Who can deny the allure of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)? Its potential to enhance processes, analyze data and automate project documentation is compelling. It has become a focal point for many business leaders today. But is GenAI offering real value? Could other digital technologies play an even bigger role in making your firm more productive?
In a recent episode of The McKinsey Podcast, “Gen AI and Beyond: Where Else to Focus Now,” McKinsey senior partners Rodney Zemmel and Kate Smaje said today’s fixation on GenAI may overshadow other digital tools that could do more for businesses. Wall and ceiling construction leaders should take note: You can balance the excitement around GenAI with a broader digital strategy known as the “neural business model.”
The Neural Business Model
The concept of a neural business, Zemmel said, draws inspiration from recent scientific breakthroughs in understanding the human brain. Most businesses are set up as hierarchies. The organizations’ leadership teams resemble an upside-down tree with branches that, when all said and done, impede cross-functional collaboration rather than nurture it.
In contrast, a neural business is more like the brain. The brain has an intricate network of neurons that allow for seamless connections and communication. So, in business, the idea is to establish an interconnected organizational model, which would make communication among teams more fluid.
In practical terms, this means enabling teams to operate autonomously while being aligned with overarching business goals. A construction company could set up a central platform to provide essential services to decentralized teams, thereby fostering innovation and agility. The goal is to increase a firm’s operational “metabolic rate,” Smaje said.
But how? By recognizing common patterns in your processes and leveraging reusable solutions on every project. Reusable solutions? Here are some examples currently in play with various AWCI member firms:
- Using robotic machines to fasten sheathing to prefabricated metal panels, replacing several fabricators with one machine operator
- Using automated steel roll-forming machines to drive the rapid assembly of building components
- Using software to digitize and deliver reports to team leaders in real time—daily potential conflicts, daily percent completes and other production performance reports
Such technologies enable teams to adapt quickly to challenges. They help crews innovate solutions without a rigid hierarchy bogging them down. Real breakthroughs occur especially when different digital tools are integrated together. An AWCI contractor member once told me that his firm is obsessed with breaking down the construction of a wall—from metal studs to finish plaster—into a two-hour process and then to cut processes to reduce the overall wall assembly time.
Where to Start
To make this all happen, you’ve got to create a culture of innovation. Encourage your employees to experiment with new technologies. Provide platforms—and the green light—to share their knowledge with one another. Make sure you’re committed to technological success by providing the necessary resources and setting clear goals. Here’s what you should do:
- Study your workflows
- Form a technology committee
- Develop a business use case for technology
- Develop a technology adoption strategy
Hire more information technology people and more virtual design and construction specialists
The rise of GenAI and digital technologies inevitably raises questions about how you can work better. “Generative AI is a very shiny object indeed, which sounds a bit disparaging because it can and is already delivering real value,” Zemmel said. “But it’s the wrong question to ask, ‘What’s my GenAI strategy?’ You’ve got to start with where value comes from and think about how you get value from transforming a domain of your business with technology.”
So, look beyond GenAI. Be balanced, but get started. Focus on integrating multiple technologies.
