When it comes to bringing artificial intelligence into the construction site, starting small is key — and Skanska USA’s latest internal tool reflects that strategy.

Anita Nelson, chief strategy officer for Skanska USA Building, shared insights into the company’s growing use of generative AI, particularly a new digital tool called the Safety Sidekick. Developed in-house by Skanska’s data and IT teams, the Safety Sidekick is designed to assist employees with real-time safety planning by leveraging Skanska-specific jobsite and safety data.

“We saw a need to make these insights more immediate and more actionable on jobsites,” said Nelson. “This data is not often leveraged in real time. Sidekick allows us to look at that data in a specific way.”

By integrating AI into day-to-day workflows, Skanska is attempting to modernize construction site safety practices. Workers can ask the AI tool safety-related questions on mobile or desktop platforms, helping them quickly plan toolbox talks or assess site conditions. “On a day-to-day basis, that means workers can ask the AI tool safety related questions via mobile or desktop and get instant support for planning a morning huddle or addressing a new hazard,” Nelson said.

The tool also includes image recognition capabilities, enabling workers to upload site photos and receive safety suggestions based on visual input. Importantly, the Safety Sidekick isn’t a standalone app. “The tool is also embedded into our workflow, so it’s not an added step in the day, it’s very user friendly,” she added.

A Suite of AI Tools

The Safety Sidekick is the latest addition to a growing family of internal AI tools at Skanska. The company has developed four in total, all created with an emphasis on data security and functionality across its national workforce of over 3,000.

The backbone is Skanska Sidekick, a general-use chatbot built on OpenAI’s GPT-4o model that allows employees to ask a range of questions relevant to the business. From there, Skanska built out three specialized bots:

• My Skanska Sidekick, which helps locate key documents such as sustainability reports or risk protocols.
• Operational Risk Sidekick, a favorite of Nelson’s, which draws on thousands of internal case studies to recommend mitigation strategies for construction risks.
• Safety Sidekick, which zeroes in on the day-to-day safety practices and planning for workers in the field.

“It’s comprised of thousands of case studies and experiences across different project types and building systems. It gives you strategies and mitigation plans for existing risks on jobs,” Nelson said of the Operational Risk Sidekick.

Internal Feedback Drives Improvement

Skanska has taken a measured approach to launching these tools, piloting them with small user groups before expanding access. “Our early users constantly give us feedback in real time on what’s working and what’s not. We don’t launch things, you know, to all 3000-plus building employees right away. We take time to pilot, see what’s working, see what’s not,” Nelson said.

That feedback loop has been key to optimizing the tools and ensuring that the data supporting them is accurate and usable. “I don’t want to say it’s as easy as plug-and-play, because my data scientists would tell me it’s more complex than that,” she said. “But really, a lot of our challenges are going to be about the quality of the data and whether our data warehouse has the right information.”

Early Wins and Future Advice

The company is already seeing benefits. “Our early users are definitely reporting time saved when preparing safety briefings and improved jobsite engagement. I think that is critical,” said Nelson. “This makes it really easy for people. They’re not getting to the trailer and figuring it out. They’re not staying late the night before to figure it out.”

For smaller contractors hoping to emulate Skanska’s tech-forward approach, Nelson offered practical advice: Don’t overreach, and don’t feel like you have to custom-build everything. “Start with the data that you know. You start with the low hanging fruit,” she said. “If there’s not an infrastructure that you invest in to do that, that’s where you’re going to run into trouble.”

She emphasized that off-the-shelf products can help smaller firms test the waters. “There are products off the shelf. I wouldn’t be able to list them or the sites, but I know they exist, and so you can start small by testing one thing.”

Nelson noted that while safety was always high on Skanska’s priority list, it wasn’t the first AI tool they implemented. “I think for us we started with operational risk. We started with the general Skanska Sidekick to play around with these things, to answer immediate challenges. Safety was not the first tool. While it was at the top of the list, we wanted to make sure that we have this right, because you don’t want to have the wrong safety information.”

And that’s where her key advice comes in: “You want to walk before you run.”

Originally reported by Matthew Thibault in Construction Dive.