? Faster executive reporting? Many firms find success by starting with a focused pilot project, demonstrating value and then expanding capabilities incrementally. A clearly defined use case helps prevent costly investments in technology that isn’t needed. Find the right partner Your expertise is building, not designing AI architectures or data platforms. Find a partner with experience in the construction industry that can help your business evaluate technology options, prioritize use cases and avoid costly missteps. The best partners do more than implement technology. They take the time to understand your business, processes and goals. Communicate goals and processes Technology alone cannot fix inconsistent business processes. Organizations should clearly define how work is performed, what data is required and how success will be measured. Strong processes and governance help ensure AI systems are using reliable and consistent information. The responsibility of understanding how information is used throughout your company’s business process should fall on your CIO or IT Director. Understand this isn’t just an IT project Construction firms should treat this effort as an organizational initiative rather than an IT project. Success depends on aligning business and information leadership, operations and technology around shared objectives and ensuring everyone understands how connected data will support better business decisions. Learn more Level up your build: AI strategies for growth 5 strategies to help contractors overcome interest rate uncertainty For construction companies, better cash flow management starts with clear visibility R&D tax credits for the construction, architecture and engineering industries
RESEARCH REPORT
The state of technology in the construction industry
Technology is the investment. Technology maturity is the advantage. Construction executives are seeing an increasing value in technology for lowering costs, streamlining operations and leveraging data and analytics, according to data collected in Wipfli’s second state of technology in the construction industry report. And the organizations creating the greatest value aren’t necessarily buying more software — they’re building more mature technology environments. Wipfli surveyed 308 construction and real estate executives to understand their technology progress, pain points and strategic priorities. In this year’s survey, we learned: Investment intent is high. Virtually all leaders (94%) said they plan to add or replace at least one software tool in the next 12-24 months — and most are planning several. Twenty-eight percent of executives said four or more technology changes were under consideration. Construction project management, preconstruction and contract management, and CRM and marketing tools were the leading candidates for addition or replacement. Technology volume often obscures technology maturity. While 59% of executives reported full or extensive integration in their organizations, less than a third (30%) met the broader criteria for high technology maturity. “Executives often mistake adding systems for technology maturity,” said Brad Werner , who leads Wipfli’s construction and real estate industry practice. ROI is not guaranteed. Construction leaders cited employee adoption, implementation costs and integration as their biggest infrastructure challenges. Those practical barriers often determine whether technology investments deliver meaningful business value. Technology maturity is becoming the next competitive advantage. Organizations with the strongest technology maturity consistently outperform those with disconnected systems and fragmented technology decisions, according to Werner. “We see a growing performance gap between firms that build mature, integrated technology environments and those that accumulate tools,” he said. Learn where construction and real estate leaders are investing in technology — and how to turn those investments into measurable business value. Download the full report for additional findings, plus insights from Wipfli advisors.
ARTICLE
Executive summary: The state of technology in the construction industry
Technology is the investment. Technology maturity is the advantage. For the second consecutive year, Wipfli surveyed construction and real estate executives to understand their technology progress, pain points and strategic priorities. This year’s research shows that the organizations creating the greatest value aren’t necessarily buying more technology — they’re building more mature technology environments. DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT
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Our advisors help construction leaders navigate complex technology decisions, prioritize investments and build strategies that support long-term growth.
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Wipfli’s construction advisory services combine decades of industry experience with a team that can provide clarity on the decisions that shape your future.
