For years, the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry has been labelled a digital late bloomer. Contractors and designers were often seen poring over paper blueprints while other industries raced ahead with new apps and gadgets. But that narrative is changing fast. In fact, Deloitte’s latest analysis shows that construction firms now use an average of 6.2 different digital technologies, up from 5.3 the year before – roughly a 20% jump. Even the hard-hat job site is going high-tech as the sector embraces a new wave of digital tools.
Tech Adoption’s Payoff: Safer, Higher-Quality, More Profitable Projects
This surge in tech adoption isn’t just for show – it’s delivering real results on the ground. According to Deloitte’s findings, companies that integrate more digital tools are seeing tangible performance benefits. They’re reporting fewer on-site safety incidents, higher-quality work, and improvements in project timelines. Perhaps most impressively, each additional digital tool a firm adopts is correlated with about a 1.14% increase in revenue according to the same paper by Deloitte. That might sound small, but it adds up – for a construction business pulling in £100 million, that’s roughly an extra £1.14 million just by using one more digital solution. In short, going digital isn’t just a tech trend; it’s a boost to both safety and the bottom line.
The Downside of Disconnected Data
However, there’s a catch to this rapid digitisation. Many firms have adopted a patchwork of software and systems that don’t always play nicely together. Deloitte’s research highlights that the typical construction business now juggles data across 11 different platforms or environments on average. Imagine project plans in one system, compliance documents in another, and subcontractor information in yet another – all these disconnected data silos can create a real headache.
Teams often end up wasting time searching through multiple apps or manually duplicating data. In fact, a significant portion of businesses report extra training costs and operational inefficiencies due to this fragmentation of information. It’s the digital age equivalent of having important files scattered in dozens of filing cabinets.
From Fragmentation to Unification
The next big challenge for AEC companies is making all these tools work in harmony. After all, adopting more tech is only half the battle – the real win comes from integrating it. Increasingly, forward-thinking firms recognise the need for a unified platform that brings together everything from design data and building regulations to past project knowledge in one place. Think of it as creating a single source of truth: a hub where an engineer can pull up the latest BIM model, cross-reference it with relevant codes, and tap into lessons learned from similar jobs, all without jumping between different software. A platform that unifies regulations, design files, and organisational knowledge can eliminate duplicate effort and ensure everyone is working off the same information. It’s like moving from a messy toolbox full of mismatched tools to a well-organised workbench where every tool fits together.
Unifying AEC Knowledge: The Tektome Approach
This is exactly where platforms like Tektome come in. Tektome’s solutions are designed to help construction and design teams bring all their scattered project information into one structured, searchable repository. That means those CAD drawings, BIM models, PDFs and even site photos no longer live in separate silos – they become part of a connected knowledge base that anyone on the team can quickly tap into.
Instead of digging through network folders or emailing colleagues for the latest plans, an architect or engineer can simply search the Tektome platform and instantly retrieve what they need. By making past drawings, reports and decisions easy to find and reuse, Tektome helps AEC teams avoid reinventing the wheel on each new project. The platform essentially turns decades of project data and documents into actionable design intelligence, so lessons learned in the past can inform smarter decisions now.
Now is a perfect moment for this kind of connected approach. With digital adoption reaching critical mass in construction, firms already have a wealth of tools at their disposal – the key is getting more value out of them. Platforms like Tektome act as the glue, linking together the tech a company already uses so that the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
As the industry heads into 2026, the message is clear: it’s not about buying every new app under the sun, but about connecting the dots. The AEC companies that succeed will be those who take their newfound digital toolkit and turn it into a cohesive system, leveraging it to build safer, smarter, and more efficiently than ever before.
