We live in an age of incredible innovation — DNA can be edited; robots can land on Mars; and AI can be accessed in our pockets. And yet, despite all this progress, our ability to build the physical world around us has stalled.
In the U.S., construction has become painfully slow, unnecessarily complex, and wildly expensive. And instead of improving over time, the problem has only gotten worse.
The Hard Truth
The numbers speak for themselves: San Francisco recently spent $1.7 million to build a single public restroom. California’s high-speed rail has burned through more than $150 billion with little progress. And adding just two miles of subway track in New York costs $4.5 billion — and years of permitting headaches.
From transit to housing to basic infrastructure, projects drag on, and costs keep climbing. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Our Lost Superpower
Imagine an America where big infrastructure projects finish on time and on budget, where high-speed trains can connect our major cities; where affordable housing can go up in months rather than years; and where data centers and clean energy infrastructure can come online fast enough to meet growing demand.
This is not some far-off dream — it’s how things used to work. The Empire State Building took just over a year to complete. The Pentagon was built in 16 months. Even the Hoover Dam was built in just five years. Now, it can take even longer than that to add a bike lane.
We used to prioritize building and value speed, efficiency, and bold execution, but somewhere along the way, that momentum was lost.
Contractors Hold the Key
America’s more than seven million contractors are the industry’s best hope for getting back to that place and creating a better built world. They’re the ones who build the world we live in — schools, hospitals, roads, power grids, homes, and everything else that makes modern life possible. They’re the backbone of the built environment.
But today’s contractors face a number of challenges. Experienced workers are retiring faster than new ones join the trades, projects are more complex than ever, and regulations have multiplied. At the same time, the industry is consolidating, reshaping market dynamics.
Technology can help contractors tackle these challenges, but cobbling together disjointed point solutions won’t cut it. Contractors need integrated solutions designed to handle the realities of how construction businesses operate.
Tech That Helps, Not Hurts
Good construction technology reduces the friction that contractors feel when asking fundamental questions about their business: Am I hiring and retaining the talent we need to be successful? Is this project helping or hurting my bottom line? Is my business resilient enough to thrive in today’s changing environment?
Technology shouldn’t just digitize legacy processes — it should change the way work gets done for the better. The right software platform ties everything together, from the field to the office, eliminating data silos, manual processes, and miscommunication.
When HR, finance, and operations are connected in a seamless system, a number of things can happen:
- Workers can be onboarded by text
- Timesheets can be approved in seconds
- Overtime alerts can be automatic
- Prevailing wages can be calculated across multiple jobs
- Per diems can be automatically issued based on miles traveled using geolocation
- High-performing teams can be rewarded instantly
When the tools work, the whole job works better.
More Than Just Software
But this isn’t just about technology. It’s about unlocking our capacity to build again. It’s about finishing projects faster, using our people better, and clearing the roadblocks that have made construction so hard for so long.
We don’t have to accept the status quo. With the right tools and support, contractors can lead the way, restoring not just buildings and infrastructure, but our confidence in what we’re capable of.
The challenges are real — but we can solve them. And together we can create a better built world.