Paul Doherty, president and CEO of The Digit Group (TDG), boasts a career that spans a few decades, even more continents, and countless moments of innovation in the AEC space. His balanced experience in software and construction has helped him stay ahead of the digital curve that is upheaving the industry. With artificial intelligence (AI) use growing across the globe, the fear of being replaced at work has crossed many minds. In reality, Paul Doherty explains that AI will instead create an open door to let everyone be a little more human, on and off-site.
A licensed and registered architect himself, Paul started out as a contractor, and eventually moved into real estate development. After a jumpstart in his career with companies like IBM, Microsoft, Adobe, and Corel, his work with TDG is currently centered around Smart City real estate development projects. TDG’s projects operate in countries like Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Ireland, Canada, and across the U.S.
Where tech and construction first met for Paul
We asked Paul what keeps him inspired in the tech and AEC space. His answer? Inefficiencies. Paul’s technology and construction backgrounds have always intersected, and the inefficiencies across work in software and the trades have always been similarly aligned.
“There are certain elements in the computing industry that are identical to construction. I learned how to pull computers apart hardware-wise, link them together again through networks, and make sure the software worked. Through that, I noticed all of these OEMs [Other Equipment Manufacturers]. And I thought, it’s just like the building industry. It’s a product and project and they mirror each other. The parts of your computer? Outsourced. Is that not a general contractor?”
His industry experience makes him the perfect authority on how construction continues to become more digital. The similarities between the two industries not only enabled him to excel beyond his counterparts in the field but also to spearhead an emerging digital concept in the real estate development space: smart cities.
The smart cities sweeping the globe
After partnering with some of the industry leaders behind Google Earth, Paul helped develop a software tool that could allow builders to see entire neighborhoods, districts, and cities on the browser without any latency. Paul brought the tech to IBM, which was running a “smarter city” marketing campaign at the time. And so, a new type of urban design and development, Smart Cities, was created.
Smart cities blend IT infrastructure design with sustainable development goals (SDGs). This combines elements of reality capture, motion capture, and simulation for higher efficiency and better project outcomes. The final result is reimagined urban planning for the future, which Paul covers in his book “Smart Cities: Reimagining the Urban Experience.”
For anyone interested in seeing what the future looks like for smart cities, this book is a must read. The book contains detailed strategies, work templates, master plans, and examples of smart city development.
AI agents, LLMs, and their impact on site
When people think about what kind of heavy lifting AI does in construction, they often think of robotics and automated machinery. But for Paul, those are small rocks.
“With AI agents and large language models [LLMs], we have more ways to do things on site with velocity. We go faster, smarter, and cheaper. These technologies allow machines to do what they do well, which is compute. Because of this ability of the digital to help the physical, entire project workflows are streamlined.”
AI agents will be key to reducing or eliminating the “busywork” currently manually tended to in the AEC space. Paul says that by further using and developing AI to tackle the mundane, humans will have more capacity to communicate. Better communication in the AEC space leads to design, sustainability, and efficiency innovation. It means the sky’s the limit for the future of construction and real estate development.
The digital upswing that makes us more human
When asked about the future of AI in construction, for Paul Doherty, it ultimately comes back to making us more human.
“It’s going to make us as individuals, as project teams, and as a society, more human. If I can cut hours of research and have data just… given to me? I can hit the ground running, and I can make decisions as a professional better. Doesn’t that give me more time for the livable human condition? That’s our built environment. That’s where it’s headed.”
As Paul and TDG continue to zoom in on AI agents to master the work that tediously takes over the average builder’s schedule, an opportunity to breathe life into the AEC space emerges. It’s the kind of innovation the AEC space will welcome with open arms, rather than fearing it.
It’s no secret that the construction industry is prone to project delays due to a variety of factors, many of which can be improved by automation. With AI, the opportunity to reduce the impacts of these delays will become a reality if we learn how to integrate it into our systems.
The outcome?
More time to be human, to connect, and to build.
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