BCG’s Global Study Confirms That Companies Making Progress in Digital and AI Are Reaping the Rewards
Digital and AI technologies are no longer optional; they are essential levers of competitiveness. Across industries, companies with higher levels of digital and AI maturity are consistently outperforming their peers in revenue growth, operational efficiency, and shareholder return. However, in the Nordic construction sector, we see a stark disconnect: digital ambition is high, but impact is alarmingly low.
BCG’s latest Built-for-the-Future study gathered input from more than 90 senior leaders across the Nordic construction value chain, including asset owners, design and engineering firms, construction and EPC players, and service providers. It reveals a concerning pattern. While nearly all companies have begun integrating digital and AI into their strategic agendas, the majority remain in the early stages of execution and have delivered only limited value.
Lots of Talk About Digital and AI, but Not Enough Action
Compared with global benchmarks across industries, the Nordic construction sector lags behind in digital and AI implementation. Fewer than half of the companies in the region have moved beyond early experimentation, yet none qualify as “future-built”—the most advanced maturity tier in BCG’s framework. The result is a widening performance gap as the more digitally advanced firms pull further ahead.
While more than 60% of Nordic construction companies have implemented at least one digital or AI use case, only one in four reports generate any meaningful business impact. That means four out of five companies in the Nordic construction sector are experimenting with technology but are not turning it into measurable value.