By Nicholas D. Evans, Chief Innovation Officer, WGI
As we enter 2024, it’s clear that we are no longer living in a world of “business as usual.” Perhaps “business as disrupted” is a better term to describe how we’re living in a world where disruption is now the norm rather than the exception.
According to our CEO, David Wantman, whether it’s the consequences of monetary inflation, the strains caused by political divisions, threats stemming from weather events, or the somber reality of international conflicts and wars, we are living through a time fraught with very real challenges extending beyond our realm of professional services. Every day, our clients are tasked with making critical decisions in the allocation of their human and financial resources.
Given this global backdrop, we asked a selection of WGI leaders and subject matter experts across our divisions for their thoughts and predictions in terms of what we can expect to see in our industry in 2024 and beyond.
Overall, we saw a continuation of strategic themes from last year’s predictions related to innovation, sustainability, resilience, and adaptability as digital transformation continues to transform our industry, but some interesting new approaches to harness both the seismic shifts, such as Generative AI as well as the smaller rumblings from other essential tech enablers. All these approaches are being fueled by human creativity and ingenuity which is helping our industry maximize productivity and efficiency across our multitude of processes and workflows.
In our predictions, we’re continuing to see a fusion of infrastructure and technology, with AI leading what is undoubtedly a seismic shift in how work gets done. Our Associates note that AI isn’t coming for your job, but those who embrace GenAI and AI/ML tools successfully are.
With the turbulent market conditions as well as the time gap between AI ideation and implementation, our Associates also see plenty of opportunity for industry professionals to pursue incremental innovation to support team member productivity, automate workflows, and enhance data accessibility.
The democratization of not just AI technology but even the democratization of data itself – such as geospatial data – will open up hundreds of use cases for our industry but will complicate matters at the same time. Innovation teams will need to build their knowledge and skill sets around risk management to carefully thread the needle between innovation and the myriad new risks that these transformational technologies expose.
The good news here is that engineers are risk-averse by nature so will be well-equipped to innovate with powerful tech, but in a way that always puts safety first.
According to our recent primary research, in conjunction with Columbia Universities’ Global Leaders in Construction Management (GLCM), some of the key technology enablers seen as having the most significant business impact in 2024 include AI/ML (50%), 3D printing (11%), AR/VR (8%), digital twins (8%), autonomous vehicles and drones (6%), and predictive analytics (6%). (Look out for more details on this in our upcoming whitepaper, “Strategic Technology Trends for the Infrastructure Industry in 2024”, coming out later this quarter).
Most interestingly, as per last year, these technology trends and enablers are being combined and fused together to deliver innovative outcomes that aid industry insights and decision making as our Associates share here:
The future of the infrastructure industry depends on innovative thought leaders influencing our industry to adopt the latest cutting-edge technologies and practices in order to remain flexible.
WGI is dedicated to embracing innovation, technology, and empowering our associates to transform how our world is envisioned, designed, and experienced.
If you would like to have a conversation with one of WGI’s thought leaders to discuss any of the topics covered in this article, feel free to contact us.
Nicholas Evans is VP, Chief Innovation Officer at WGI where he supports the firm in the development and implementation of technology-enabled strategies for innovation, sustainability and growth, leveraging opportunities for digital transformation.
Prior to WGI, Mr. Evans was Research Vice President in Gartner’s Strategy and Innovation practice where we worked with global private and public-sector organizations to define and apply best practices in digital transformation, strategy and innovation.
Prior to joining Gartner, Mr. Evans was Global Head of Innovation and VP & GM, CTO Office at Unisys where he was responsible for the client-facing global innovation program, technology strategic initiatives, as well as leading the company’s strategy and thought leadership focus on digital transformation, disruptive technologies and trends. With more than 25 years of consulting experience, he previously ran the Global Emerging Technology Consulting practice at KPMG as well as serving as the National Technical Director for E-Business Consulting and System Integration at PwC. He co-founded the National Internet Consulting Practice for Coopers & Lybrand in the late-90s.
One of Consulting Magazine’s Top 25 Consultants, and one of ComputerWorld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders’, he is the author of over 10 books on business and technology strategy including titles from the British Computer Society, Financial Times Prentice Hall, Tech TV and Microsoft Press. He has shared his perspectives in leading publications as well as broadcast media such as CNBC Squawk Box, History Channel and Discovery Channel. His most recent book is the multi-award winning ‘Mastering Digital Business’ a strategic guide to the next wave of digital transformation.
He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. from Southampton University in England. His extracurricular interests include triathlon having been a member of Team USA and former U.S. National Champion in his division.
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