No shortage of tech in AEC, but a big shortage of people willing to use it.
Leaders in AEC are not starving for tech, they are drowning.
I’ve had this conversation no less than a dozen times in the last 6 months talking with enterprise technology leaders.
“We’ve got an app for everything. And I can barely get them to use what we have.”
It might be 20 years old. It might be something that only 2 people use, or it might be something we’ve been paying the hosting or licensing fee for a while now and no one will touch it with a 10-foot pole.
Imagine this - It won’t be hard….
You're the CIO of a fast-growing design-build firm.
The hum of activity is constant—architects refining designs, project managers scheduling site visits, and engineers ensuring every structure is meeting code, and ready to last.
It’s chaos, but somehow work is getting done, and a line of people is waiting for your services out the door.
One of your team members just got back from BuiltWorld or Annual Lean Construction Congress, AIA, or one of the other dozen AEC Tech conferences.
You’re curious to hear what you’re team learned, but the first thing you see is a Teams Message with a pitch to consider a new ERP system, promising to “streamline operations and boost productivity.”
You do one of two things.
You try to envision a future where things flow seamlessly, and inefficiencies are ironed out with a click or tap.
You roll your eyes, because it’s the 4th conversation like this in a week.
Fast forward six months.
The ERP system has been procured, licenses bought, and the IT department has integrated it into your existing infrastructure. You said yes to that request.
But as you walk through the office, you notice something. The screens of your employees display the familiar interfaces of old tools. That shiny new ERP system sits neglected, nothing has changed, except the hours and dollars spent on rolling this out.
What went wrong?
The Tech Adoption Dilemma
In the Product Metrics Benchmark Report 2024 from User Pilot, they analyzed 181 companies. Many of these were SaaS company, but we can assume that the percentages are similar for internal tools if not even lower given less technical resourcing available to address these challenges.
37.5% was the Average Activation Rate
Activation is the moment in your users’ journey when the user experiences the value of your product for the first time. User Activation Rate measures the percentage of new users who complete a specific action that demonstrates the initial value of your product. What
The report also showed an average Core feature adoption rate of 24.5%.
The core feature adoption rate describes the percentage of users who have adopted the key features necessary to realize the product value.
I highly recommend downloading the full report. It has a lot of great data.
My personal benchmarking
While I have personally not surveyed 181 companies to build a benchmarking report ( I desperately wish I had the time to!), I can tell you that out of the dozens of conversations I’ve had with a CIO and CTO in the last 6 months, user engagement and adoption is the #1 underlying concern I uncover.
They may express it as looking for better design, a new tool, help with change management, or even prioritized backlog management for the team. The issue under the surface is Adoption.
It’s normal! Whether in construction, engineering, Insurance, IT services, cybersecurity MSSPs, or marketing agencies. or ________. Plug in your industry here.
Leaders are inundated with solutions—SaaS, ERP, PaaS, Cloud, data warehouse —all promising to be the fix for your organizational annoyances. The true challenge isn't in acquiring the latest tech, or even building it; it's in getting your people to use it.
Oh, but no, but this is different, it has AI! (I’m going to ignore this topic for now)
Companies are littered with apps that got left behind.
No magic bullet, but some considerations
Risks of a Top-Down Approach
When leadership decides to implement new technology without involving the end users, several risks emerge:
Resistance to Change
Employees often see new tools as disruptions. If they weren't part of the selection process, they might view the new tech with skepticism or outright resistance.
Underutilization
Without proper training and onboarding, even the most powerful software can become an expensive paperweight. Teams revert to familiar tools and processes, leaving the new solution underused.
Tool Fatigue
Introducing another tool just because it was pitched well can add to the clutter. Employees juggling multiple platforms may experience fatigue, reducing overall productivity.
Consider bringing the user into design + build process
The solution may not be in the tool itself but in the approach to involving the people who will use the tool in the consideration process.
The most successful digital transformations are those that prioritize user involvement at every stage.
Inclusion from the Start
Involve employees and clients in the decision-making process. Their insights can help identify the true pain points and needs, ensuring the chosen solution addresses real problems.
Collaborative Design
Develop the solution alongside its users. Create a feedback loop where employees can voice their concerns and suggestions. This collaboration fosters a sense of ownership and increases the likelihood of adoption.
Empower Champions
Identify and train champion employees to become advocates of the new tool. These internal influencers can provide peer support, making the transition smoother for everyone.
Are you too far gone?
Often by the time I’m talking with a firm, they are years into whatever digital transformation means to them. They built tools, bought tools, rented tools, adapted tools, and ultimately they drowning in point solutions for every little problem, and what ends up happening is that IT picks up the next request ticket, and ignores the 6-month backlog of work to support it all.
Maybe not.
A quick assessment
Focus
…on where to focus. Take inventory of your teams, departments, and the solutions they are “supposedly” using. Understand what’s true of the current flow.
Ideate
…what should stop, start, or continue? Learn from people’s hacks to the ways around the apps that should be solving their problems.
Prototype
…the possibilities. This doesn’t have to be building another thing, or designing another solution, although it might be. It could be mapping a new workflow. Trying a no/low-code solution.
Discover
…how your users interact with a refined approach. Move quickly to remove waste and fine value.
Does this ring true for you?
Let me know your story about the app left behind. The solution was that everyone hacked a path around. The app promised the world but required a change that no one was willing to make.
I like your thoughts around the problem of low adoption. Could the solution be still somewhat troublesome? People like to complain about tools and processes on the fly but rarely would step up to help build a new, better way. For whatever reason.