According to recent data from Deloitte, the world construction industry demonstrated positive trends throughout 2024 despite the challenges the industry is facing, such as slowing down of residential and commercial segments or talent shortage. One of the trends that helps companies overcome these challenges is the increasing technological integration, which helps businesses to operate more efficiently and build their strategies based on objective data. However, to remain competitive, companies need to adapt to these new technologies rapidly while keeping up with existing demands and requirements. Sampath Kumar Paspunoori, a project manager with vast experience working in both private and government construction projects, a registered member of LEED and IEEE, and an author of a scientific article on productivity improvement models in construction project management, shares his view on the current state of the industry and the growing trends towards digitalization and data-driven approach that construction companies need to keep an eye on to grow their share on the market.
While the construction industry is often considered conservative and slow to adopt innovation, this characteristic is gradually changing. Sampath Kumar Paspunoori points out a discrepancy that currently exists between the current level of digital technologies, which are advancing rapidly, and the speed of their adaptation in the construction sector. In practice, these discrepancies, along with conservative management methods, may lead to budget overruns, delays, or a decrease in the quality of construction. To overcome these challenges, Sampath Kumar Paspunoori offers a new, more efficient, and robust approach to construction management.
“While the integration of new technologies, such as data-driven decision-making or predictive technologies, is important, they require a solid foundation to be applied efficiently,” explains Sampath Kumar Paspunoori. “If the management adopts the more integrative and flexible mode of operation, it increases efficiency per se and amplifies the effect of particular technological advancements.”
The career of Sampath Kumar Paspunoori is not short of an example of what efficient construction management looks like. Since February 2020, he has worked as a Capital Program manager at Alexandria Public Schools, a public organization uniting over a dozen elementary, middle and high schools and serving over 16 000 students in Alexandria City US. The organization works continuously on improving, modernizing and renovating its school buildings, and within this department of the organization Sampath Kumar Paspunoori led developing and executing construction designs for school buildings. He notes that his approach allows him not only to solve current tasks efficiently but also to do them with the consideration of future demands and requirements. Since 2023, his responsibilities also include future renovation and budgeting, which is a recognition of his skills and abilities to manage and implement all stages of construction projects efficiently.
Speaking of the particular digital technology advancements that will have an ongoing impact on the construction industry in the first place, Sampath Kumar Paspunoori mentions the growing digitization and data analysis. The growing amount of data generated by modern equipment and machinery can provide a source for a new level of control and planning. As a result, predictive technologies become an essential element of management, as they make it possible to avoid and prevent undesirable situations rather than deal with them after they arise.
“It is important to understand that the reliability of predictive technologies and data analytics grows with the amount of data processed. Consequently, the solutions that were considered not reliable enough to be applied in the construction industry several years ago, have become more robust now, with the recent technological advancements,” explains Sampath Kumar Paspunoori. “Some product managers need to overcome their negative bias against digital solutions if they want to remain relevant in the following years.”
Although some approaches, such as data-driven management, are beneficial no matter what segment of the industry we are talking about, it is always crucial to consider the specifics of the project. He notes that the ability to flexibly choose the right approach that suits a particular project is one of the necessary skills for a modern construction manager. This becomes even more important when it comes to a unique project. For instance, in Alexandria, Sampath Kumar Paspunoori developed the Minne Howard High School project, which included a geothermal HVAC system and the world’s biggest curved fire shutter door. These installments helped to create a safe and comfortable learning habitat for students but required developing non-standard solutions and approaches to implement them in an optimal way.
“It will not be an exaggeration to call the project a unique one,” adds Sampath Kumar Paspunoori, “However, the flexible and integral approach to management helped to develop it with the same efficiency as a more regular one.”
Implementing unique projects like the one mentioned above highlights the benefits of applying digitization and data analysis in construction project management. In particular, it allows to create a digital representation of a building through the building information modeling, improve performance and make the management more efficient with the help of predictive analytics, tracking and applying specialized software. The articles published by Sampath Paspunoori, as well as his practical achievements, illustrate the real-life positive results of applying these methods and developing an integral approach to project management, which allows him to combine different tools and methodologies to support productive collaboration, maximize efficiency and minimize cost. As a result, under the leadership of a manager who effectively utilizes digitization and data analysis like Sampath Paspunoori, the construction company develops a competitive advantage thanks to enhanced quality control, data-driven decision-making and improved project delivery. Moreover, he continues to spread the knowledge about these approaches and create and environment for further development and research through participating in peer-reviewing and judging processes. For instance, he peer-reviewed articles for IEEE to ensure the high quality of the publications, and reviewed projects as a project manager to determine and support the most productive approaches.
Sampath Paspunoori concludes that the conscious and reasonable adoption of new digital technology is a growing trend in the construction industry, which will allow it to overcome the challenges it is facing now and provide people and businesses with safe, reliable, and environmentally friendly buildings and structures. However, the people working in the industry, especially in management roles, need to put in effort to overcome the conservative momentum or negative biases towards technology to make this happen.
